Too critical of your own work?
06-04-2010, 09:48 PM
#23
Super Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Oklahoma
Posts: 3,357
I look at quilting or piecing like I do anything else...Nobody is perfect. And who would want to be? Being perfect or reaching the perfect level to me is like reaching the end, for what else is there beyond perfection? I don't have to worry about it thank goodness because I really do have fun learning & I sure have lots of learning left to learn! LOL
06-05-2010, 03:01 PM
#25
Super Member
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Central Wisconsin
Posts: 1,660
I was doing a block (Prarie Queen) and kept getting it wrong. Ripped 4 times. When DH asked why I was talking to myself I told him what happened. He said "it looks fine to me, you just made a new block. You can call this one Prarie King". That's when I knew I was taking it way to sereously.
06-05-2010, 03:20 PM
#26
Super Member
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Idaho Falls
Posts: 1,907
Originally Posted by bstanbro
I so often read posts where people are having a hard time enjoying quilting because they are so critical of their work. I keep wanting to share something, but I fear it's a copyright infringement. I think I have figured out a way to do it without stepping on anyone's toes.
When I learned to quilt two years ago, I took a course at our local community college. My quilting instructor did our class such a tremendous service by first reading an essay to us. It was the first thing she said or did. It's the single most important reason I have been able to be forgiving of my work and quilt for the sheer joy of it, becoming a better quilter in the process. (I still have a LOT to learn.)
It's an essay by Teri Christopherson entitled "The Perfect Quilt," and it's published in one of her books. I don't know which one. If you would like to read it, send me a PM with your email, and I will send it to you. (I don't think I'm infringing on a copyright if I do it this way. I'm not selling it after all.)
Until then, enjoy.
When I learned to quilt two years ago, I took a course at our local community college. My quilting instructor did our class such a tremendous service by first reading an essay to us. It was the first thing she said or did. It's the single most important reason I have been able to be forgiving of my work and quilt for the sheer joy of it, becoming a better quilter in the process. (I still have a LOT to learn.)
It's an essay by Teri Christopherson entitled "The Perfect Quilt," and it's published in one of her books. I don't know which one. If you would like to read it, send me a PM with your email, and I will send it to you. (I don't think I'm infringing on a copyright if I do it this way. I'm not selling it after all.)
Until then, enjoy.
Honestly, I see nothing wrong with striving to do my best. I don't reject a quilt if it isn't perfect. Usually it's a learning experience and I can still treasure a quilt without it needing to be perfect. Heck, I wouldn't enjoy quilt shows and Show & Tell at my guilds or here in this Forum if I were snobbish. You don't have to be stuck-up or un-fun as some seem to indicate to want to do good work on a quilt. And if I make the perfect quilt, it doesn't mean I am done. There are always areas to learn and improve in. It simply means I am growing as a quilter and that is being reflected in my quilts.
I hope that doesn't sound too defensive. I guess I just believe it is not a bad thing to want to reach a time where the points all come out perfect and everything balances.
06-05-2010, 03:53 PM
#27
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 851
[quote=Tiffany]
Of course we all strive to do our best. What would be the point otherwise? I doubt anyone sets out and says, "I really want to make this the crappiest quilt yet."
For some people, striving to reach "perfection," which is ultimately an impossible goal, leaves them feeling dissatisfied and unhappy with a hobby that should be fun and fulfilling. None of this is about whether the quilt is good or not--it's about whether we lose sight of the fact that perfection is not the goal. In the end, at least for me, enjoyment is the goal. If it's perfect (and it will never be--not even if you think it is), that's all the better. But perfection shouldn't be an end in itself.
Someone told me once that a "perfectionist" is someone who is always looking for the flaw. I think that it's true.
Originally Posted by bstanbro
I hope that doesn't sound too defensive. I guess I just believe it is not a bad thing to want to reach a time where the points all come out perfect and everything balances.
For some people, striving to reach "perfection," which is ultimately an impossible goal, leaves them feeling dissatisfied and unhappy with a hobby that should be fun and fulfilling. None of this is about whether the quilt is good or not--it's about whether we lose sight of the fact that perfection is not the goal. In the end, at least for me, enjoyment is the goal. If it's perfect (and it will never be--not even if you think it is), that's all the better. But perfection shouldn't be an end in itself.
Someone told me once that a "perfectionist" is someone who is always looking for the flaw. I think that it's true.
06-05-2010, 03:55 PM
#28
Super Member
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: near Tucson, Arizona
Posts: 5,841
I often think of the Amish and the Navajo, too. Then I ask myself: If the mistake is intentionally put in, is it really a mistake? I never have to worry about any mistakes having to be included in my quilts -- there are so many of them already there!!! If someone is a reallly critical person who always finds fault in everything, I don't give them a quilt! A quilt should go to a good home; a home that will be accepting of what it is: a symbol of my love for them. They should feel that every time they wrap themselves up in it they are getting a hug from me. ;)
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