toverly

Oh, it's so true, we are our own worst critics. I don't think I have given a quilt to anyone who says, you could have done better. Of course, if you made the exact same quilt the exact same way, your mistakes would be different. I now enjoy the process and don't worry about the product as much.

Onebyone

I remember as a new quilter entering a quilt at a local show and overheard several say, really she is entering that? Didn't bother me, I wanted my granddaughter to see the quilt she loved displayed. She was so proud of her quilt I made being in a quilt show. I had no hope of the quilt winning anything next to the appliqued hand quilted beauties of the guild members. I had to laugh at my pitiful mismatched seams and wavy borders. I won Viewer's Choice! No one was more surprised then I was. Don't let other's opinions about your quilt hold you back.

earthwalker

Whenever I continue to be crippled by 'it's not good enough' or 'there are a million imperfections' I will come by this thread again and read every word.....

ManiacQuilter2

Perfection are for those quilter's who enter their quilts in competition. I am out of that rat race being disable, and enjoy making quilts for Foster kids. No labels are allow so it is done anonymously. I do try to make the best quilts I can so these kids who have next to nothing of their own possession now have a quilt & coordinating pillowcase they can be proud to own. Quilts should be made with lots of LOVE!

Sammie1

My aunt told me the imperfections is how you know it was handmade.

As I thought about her words, I realized the imperfections tell a story. See a stitch that wandered? Maybe the person took their eyes off their work a moment to give their child or grandchild a quick kiss on the forehead.
A seam doesn't line up? Maybe their spouse bumped into them as a prank to have fun with them. Or their concentration was broken by them thinking about something or someone.

Imperfections are stories and are why handmade quilts are much more charming than mass produced machine made quilts.

eastslopequilter

I started a simple quilt for my neighbor's wedding. It turned into the quilt from +++++. If things could go wrong, it did. The top is finished now and it looks pretty good. I, too, think the work comes from the heart, it's the thought that counts.

Sewnoma

I don't think there's anything wrong with STRIVING for perfection as long as we realize it's not something we can ever really attain, at least not full time.

I think the phrase, "Finished is better than perfect" should be emblazoned on every sewing machine!

I, too, have to resist pointing out each and every mistake on my quilts, especially if someone exclaims about how "perfect" it looks. Now I just smile and say something like, "The mistakes are there if you look for them, so don't look for them!"

I DID recently bring out my first quilt and show it off to a group of ladies from work that I'm teaching quilting to. A couple of them were hesitant to even get started for fear of "ruining" things, so I pulled my first quilt off of our bed and held it up for them to admire it, then brought it up close and started pointing out all of the mismatched and crooked seams, the quilting that went way off course, my wobbbly and flat binding, the puckers on the back... My point being that even with ALL of those flaws and mistakes (and there were lots, I had no idea what I was doing when I made it), the quilt still looks pretty good and nobody noticed any of it until I pointed it out. That seemed to help get them over the hump and lose some of the fear.

My rule of thumb is that if it survives a trip through the washer and dryer without falling apart, it's perfect. Perfect enough, anyway.

donac

Thanks for the great thread. I am in the process of hand quilting a wedding quilt for my niece. I then have do do wedding quilts for my 2 sons and my other niece in the next year. I have been putting off quilting the one in the frame since i didn't think that things were lining up right. I am the only one going to be noticing this so I am off to spend the day quilting.

Thanks

Wanabee Quiltin

First of all, there is no Perfection in this world, only in what you think is perfect. I believe in the saying "Progress not Perfection" and I keep on trying.

Onebyone

My group makes quilts for The Call, which gives the quilts to foster children. We put labels on our quilts. The Call is the only group I will donate quilts too. The foster kids have almost nothing of their own. Most have to leave all possessions bought for them by the foster family.