Canada Kate

I, too, get very discouraged when I see what other people can do. However, even though I know what I make are very simple, people who get them think they are the best thing since sliced bread. I think it's because hardly anyone learns how to sew anymore, and people don't have time to make handmade things. (They no longer teach sewing in high schools in my city anymore, and my own 18 year old daughter has no interest in learning any needle crafting at all. How disappointing! I'm hoping someday for a granddaughter who wants to learn this stuff.)

I know where all my mistakes are, and I bet everyone knows that for their own quilts, but non-quilters don't get out their magnifying glass and look for mistakes. Do not dispair! One of the first quilts that I made was a queen sized one that I designed using Quilt Wizard software. It is comprised of 12" blocks and many of them are cut off and not straight, and many of the points in the stars don't match, and some of them are cut off, too. It's on the sofa in my family room and gets used all the time. On the label on the back I put the date and wrote a note about how I didn't think it was very nice, but that I was a rank beginner. Maybe someday it will end up at a yard sale when my kids clean out my house after I die. :-)
There's a picture of it below and you can see the points cut off in one of the blocks! I also quilted it using my Janome 4100QDC and I had to wrestle with it, but it can be done.

I only stitch in the ditch and have never sent anything out for LA as I assumed it was really expensive. Thanks for the link to Happy Crafters - their prices seems quite reasonable to me. Now, the only problem that I have is that Happy Crafters is in the States and I am in Canada. Does anyone know of any LA quilters in Canada that don't cost an arm and a leg?