accuracy--Am I too critical?
07-29-2014, 01:58 PM
#21
Super Member
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: BC Canada
Posts: 1,035
After 10 years, I get "gooder and gooder" but I have learned to rip if it is really going to keep getting worse but otherwise, its pretty good after quilting and when I decided I was never going to have a work of art, I really started to "love" the whole quilting process!
07-29-2014, 02:32 PM
#22
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Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Piedmont Virginia in the Foothills of the Blue Ridge Mtns.
Posts: 8,562
I definitely enjoy the precision piecing part of quilting. BUT if I've ripped twice and still have trouble, I accept the situation knowing that we are working in a soft medium, not wood or stone, and that some fabrics just have a "mind of their own" (probably due to the weave/fiber content/thread count/coloring/even humidity or insanity!)
And you know what, in over 30 years of quilting I am unable to go back and find those "faults' in my finished quilts.
Jan in VA
And you know what, in over 30 years of quilting I am unable to go back and find those "faults' in my finished quilts.
Jan in VA
07-29-2014, 02:45 PM
#23
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Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 15,639
I used to be obsessive over seams that were not perfect but I went a little nuts so I have a 3x rippit rule. After the third redo it stays. Now I have a better eye as to what will and what won't be noticed after the piece is quilted. I no longer go nuts.
07-29-2014, 02:54 PM
#24
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Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Athens Ga
Posts: 11,420
Girl. lol on this Storm At Sea, my seam ripper got a work out today. I get really upset when points do not turn out perfect with that 1/4 seam allowance in site . My son says I sit there and talk to myself and I am sure i do. The thing is others when they look at our work they do not see what we see. lol well that is a good thing though i guess I have known you for years and u always do beautiful work.
07-29-2014, 03:05 PM
#25
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Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: North Texas formerly The Burgh
Posts: 3,392
I will often rip and try again if i am way off....a little off....i'm probably gonna be ok with that. I've said it before .... as my dear gram used to say "close enough for the guys we loaf with".
07-29-2014, 03:16 PM
#26
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Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Southern USA
Posts: 16,113
I don't slop seams together and hope for the best but I don't fret over a smidgen off. I just don't care and don't care if anyone else cares. I have good luck using Wonder Clips to hold the seams right where I want them when piecing. The clips are so much better then pins. No distortion of fabric and I don't have to remove them when sewing. The backs are flat so they glide along the machine bed.
07-29-2014, 04:19 PM
#27
Super Member
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: East TN
Posts: 2,730
I shoot for perfection, knowing it isn't happening. If I get close, that's close enough for me. I doubt I will ever enter a quilt in a show. My quilts all go to someone I love, and they are thrilled to have something I have put my time and talent (?) into. If something is WAYYY off, I will take it apart and try again. If that doesn't fix it, that block ends up at the edge of the quilt, or in the orphan block pile, depending on how bad it is.
This is a hobby, and I do it for fun, and the satisfaction of giving a gift to someone. If I don't enjoy it, why bother?
So in short, yes, you probably are too critical. Try to relax a bit. If someone gave you the quilt with the blocks that were nearly perfect would you use it? I bet you would, and would never notice those "customizations" again.
Darren
This is a hobby, and I do it for fun, and the satisfaction of giving a gift to someone. If I don't enjoy it, why bother?
So in short, yes, you probably are too critical. Try to relax a bit. If someone gave you the quilt with the blocks that were nearly perfect would you use it? I bet you would, and would never notice those "customizations" again.
Darren
07-29-2014, 05:17 PM
#28
Super Member
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 4,688
Are you too critical? No, not at all, not if you're asking the question.
You have to work to your own standards, not to anyone else's, not even Fons & Porter. Perfection isn't an attainable goal, but excellence sure as blazes is and there's nothing at all wrong with going after it full speed until you get there. Do what suits YOU.
Me, I work until it's the very best I can do no matter how long that takes or how many times I rework it. If the fabric quits before I do, I recut and start again. The result is that with each new project, my best gets better and I never, ever settle for 'good enough'. Compulsive, perhaps...Invigorating, definitely!
You have to work to your own standards, not to anyone else's, not even Fons & Porter. Perfection isn't an attainable goal, but excellence sure as blazes is and there's nothing at all wrong with going after it full speed until you get there. Do what suits YOU.
Me, I work until it's the very best I can do no matter how long that takes or how many times I rework it. If the fabric quits before I do, I recut and start again. The result is that with each new project, my best gets better and I never, ever settle for 'good enough'. Compulsive, perhaps...Invigorating, definitely!
07-29-2014, 08:18 PM
#29
Super Member
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Centralia, WA, USA
Posts: 4,890
If you are redoing seams over and over - maybe you need to go back further -
Are your pieces cut as accurately as possible? are your pattern pieces/templates correct? (Sometimes they are wrong.) Is there an error in the directions? (Sometimes that happens, too.)
Some fabrics, if unwashed, do shrink when they are pressed (with moisture) -
Yes, I do try for accuracy and precision - but I feel that after three tries, I need to recut the fabric pieces because all that stitching and unsewing has weakened the seam line.
And why did I mention the other things? Because I have encountered them. Some of the things one learns from experience.
I also will see if there is some other reason why things aren't working - because I usually get fairly close to what I am expecting to get.
Perfection? not possible.
I usually try to do as well as I can do - but there are times - when good enough - IS - good enough!
After three tries, if one intersection out of several just won't line up - and everything else is - so be it.
Are your pieces cut as accurately as possible? are your pattern pieces/templates correct? (Sometimes they are wrong.) Is there an error in the directions? (Sometimes that happens, too.)
Some fabrics, if unwashed, do shrink when they are pressed (with moisture) -
Yes, I do try for accuracy and precision - but I feel that after three tries, I need to recut the fabric pieces because all that stitching and unsewing has weakened the seam line.
And why did I mention the other things? Because I have encountered them. Some of the things one learns from experience.
I also will see if there is some other reason why things aren't working - because I usually get fairly close to what I am expecting to get.
Perfection? not possible.
I usually try to do as well as I can do - but there are times - when good enough - IS - good enough!
After three tries, if one intersection out of several just won't line up - and everything else is - so be it.
I started without a rotary cutter or mat. What a difference they make! My accuracy improved a lot just with those tools. The better your cutting is and the more accurately you set up your machine the more accurate your piecing will be. Wash and press your fabric before you start if it's possible. It helps eliminate surprises later. It also doesn't hurt to make a few extra blocks. You can pick out the best ones to use then.
That doesn't mean my work is perfect. Far from it. I drive my wife and daughter nuts because I point out every flaw.
My seams aren't always a perfect 1/4" and my points don't always line up. I do the best I can and if it's too bad I'll take it apart and start over. If I'm just a little off I'll live with it. I strive for perfection but know I'll never reach it. Sometimes close enough really is close enough.
A machinist friend told me there is no perfection, there is only "in spec" or "out of spec".
Rodney
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