Thread: Here's a thought.......

I've been battling putting my latest top together this afternoon. I've grumbled my way through unpicking the seams joining my rows and re-sewing them, I've tinkered with my tension and my foot pressure and I've set and pressed each seam with dogged diligence. And still I'm not happy, I stand back and wince at bits of it; I've walked away in exasperation and sat down to watch the cricket on the T.V (Big Bash Cricket...love it so much more than Test), grabbed myself a beer and wondered why the heck this wretched quilt top is giving me so much more grief than my previous one...which was the same, very simple basic pattern. And it has just dawned on me.....it's not that this quilt is being so much more difficult but rather, I've gleaned that little bit more experience now and am seeing faults that I never noticed or cared overly about in previous quilts.

So when I next venture back into the sewing room I won't go in there with the mindset "determined to battle this quilt top" or "the" machine. Instead, I'll go in there with an appreciation of how my quilting journey and craft is unfolding. Mind you, it may never "unfold" into anything stupendous or exhibition worthy but it will amount to accomplishment of some sort!!

I agree. I think I learn a little something with each quilt I make. Keep at it. I think of what Tim Gunn on Project Runway says all the time ... "Make it work". HA! Even though I, too, rip stitches, I finally do make things workout and usually have a "light bulb" moment of what I was doing wrong.

Awareness is a huge step -

Even though I tend to be in the pickier group - there are times when "good enough" is the best that one can do at the moment or that the materials will allow.

Great way to rethink a challenge. Some quilts do give one set of hurdles after the other and I am oh so happy to pass them onto someone who doesn't know the struggle I had with it. Sometimes finished is better than perfect.