WMUTeach

The one part of quilting that scares the socks off me if fancy intricate custom quilting such as feathers. I desire that kind of work to look good, really good. I hear the crowds saying practice, practice, practice but honestly In the greater scheme of things I don't have time to put in 20 years of practice to be perfect.

My calling now is to use my stash, make quilts to bless people with warmth and the comfort that the quilt was made for them. I view each quilt is a long term demonstration of a hug. My quilts look good and occasionally I will have one quilted by a friend with a long arm machine but only a couple a year. I have been able to produce more lovely quilts this year than ever in the past because of no longer teaching and Covid-19 keeping us away from other wonderful distractions. That is my satisfaction.

I avoid most quilts with teeny tiny pieces and leave them to others to do. Yes, they scare me and yes, it is my choice to say "no thank you". There are so may other patterns that intrigue me and over my quilting history I see that I am digging deeper, learning new skills, taking new chances and improving little things like good points, color choices, exact seams and cutting and having fun creating and giving them away.

tropit

I learned at a young age to have not fear and be brave. I was the youngest in a group of kids in my neighborhood, so I had to learn fast. However, none of them ever did free motion quilting, so that is where I fall behind. I don't want to mess up a perfectly fine quilt with my bad, FMQ technique. I've learned to get around it with my projects, but I would still like to be better at it.

Jordan

My biggest fear is that even if I love the quilt I just made-I am afraid others will not like it. Don't ask me why but I really don't have too much confidence in myself I guess. I love to make quilts and I know that my family members enjoy them so that is all that really counts.

Stitchnripper

well my thought is no quilt is going to be liked by everyone. Even award winning quilts don’t have universal love.

Iceblossom

There are things that I have had to wait until I felt I had the skill to do, but I worked up my skills until I could. Sadly as my skills raised so did my standard, but at the same time my vision isn't doing so well and I think my best work is behind me now but there is still quite a bit of quilting left in me.

I've been working quite a bit in the last couple of years with more improvisational types of quilting, or at least things that aren't so precise.

When I was young my boyfriend was a photographer and I really understood the photo-shoots betters. They have a bunch of stuff set up and then take hundreds, thousands of pictures to get the one cover shot. No wonder my snap shots in real time looked crummy in comparison. Painters often do the same basic scene many times to get just the right one.

The nice thing about being quilters is we aren't always going to get our perfection of design -- but we can always get a warm blanket in the end

And at least for me I always learn something while making a quilt. Sometimes it's about the quilt or fabric or design, and often it's more about inner things.

Onebyone

I want to make make something or try something new I do it. I either mess it up or do it right. Still very useable. I tackled a Judy Niemeyer quilt pattern and it was a mess. Nothing fit right after I sewn the pieces. I kept going and now it's on my wall getting a Wow from people that see it. They see the colors and pattern, not the mess ups and fillers I had to use to make it all fit. LOL

Watson

My motto (most of the time), is "What's the worst that can happen?"

I try lots of different techniques and have lots of strings to show for them because if they don't turn out, I just cut them into strings and put them in my string drawer to be incorporated into my always-on-going string quilt.

I'm a visual learner...Written patterns confound me so I rarely buy a pattern that doesn't come with videos.

So, to actually answer the question...I'm not afraid to fail nor am I afraid to try...except needle turn applique. I have never tried it and I just can't get myself to even attempt it because I think it would drive me crazy and who needs the aggravation?

Watson

Onebyone

So, to actually answer the question...I'm not afraid to fail nor am I afraid to try...except needle turn applique. I have never tried it and I just can't get myself to even attempt it because I think it would drive me crazy and who needs the aggravation?

I have taken several classes for needle turn. Each instructor has said my way is easy and you can be doing needle turn like a pro. I even took the backstitching needle turn class. I couldn't even do the basting part. LOL
I learned that needle turn applique is a skill I will not have so I did learn something.

Auj

I am willing to try new ideas. I took a Judy Niemeyer class and completed a Glacier Star. I enjoyed it, but decided that paper piecing as a regular thing is not for me. I started a Farmer's Wife and bought all the templates, and am still working on them. I don't enjoy using templates, but am not sorry I tried them. I'd rather cut with my rotary cutter. I took a free-motion quilting class, but really don't enjoy that. It's just as well; I have absolutely no space for a longarm anyway. I heard that many of the famous quilters "quilt by check" and decided that what I really enjoy is completing a top and having someone else quilt it for me. I am happy and that is what matters.

petthefabric

From Teach 'it is my choice to say "no thank you".' Yes I give myself permission to not do something. I don't have enough time in my life to do everything, so I pick and choose.