camillacamilla

I was working on a Mariner's star quilt, with the background being black/gray fabric to imitate the nighttime sky. My Dh was not meaning to be negative, and he thought the workmanship was lovely..BUT he had never seen a quilt with so much black, and said it looked evil. lol. Okay the evil part is funny. Him saying he didn't like the colors has kind of made me lose interest. I know it only matters what I think, but I just can't get my interest back in it. Do I just shelve it and go onto something else, or force myself to complete it?

BlueChicken

I have no words of wisdom to give you.... someone else will no doubt. But I know EXACTLY how you feel.

I was making some blocks about a year ago and someone I know made rather disparaging comments about the colours I'd chosen. I was so gutted I put it aside and I still haven't gone back to it. I actually found them the other day and quickly pushed them back out of sight so I didn't have to remember.

I'm lucky with hubby though... he's colour blind, so any time he says he doesn't like the colours I've chosen I can brush it aside, what would he know! LOL

Maybe you should post pictures on here of what you've done so far. It may be that the colours are going to look great and people will say, or it may be that someone will suggest adding a little of something else and that will be the key to get you enthusiastic again.

Shemjo

It is sad when an off hand remark makes us doubt our color sense! Show us what you have and see who your friends are! :lol:

2K

New or not, I'm stepping right into the middle of this one.

PLEASE - DON'T let someone ELSE take your joy that easily! Mercy! The project is YOURS. If someone else believes my quilts are not worth my finishing, I would ask them to bring their perfect quilt so I could see how it was made and learn from it. Until then, I quilt for ME.

Besides, I happen to like black and would most likely find your quilt interesting! Pics? Could the both of you show pics?

TeeHeeHee. I'm such a rule breaker, I'd finish it and have a blast doing so.

My husband chose the colors he wanted for his quilt and asked me to make it. Said make it any way I wanted to. You should see it. When I started, I KNEW he was crazy. Now I just LOVE it and I had a BLAST making it! Colors I would never have chosen for myself! Reds, oranges, batiks, gorgeous. Named it "Hell Fire". Everyone that sees it loves it.

Please - YOU be the keeper of your emotions, eh? Make the quilt! I wanna see!

Quiltgranny

I'm sorry to hear about this. I think I know exactly what you're talking about. I'm making a quilt for my DH, but he didn't care for the design on half of the blocks, so made his own - templates and all. Needless to say, that complicated my life immensely in a heartbeat. One, I'd never worked with templates and applique, and two, DH could only see this whole affair as "simple" as he did not have a clue to the construction issues I was now facing.

Well, here we are, three and a half years later. I've struggled with that project off and on during that time, ripping and restarting, trying to accomplish what he wanted and not knowing how to do it. It didn't help that he kept telling me how "simple" this should be. Well, at my lowest point, just before Christmas 08, I got SO frustrated I finally said, "Fine, if you think this is so simple, YOU DO IT."

He took my invitation, but I had to stop him within the first 5 minutes or he might have ruined my sewing machine. I'll spare you the details. Needless to say, this silly problem has caused a rift between us after 24 years of marriage. Obviously, I would feel bad working on other projects during these three years, but I was just having such a hard time.

Finally, this New Years, I just resolved to finish it the best way I could. I now have the top done, and I'll be darned if we're not having a discussion on how the backing should be put together! He wants me to enter this quilt in our little local show in Sept, but I don't know. Trouble is, when others see it, they tell me how awesome it is and that I should enter it. Too bad something that was initially a gift of love has turned into such a burr in our saddles.

Is your project for your DH or someone else? If it's for someone else, I'd just go ahead and do whatever you feel comfortable with. If it were for him, that might be a different story, lol. Criticism can be a difficult thing to deal with for a variety of reasons. Constructive criticism can even help us learn, depending on who is giving it and how. My DH is an artist, so for example, he does see color differently than I do, but this isn't his art, it's mine. I often take his comments under advisement, but sometimes our color schemes have little to do with Art Class and more to do with our inner creativity. Don't let your DH stifle that in you!

Good luck to you. If you don't mind, I'd like to show you a pic of what my DH and I have been haggling over all this time.

Karla

2K

Now THAT would be a fine name for that quilt..."A Burr in my Saddle". Yes, you should enter it. You've done a wonderful job.

Why not use the entire event as a reason to laugh your butt off. And IF my husband ever uses my machine and messes it up, that's great too. I'm sure I could find SOMETHING to do until my new one got here! He quilts my quilts. He purchased the quilter and the frame, he picked out and purchased my Janome 6500. (I know him well enough to know he'd rather buy another machine than a coffin.)

Men! Learn to laugh at em, and with em, they're really quite funny you know! :mrgreen:

omak

No, you don't shelve it. I, like the others would like to see a picture, but I have had a lot of experience of people not understanding the big picture. Sometimes, color ways are like sausage ... the process isn't appealing, but the finished project? Yum! Anyway, when someone runs in to color ways that they don't understand, they say so. But, when the whole project gets done, they have to change their mind. I made a spool quilt one time and was describing the colors to my mom. Red, yellow, green, blue, and black background. The thought was bothersome to her, but when she finally saw the finished project, she was amazed!
When I made a Victory quilt for a lady, she instructed that she wanted black background. Can you imagine red, white, and blue Victory blocks with a black background??? It was GORGEOUS! But, I wasn't so sure when I took the order.

The lady with the western quilt - - beautiful! But, then, I am a cowboy girl, so you can do all that you want, none of it would be bad.
I'm not sure what the hangup is, but the one thing I do know - - the man you married is worth more than any quilty differences. A human is always more important than any material object. I am interested in the fact that he took so much interest in the quilt that he even made templates! If he isn't quilting all ready, I know what my plan for his life would be <g>. Is this a talent/interest you didn't know he had? If you have been partners in life for 24 years, then obviously you are learning to work together in a way not imagined before ... growing together can be a challenge, most definitely a refining exercise. If the hardest thing you ever have to do in your marriage is make a quilt the way he wants it, I would think you are getting a good bargain. When my mind goes into rebellion, and the thing I am looking at isn't illegal, illogical, immoral, or unethical, I absolutely know that Someone has something for me to learn, and I will appreciate the learning. {{{Hugs}}}} for both of you. First for you and then from your husbands - - men who pay attention to what you are doing it is a compliment. (at least from what I have noticed in your typing <g>)

kluedesigns

most mariners are put on a dark background to make the colors pop. typically people use blue but i've seen dozens in black and dark grey.

i wouldn't take it to heart. my DH often helps me with colors choices but sometimes i just have to over rule his idea for artistic reasons.

while we are both artists - his craft is music and mine is fiber - every thing the other says about the project is taken with a grain of salt because its just not their field of expertise.

Skeat

First I have to say I don't want to 'rain' on dh's parade of color ...but, 'black' makes your stars pop! If you want a subject to really pop and show off, put black behind it...:)Maybe he has a phobia over sharp objects...tee-hee....ignore it...move forward! I took a quilt in that I appliqued using invisible thread and a blind hem stitch...(my favorite stitch to applique with)and was told that it looked like 'cra*' and 'why did you do it that way?!' ............I could have come home and hid in the closet...but, I have to laugh for this gal, which is her thing, is still stuck in the 70's and likes to stitch the pooh out of everything....like satin stitches only....not my thing. Just ignore it...and, tell the poor man, 'ignorance is bliss'...(on his part):)SKeat

kwhite

Quiltgranny that is a wonderful quilt. I love it. And to all three of you having these troubles, I say finish the quilts and give them to people who will appreciate them for every stitch in them. See then if your former would be recipients are so quick to criticize again.