LindaMRB

Interesting point - I like the philosophy.
In this case one square was off a row from left to right by a 2.5 inches.
I might not have noticed it at all but the contrast of colors was so great that it popped right out at me.
And the quilter is not likely to ask me since we do not know each other from a hole in the wall.
No criticism of the points or anything like that, I'm not perfect myself and revised a pattern recently to avoid trying to match my points. It just wasn't happening.

I think I'll let it go. Maybe as she (he) quilts it she'll discover it before she finishes...

Thanks for your input!

Genden

I think it depends on who it is. If it is my daughter who is learning to quilt, I will tactfully show her how she might correct a mistake or do something different another time--but only if she wants to learn from me. The method of pointing errors out and the tone are very important. If someone asks for my advice I try to be as honest, tactful, and helpful as I can. There are things I wish someone had told me before I discovered them much later. If the person interprets the critique as criticism, then advice is to be avoided. If the person interprets the critique as helpful then it is okay. It is really chancey to give unsolicited advice to someone you don't know well.

Manalto

But everybody's so sensitive.

Praise feels nice but it doesn't help me much in my efforts to improve; constructive criticism does.

Pointing out a fixable error is a kindness, the way letting someone know they have toilet paper stuck to their shoe or a grin full of spinach. This calls for tact, which I've noticed is unevenly distributed among the population.

Any quilt with an error that can't be corrected with reasonable effort magically becomes a perfect quilt.

zozee

I would want a private message . You can say, "your quilt is beautiful and shows a loft of time and care. I looked at it carefully and was so impressed. However, I noticed something that you may or may not have intended. It's easy to not catch something when you've been up close to for so long, but here's what I saw and thought I'd ask before you quilted it just in case you hadn't meant for that (block, piece, whatever) to be done differently from the rest. "

kristakz

Oh, PLEASE tell her. I posted a quilt here a couple of years ago. I worked on it for ages, looked at the photos many times, and never saw an issue. Then the first response to my post was a private PM saying a block in location X looked to be the wrong colour. Sure enough, they were exactly right. I kicked myself, fixed the block, and am very grateful for that eagle-eyed reader.

Now if the quilt was already quilted, i would definitely NOT want to know. If I haven't noticed it, let me keep my rose coloured glasses, since it is essentially unfixable at that point. And if I already know, I'm dearly hoping that no one else will notice, and would prefer to be able to pretend that's the case

NJ Quilter

I would certainly appreciate knowing as well. And I think you are being very kind in doing so via PM. And while I rarely do it even now, I agree with many others here who have suggested taking photos of your finished tops for exactly that reason. Did not see a fairly large mistake in one of my quilts until after it was gifted and I took a photo with the recipient.

Pennyhal

If they ask for a critique, I'd tell them. Otherwise I'd keep my mouth shut.

ckcowl

If a person asks, ( something doesn't seem right, but I can't figure out what) .... I might. I would never point out a mistake otherwise. How do you know the person didn't just use "creative license" and make it the way they wanted? They might not consider it a mistake.
My nephew was appliquing some animals one time & he brought me a finished block to show off-- my big mouth said -- you have this fabric ( inside out) .... He looked at me & replied- "I liked that side better- the other side was too bright! I paid for both sides, any reason I can't use which ever side I want?" Then he didn't show me his blocks anymore.

zozee

My very first quilt instructor told me I had a wrong block in my quilt. Granted, it was a pinwheel ( I love pinwheels) which was not in the pattern, but, for Pete's sake, it's asampler quiit! I did not WANT another of the block that the pattern called for. It was a quilt to remind me of my Kansas childhood, and there are a lot of windmills on the KS prairie. The quilt told a story, and so I spoke up and said it's not wrong, it's exactly what I wanted. She taught me a lesson: don't TELL, ASK. Give the quilter a gracious out.

bearisgray

If something looked "odd/off"- and the item is still at a stage where it can be changed/fixed - I sure would like some sort of comment indicating that - and then I could decide if it was intentional or not - it would probably have been in the "not" category and I just did not see it.

(I sometimes don't "see" stuff in the refrigerator that is in front of me!)

Is it really a kindness to say "everything is 'perfect'" - when it does not appear to be?