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I'm fairly new to quilting and have only done a few tops. The iron quilt top is only the second I've quilted. My question is how many quilts do you have to make before you stop focusing on "mistakes" in your quilts when you look at them? There always seems to be something I didn't see until it's too late to fix it and my eye goes right to that spot when I look at the quilt.
If the mistake is in piecing, I have to fix it or applique over it or it will drive me nuts every time I look at it. As for quilting mistakes...once the quilt is washed and crinkled up, I can't find my mistakes, so I guess that means there aren't any! ;)
We are always our own worst critic. I'm not sure we ever quite get over seeing the mistakes. Nothing is perfect. As you move on to other projects, the oopsies fade. Enjoy the process, fix what you can and don't sweat the small stuff!
I remember hearing Liz Porter say if you make a mistake, make another just like it and say it's part of the design.
I'm making a BQ3 quilt and I cut all the side blocks opposite of the instructions. Oh well. But I'm thinking only someone with an eagle eye will catch it.
And I hate to break it to you, but, you don't ever stop making mistakes because you are human and that's okay. If you look at quilts in museums, you will see lots of mistakes and wonky quilting but they are works of art? Wouldn't it be boring if everything was exactly perfect?
An Amish friend told me that if she cannot find a mistake in her quilt she creates one. Granted most of the time I can't find the mistake, unless she shows me where it is, but she definately knows it is there. She was taught to do this as a child as part of her faith.
I think it boils down to being our own worst critic. We work so up close and personal with our sewing, watching every stitch and ripple, that it's easy to become overly critical. Every quilt is a learning experience for sure. I've been quilting for over 50 years and I've never made a quilt without wishing I had done something better or differently. I try to enjoy the process and I'm always looking forward to the next quilt. I agree that once a quilt is washed and dried many of the little things disappear.
If you focus on the mistakes it will drive you crazy and I am "crazy" enough. I always say every wrinkle, crinkle or whatever the mistake may be is just a place for the Love that I've put into making the quilt to hide. So you have to have a few wrinkles for the Love.
We are our own worst critics. Having said that we are also human. If we wanted perfection in our quilting then we could buy a machine made item. I think the mistakes give character and are rarely seen by the recipient of your wonderful gift. My quilting ladies say if its perfect it ain't homemade and we stick to it. This is of course only my opinion. Some strive for the perfection Of a blue ribbon winner or a quilt of valor...for me thats way to much stress and enjoy the process start to end without the added perfection stress.
Quilts are made with love! There are no mistakes!
There's always going to be something we're not entirely pleased with, I think.
I have only been at this for a couple of years, but in my case, I know this to be true.
But I will say that on my first quilt to my SIL, I was quick to point out my imperfections. REALLY BIG mistake!
He loves to tease me to no end on a regular day.
From now to my grave, I've created a bit of a quilt policeman...
NEVER, NEVER point out your imperfections. Lord knows, we have enough quilt police! ;)
My eye might go to the mistake....but the person I give it to only sees the colors and beauty and are thrilled to receive a handmade quilt. I no longer point out my mistakes for the same reason as Sue.
I don't make mistakes, I just create a new design!
I agree with not mentioning 'your new design' to anyone else, especially another quilter! I spent hours and hours on a quilt that has blocks on point and one of them was turned sideways. Until another quilter friend pointed out that I should fix it, I didn't even know that it wasn't turned the correct way. I'm not fixing it because it does look just fine the way it is. Besides, if I would fix it, that takes away time from another project begging me to make.
Hugs,
Mine will always have mistakes-especially in the quilting part,since I do all my own-cannot afford to send them out to be done on those fancy,computerized long arm machines. I have just accepted the fact that with time and more experience-perhaps the mistakes will be less-LOL!
I can only echo what each and every other quilter here has said! I love the one who said that each mistake is a place to tuck some love in!
Knowing full well that I am less than perfect I have decided that the "imperfections" that occur in my quilts are gifts for other to find. They are little bits of care and concern that I add to the quilts...at least I have convinced myself, sorta...
Thanks for all the laughs today. This thread is hilarious. We all make mistakes but DO not ever point them out to other people. Bad idea. I am my own worse critic. All the wall-hangings I have done and can not have a one of them hanging in my house. I keep looking at them---thinking why in the world did I put that piece there or I should have done that part different. I am crazy enough without all that added stress. LOL. Yep, if we wanted perfect it would be store bought. Even then those are not perfect.
My suggestion: Please, don't be so hard on yourself. Enjoy the fact you accomplished it and learned so much from each process. Just enjoy quilting!!!!!
It is too bad I didn't save the first quilt I ever finished. LOL. But then again, probably a good thing as I am sure I would have never made another one.
Be Happy and Enjoy Quilting.
They are not mistakes....you are making it original! At the first class I took, the teacher said the Amish always make one goof on purpose, so I call it making it Amish! Unless it is drastic, I don't fix them!
Sorry, but I don't think we ever stop focusing on our mistakes..... The truth s that once a quilt has been washed and dried, most mistakes simply disappear.... Isn't that nice?
I think the hardest thing to do is to NOT point out the mismatched seams, or the missing points.... Non quilters...and that's who we usually quilt for....haven't got a clue.... They just see a beautiful quilt, and are amazed that you made it for them... You'll see....
I never fix my mistakes on quilts. I am not perfect, and I know my quilts will never be perfect. But I look upon making a quilt sort of like God's love for us and our creation. God created us in LOVE, and we are not perfect, but we are perfect the way God created us and we each are a Beautiful Creation.
Each quilt project you do is a creation of LOVE , and is gifted in Love, and perfectly created for the recipient. Each quilt created is a beautiful creation. Most recipients will love the quilt and never notice anything you see as a mistake.
Don't be sew hard on yourself, and just relax and enjoy sewing and quilting.
If you look at it after it is washed, without your glasses on, from three feet away it is really hard to find those mistakes.
I go with the "galloping horse" theory the forum peeps here taught me: if you can't see it from the saddle of a galloping horse, it doesn't matter!
I think sometimes we see the mistakes because we know where they are. Most folks won't see our mistakes, unless they are some expert judge who is looking for our mistakes. I made a major boo boo on a quilt I just finished, but didn't realize it until I had half the quilting already finished and there as nothing I could do about it. I just showed it at guild meeting and not one single person noticed. Or maybe I meant to do that .... yeah mistakes aren't really mistakes afterall.
I am so picky that I tend to focus on my mistakes. I am working on a quilt now (Vintage Moments) and after it was too late, I discovered that one of my points is about 3/16 of an inch off. Others are off, but not that much. It was all I could do to keep from ripping the whole thing apart, but I had already done so much ripping on this quilt that I just couldn't do any more. I may end up giving it away because I'm so sick of it already. I'm really trying to be less of a perfectionist, but it is hard. Lord, give me patience!
I stopped picking out my own mistakes when I went to a quilt show and saw several mistakes (points weren't lined up) on a prize winning quilt. I figure if they can win prizes, my mistakes can pass muster. No one is perfect.Quote:
Originally Posted by lapeoples
I still point them out to myself, but I haven't been quilting that long either. But I don't point them out to anyone else because they either don't notice them or don't mention it lol.
I love my mistakes! I look back at them now and see how much better I have gotten. It is MY way of showing MYSELF how I am improving. Besides - perfect is boring!
I used to do a LOT of counted cross stitch. Big, complex things. They were riddled with mistakes, but no one could find them, which made me happy. With my quilts, I have to take big, deep breaths and just let things go. Some things are HUGE and obviously have to be dealt with. But little things? I just remember the galloping horse and move on.
My deceased hubby's grandma used to say that if there was a mistake in anything you made, it was made with love. She often would point out mistakes in items she quilted, knitted, or sewed. She also told me if the mistake bothered me to make it part of whatever I was making.....So, mistakes really don't bother me much.
When cutting the latest blocks I'm working on (a disappearing 9patch) I made a mistake when cutting the blocks apart to rearrange. I really panicked for a few minutes then thought to myself how do I save this. What I did was cut all the blocks with the same mistake and created my own pattern. The top is now finished and I love it! Can't wait to have it quilted.
Jen........I was looking to see if someone had mentioned the "galloping horse" rule..............too funny! :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Jen7
If the quilt is perfect, the Devil gets into it. Also common in New England years ago.Quote:
Originally Posted by wackyaunt3
Man on horseback, running for his life, will never see a mistake like that. My mother's pet saying.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jen7
Art professor - GET YOUR NOSE OUT OF IT. Meaning the closer you looked at the detail, the more you saw wrong instead of the big picture.
Neither saying has soaked in.
Perfection is not part of my dictionary in quilting terms. I don't strive for it so I don't expect it. If something turns out well enough that something I not "glaring" at me, I don't worry about it. If I see one and show DH or DD and they don't see it until I point it out, that is good enough for me.