Another Mom Saying
 

One of my Mom's sayings was

"Nothing succeeds like success."

I think this really applies quilting - if the first projects turn out "well enough" - it is a lot more fun to keep on going.

Conversely, if the first projects are "failures" - it is more easy to say "forget it" - and go on to something else.

Do you have any phrases that seem to apply to quilting?

The old carpenters mantra: " measure twice - cut once". I have that going through my head whenever I start cutting anything.
And: "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong" (Murphy's law)

It's really obvious, but "a stitch in time saves nine."

I remind myself of that when the components of a block aren't measuring right. It takes less time to figure out what's wrong and fix it rather than keep going and try to fit that wrong-sized block into the quilt.

"A stitch in time saves nine" was my grandma's favorite saying and she had the patience of a saint and she was a wonderful seamstress and quilter.

and the corollary "at the worst possible moment"

If you want to do something you will find the time to do it. And this one: There is never enough time to do it right, but always enough time to do it again [h=2][/h]

If you don't rip it out, you won't wear it out.

Not really sewing related, but my life sometimes seems like a 'two steps forward, one step back' process.

For sewing I tell myself 'one stitch at a time'. Life can be like that too.

Idle hands are the devils workshop.

Ha, ha, did anyone else's mother tell them, "If you don't stop crying I'll give you something to really cry about!" :eek:What can I say? Mothers in the 50's were strict.

Then there is Boyle's corollary to Murphy's Law: "Murphy was an optimist".

If you don't succeed at first, try, try, again...then throw in the towel.

My mom used this mantra a lot: "better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it."

It's why I always ask for a little extra fabric than what the pattern calls for.

So wise and so true!! Sounds like a fortune cookie. I love this one.

How about this one: Anything worth doing is worth doing right. :o

"Just because everyone else is jumping off the cliff, doesn't mean you have to"

My late sister had a saying that she used all the time....."Good enough for a town this size". Meaning that no one in this town would "police" her quilting (or whatever. Lately I find myself saying it also.

My mom would say "Oh well, dont worry about that! No one will notice on a galloping horse!" She always insisted if we found a block turned wrong she did it that way on purpose. I miss that crazy old girl!

My Mom used to say to me "If one more person tells me what a nice girl you are I'm going to throw a chair at them!" We still laugh at that. And I asked her why a chair? haha

Yes, I'm one of those mothers wh said that...and being strict wasn't all that bad..they turned out great with a good value system.......

My Mother always said, "The dreading is worse than the doing." Funny, I am still amazed that this is so true whether it was studying, grading papers, cooking, household chores and even crafting - cutting a pattern, sandwiching or quilting.

If you don't use your head, you'll use your feet.

Seems I do that a lot more lately! "Now what did I come in here to get"--and I'll remember when I've left the room!

A good friend said she always was thinking of the 'here after' 'cause everytime she went into another room, she would think, 'now what I did I come here after?'

Don't count your chickens until they hatch. A fool and his money are soon parted. Money's burning a hole in your pocket. A penny for your thoughts. Better to try and fail, than never try at all. All you have to fear, is fear itself.

I keep hearing my Grandmother's voice in my head saying all her wise wisdom sayings which were never ending in my childhood. Loved her to the moon and back. In her lifetime, she walked or rode in buggy and saw man on the moon. What changes will our children's children see in life? Seize the moment and live today, plan for tomorrow and the future will be bright. Yesterday is history, tomorrow is the future, and today is the present or a 'gift', so enjoy today and make it a good one.

My Mom would always say "don't do something half-a##ed" and would say that if you are "down" it's because you aren't busy enough.

My mentoring teacher said that only boring people are bored--the rest find something to do! and she'd tell her teen daughter that "only uneducated people use vulgar language--the rest of us can get the same point across with better vocabulary"

Everything is easy once you know how.

My favorite Aunt told me the only thing we can count on is change. So true.............

A favorite expression of mine is that only lazy people use curse words; I used to tell my students that Churchill was a master at turning people's words on themselves. I also used to tell them that , if you were smart, you could call anyone a "low-down son of a sea biscuit" and walk away with all your teeth, because most folks would not know exactly what you meant.

My Mom, (Who is likely reading this.), often says, "A blind man would be happy to see it." when I am nervous about how a quilt is turning out.

Not sure that's helping my nerves, Mom. :D

Watson

During summer vacation,you never complained to Mom about having nothing to do.

Her stock reply “I will find you something to do”.......meaning work. She was smart,
it only took once & she didn’t hear that complaint again.:)

Another one -

"it will all come out in the wash - - - hogwash!"

My grandmother's, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all" would work in quilting, too.

The famous "I'm not going to tell you again!" As kids we learned never to say "I'm glad you aren't".

That never made sense to me as a kid or as an adult. It never made anything better, and it never stopped me, or anyone else, from crying.

As an adult, I realized that a kid cries for a reason. Find out what it is and at least sympathize. Magically, a little sympathy often stops tears.

I agree Cathyvv.

My my dad would tell us, ‘ I can’t make you do it, but I can make you wish you had’

"If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?"

Finished is better than perfect!

I had a co-woker that said, "Use it up, Wear it Out, or Do without."

When we were at my grandmother's house and we were putting things on the table or taking them off, if you asked where to put something, she would say, "Find a place to put it or you can stand there and hold it." I'm afraid I use that quite a bit myself.

My grandma gave my sister and I each a piece of fabric to hem for the wooden doll cradle that grandpa had just made for us. She had pressed a hem all the way around and all we had to do was stitch the hem as she had taught us. I was in a hurry and using big basting stitches, about three fourths of the way done when she came in to check on our progress. My sister was stitching her nice little stitches and when grandma looked at mine she said, with disappointment, "Now, is that the way I taught you? Take the stitches out and start over". I was so upset that I had disappointed her. I learned at the age of 8 to do it right the first time! She was the best grandma!!!

My Mom's saying was "Don't poke a skunk".

Don't remember my Mom had said but one my daughter always said to her 5 kids at mealtimes. "Eat what you get & don't throw a fit!"... no picky eaters here....