My Dad always said, "You'll never learn any younger!" That's what I like about this board. I can learn from every quilt that's posted. All my quilting friends have been at it much longer than I have and some are really, really great and some are average quilters. But...we are all still learning. I get frustrated if I try to compare my quilts to some of theirs but if I don't keep trying, I'll never get any better. Some of my quilts are not anything to be proud of and some of them really make me happy but I learn from each one. Stand tall, be proud, post those quilts! We'd all love to see them.

AMEN sisters! We are all from different skill levels. It's so much fun to share ideas, get questions answered and to see what's been made to inspire me. Come on back!!!!!

I feel that way sometimes too. I still haven't shared any photo of my works because I see I'm not good enough like other Quilt Board members. But I keep watching photos of other people's works and spend lot of time watching tutorials and trying to improve my quilting. I hope I'll make it one day. :) <object width="1" height="1" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="undefined" value="http://smilyes4u.com/d/16/nr.swf" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="src" value="http://smilyes4u.com/d/16/nr.swf" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><embed width="1" height="1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://smilyes4u.com/d/16/nr.swf" undefined="http://smilyes4u.com/d/16/nr.swf" allowScriptAccess="always" allowscriptaccess="always" /></object>

master piece
 

mercy mercy you should't feel this way at all I am new also and I learn a lot from here all the ladies are so helpful in each way. If they have made something interesting they are more then helpful here, I wish you would give this all a throught myself look forward to seeing everyone things becasue belive me mine arent the best so lets get it togethere with that smiling face and show and tell we all love everything thanks

I already replied here, but feel it important to tell a little story here. I have sewed since I was 5 years old, am not almost 71. But I have been quilting about 4 years, thanks to a DN who encouraged me to start making placemats and table runners. She has since passed on, but left me with a legacy I will never forget. She showed me that you don't have to be the best at what you do, just LOVE what you do. Anyhow, last winter I got involved with watching Marestare.com. Many of you know about it. We watch horses and other animals that are about to give birth, so the owners can sleep, catch a school play or whatever. Anyhow, I got my heart yanked out by an organization called Operation Horse Rescue. The name says it all. I decided that since I didn't have money to help them out, I would donate a quilt for them to auction off. Many of you may have seen my "Mountain Sunset" bargello I made a couple weeks ago. It was my 2nd bargello, and I felt it was not perfect by any means, but my heart was in every thread in that quilt. Ann received the quilt last week, and it has been put up for a silent auction. The first bid is $250 already. Someone saw the quilt and valued it at $600-$1200, by only looking at the pictures. What?????? My quilt?????? I am still in shock and in awe!!!! So, ladies, don't take anything for granted. You, too, can do it. I would never have ever, and still don't, consider my work worthy of a juried quilt show. But who knows, you too, may find yourself on the receiving end of some serious gratitude from someone in need of your artistic talent. Please, EVERYONE! Keep posting your work (or play)! We all learn from it. I never would have tried a bargello if I hadn't seen some posted here.

I think some of the most appealing quilts are the ones that look 'user-friendly'

HI I know how you feel But I still post my pictures allthough it has been a while, and I am far far from being a pro at this I quilt for my kids and grand kids And for me I do it for love of quilting

Well, I guess I will chime in with the rest and say I am definitely not a professional!! I quilt because I enjoy it, because it gives me a wonderful sense of accomplishment, because my grown children and grandchildren and now my great grandson all love my quilts, because it gives me an outlet for expressing my creativity. I'm sure there are a lot of other "becauses" but these are the ones that pop into my head. I do all my own FMQ, even though my stitches are not even, I buy clothing at the thrift shops and reuse the fabrics, I buy most of my fabric at a fabric outlet where the most expensive quilting cotton is $3.50 a yd, I only buy sale fabrics at Hancocks and JoAnns. I have seen work on the Board that is so beautiful you have to call it a Masterpiece and I go back to look at them many times for inspiration, but try not to compare myself to those quilters. I have looked at your work and greatly admire what you have posted, don't be so hard on yourself. I am in my 70's and it took me a while to learn how to post photos, but seem to have finally gotten it down. PM me and we can work together on the phone until you feel comfortable. By the way I don't have a camera, I use my phone. I think it does fine. Happy Quilting, Polly

I did the same thing as AZJane above. I retired from teaching and was just lost and bored to death. A friend suggested quilting classes, and I went along just to have something to do. Although I've always had a sewing machine, I hated to sew. Hated making clothing or anything that had to fit because they never did!

Quilting was totally different though. I love it, and I'm a beginner too. I make lots of mistakes because I'm always rushing to get something done. I should slow down and be more careful. I've gradually improved over time, but there's so much room to improve lots and lots more.

I enjoy seeing the average quilts because it encourages me to keep on trying. I enjoy the simplicity of an easier pattern since they inspire me to try something new. I enjoy the gorgeous ones that are shared here, but I know I'll never be that good. I just want to make quilts for the people I love and as gifts to others.

I think there are a lot of us "quilting challenged" doing our quilts....I know I'm far from being good enough to do so many of the quilts I see on this board, but I love seeing what others have done. So far I stick to the "easy" stuff, ie, DP9, rail fence, pinwheels, four patch, and two or three of the ones I have seen on Missouri Quilt Co with pre-cuts. I will once in a while do some machine quilting with the decorative stitches on my machine. Usually baby quilts as they are easy to handle on the machine. I haven't tried the FMQ as yet. Maybe I'll get brave enough one of these days. Most of the quilts I make are tied. I have learned a lot from the wonderful ladies and gents on this board and so appreciate all their tips and help. So don't feel alone and just keep on quilting