sandy l

Some days I have a week of feeling like getting rid of every quilting thing I have. Take a deep breath and hang in there.

DJ

Been there ... Done that ...
One of my first quilts, before I had a 1/4" foot or a walking foot was to be a bed quilt for DD's wedding. I struggled and struggled, and was really not enjoying the process. As I forced myself to do one or two blocks every once in a while, I would say, well, I have enough now for a table topper ... two place mats now ... etc. Then I finally stopped when I had enough for a nice wall hanging. I had thousands of little pieces of fabric cut to do the rest of the quilt that I finally got rid of.

Hope you get your quilt worked out to your satisfaction. There's some great advice for you here.

Sewnoma

Oh yes, yes, yes, of course I have felt this way. I bet we all have, at some point or another.

I don't have any practical advice that others haven't already given - I'm terrible with flying geese and HST's myself, I can never get those things to match up as they should. I make a lot of quilts that are based on squares and rectangles!!

pocoellie

My quilts are far from perfect, but have found that starching the fabric a minimum of 2 hours before using, then air drying or a few minutes in the drier, then ironing, helps me tremendously. Also when you press your blocks, make sure that you're PRESSING and not IRONING. Please don't get discouraged. We tend to be very critical of our own works, whereas whoever receives the quilt won't see the "mistakes" but instead, will be thrilled to receive the gift of a quilt.

francie yuhas

Perfection is over-rated. Nobody slips under a quilt and says" but the points don't match!".... I follow the 2 mm/3 rule....2 mm is close enough/3 times with the ripper is the limit. Relax,sip an appropriate beverage,put on good music,and enjoy the colors and feel of your work. When in doubt...give it to an animal shelter...the cats love them and dogs are color blind.

feline fanatic

More times than I care to admit I have taken that block to the ironing board, pressed it, examined that chopped off point or that mismatched seam and muttered "close enough" and continued on. I like Francie's 2mm/3 rule and think I will be borrowing it .

Onebyone

Some of my quilts are disasters, points cut off, seams not matching, wonky blocks and sometimes bad fabric choices. It doesn't bother me. Quilting is a creative process for me and the end result is what it is.

jfowles

Thank you so much for all the posts of encouragement. I'm going to find a basic quilting class and go back and relearn what I thought I knew. I'm self-taught and I think I need an outside opinion and support. I feel so supported here and can't tell you hOW much I appeciate it.The offending quilt is sandwiched and I will quilt it as it is now (still like the fabric and there is a semblance of the intended pattern). You are right, when someone is using it to keep warm, I don't think they are going to notice what point is where. I need to slow down and be more accurate. It's not the race I some times feel like I make it. THANKS

hevemi

If this is any consolation: there is no such thing as perfect. Did you know that the oriental "perfect" rugs are supposed to contain at least one mistake ( a faulty knot) made on purpose because no one but God is perfect?

lclang

If there is a quilt guild near you, please go to a meeting and ask for assistance or a quilting buddy. Ours is a continual source of encouragement to anyone starting out. Otherwise if there is a quilt shop nearby, ask if they have beginner classes and if not, if they know someone who quilts a lot who might be able to help you and then CALL them for help. There is help near you and you just need to find it. If these are not options for you, take pictures and post them on this board and we will assist if possible. There are also a lot of free videos on U-tube and Missouri Star Quilt Co. with clear instructions. Take some time to view them and you can learn a lot.