Yesterday, I was so excited to finally have the Sun King medallion appliqued onto the background fabric. I had pinned it on and used a blanket stitch around the perimeter of the circle to secure it. I wasn’t thrilled as I reached the start again as the fabric was starting to pucker a little. I figured that some heavy quilting in that area would press it down, so I wouldn’t worry too much.
I took a picture and posted it on Instagram to show my followers the progress. After it was posted, I noticed not the minor pucker, but the fact that my crown in the center of the medallion was crooked! I had used the wrong point when I aligned it on the background. To say I was disappointed is an understatement.
Ever the optimist, I found the silver lining. I could pick out all of the blanket stitching and realign the medallion so the crown was in the correct position. When I did that, I could also change how I applied the medallion to the background. That would fix both problems and make it worth my while. That was the silver lining.
I spent a couple of hours picking threads while watching Mystery 101: Deadly History. Yes, I am a Hallmark Channel addict. When picking threads, you need to keep yourself mentally stimulated. A little screen time was an added bonus in my silver lining.
Then, I started over. I pressed the backing in half twice to mark the center of the block and midpoints of the sides. Fusible web was ironed onto the back of the Sun King medallion. Carefully, I aligned the crown and rays to the creases in the background. Triple checking the alignment because there would be no going back, I was satisfied and fused the medallion to the backing. Finally, the medallion was secured with a round of blanket stitches. This time, I got it right! (My grandmother would cringe that I used “got”).
Some of you may have thought the off kilter version was ok, but I am a bit of a perfectionist. This was a test pattern, so I needed to figure out how to make it right so others wouldn’t have the same frustration I did. Here are the two examples. The one on the left is off kilter. The one on the right is much better.
Yes, I put me a little off schedule, but it was definitely worth the effort and I learned a few things in the process. So if you have a blooper in your quilting, focus on the benefits of redoing the work by finding the silver lining.