As You Sew, So Shall You Rip

I realized that I don’t talk much about ripping out stitching. I do it all the time and this week was no exception.

Stepping Stones n.2 - 1 seam left
Stepping Stones n.2 – 1 seam left

I have been eager to finish the Stepping Stones n.2 top as it has been on my design wall for too long. In my rush, I put a block together wrong and then put it in the quilt. With one seam to go to finish the top, I had to rip out a bunch of seams. Yes, I had to. I looked at the quilt for a long time time, trying to decide if I could live with the mistake. I didn’t want to rip when I was so close to finishing, but I just couldn’t live with the problem.

Stepping Stones n.2 - 1 seam left + error
Stepping Stones n.2 – 1 seam left + error

The look is almost right, but if the viewer looks hard, there is a disruption in the pattern. Also, all of a sudden two like fabrics were placed together, which I really worked hard to avoid all through the piecing process.

I am sure you can’t avoid the big circle, but refer back to the photo above to see the problem. Look down and to the left one row to the see the duplicate fabrics (not circled.

Stepping Stones n.2 - lower right hand corner - ripped
Stepping Stones n.2 – lower right hand corner – ripped

Yep. I ripped. I thought I would just take out one row from one block and sew it back in. I ended up taking part a good portion of the lower right hand corner. The photo with the arrow is before I ripped out some other pieces.

I am in the process of sewing the bottom back together and finishing the top.