Every Quilt Doesn't Have to be a Masterpiece
08-11-2011, 07:06 AM
#101
Super Member
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 1,152
What a Lovely story. My mother, who taught me to piece and quilt a quilt was a perfectionist. I would quilt and she would come along behind me, remove my stitching and make me do it over. If it wasn't up to her standards, she again would remove the stitching but then, she would do the stitching to replace my 2nd try with her own. Mine wen't bad, just a little longer than hers. Yes, it can be very intimidating.I laid my quilt making aside until my oldest son got married. I made his soon to be bride one for her shower gift and have been making quilts ever since. That was 30 years ago and can't really count how many I have made since. The one thing I do remember is making over 200 small quilts, single bed quilts in two years. No, I didn't sell them, I donated them to a local Veteran's hospital.
My son tells me I am an artist personified, what ever than means. Should get out my old trustee dictionary. Never tought of it as any big deal.
My son tells me I am an artist personified, what ever than means. Should get out my old trustee dictionary. Never tought of it as any big deal.
08-11-2011, 07:10 AM
#102
Super Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: 25 yrs in TN; now back home in MI
Posts: 1,871
My approach to quilts is that it must be foremost functional. I hope to hand down memories and warm hugs.
My mom had so many nice things to "save for good" that they were never used and no one in the family has a connection with them. They're just things that I'm moving on.
My mom had so many nice things to "save for good" that they were never used and no one in the family has a connection with them. They're just things that I'm moving on.
08-11-2011, 07:16 AM
#104
Junior Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Greenville, SC
Posts: 113
I couldn't agree more! I just finished a New York Beauty (88" x 96") because I wanted a challenge and wanted to "prove" myself. Well, it's done (pictures to come, eventually), but I'm not sure it's any more satisfying than many of the simpler quilts I've done. Sure, it may be a work of art, but from what I"ve heard, the average non-quilter certainly doesn't think it's any better--and it took me eight months to finish!
I also read a thread on here recently that basically trashed smokers and the "stink" on the fabric. I'm not proud of it, but I'm a smoker. Yet, I've never had a recipient of any of my quilts be moved to anything less than tears by my gift of a quilt. Perhaps the smell bothers them and they just don't say anything, but from the prominent display and use of the quilts I think this is unlikely.
What I'm getting at is that I have to remember that I quilt because I love to quilt. I don't need to do it for anyone else's approval, or to prove myself to anyone. The day I start doing that it becomes a job, and the fun is gone. So, keep taking the challenges if you love a challenge, but once in a while do something simple with pretty fabric just because you can!
I also read a thread on here recently that basically trashed smokers and the "stink" on the fabric. I'm not proud of it, but I'm a smoker. Yet, I've never had a recipient of any of my quilts be moved to anything less than tears by my gift of a quilt. Perhaps the smell bothers them and they just don't say anything, but from the prominent display and use of the quilts I think this is unlikely.
What I'm getting at is that I have to remember that I quilt because I love to quilt. I don't need to do it for anyone else's approval, or to prove myself to anyone. The day I start doing that it becomes a job, and the fun is gone. So, keep taking the challenges if you love a challenge, but once in a while do something simple with pretty fabric just because you can!
08-11-2011, 07:41 AM
#107
Super Member
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: NC
Posts: 1,230
I love this discussion line! I quilt for myself also. It takes me away like nothing else seems to! I buy mostly fqs & enjoy creating colorful quilts we them. This I do for me, doesn't matter if others like, or not, but most I show do. I think any challenge, or wanting to try anything new, should come from within, not from outside pressure. I was raised by a control freak, perfectionist mother, although she wasn't in her personal life, she just did it for show. So I still work on getting past this too & not letting what others say or think, really matter. I don't quilt to please them, I quilt for my own inner peace & happiness. Not as a job either, or I would quit for sure! Just follow your heart & quilt for the love of it, & always, enjoy the journey!....I love your avitar quilt too, it's beautiful, great job!....
08-11-2011, 08:01 AM
#110
Super Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: So. Fla now, Va orig
Posts: 1,565
Originally Posted by pumpkinpatchquilter
This is the lesson I am slowly learning. I have been quilting for 6 years, and as a new quilter I surrounded myself with some of THE most knowledgeable, and intimidating quilters in the area. I was 24 years old, green and new to the quilting world when I began. As I progressed I felt like I had to do BIGGER, BETTER, and GREATER to be taken even a little bit seriously by these women who were much older than me and knew what seemed to be SO very much more than me about quilting. If I wasn't getting snubbed for my age I was getting snubbed for my skill level. I am an artist at heart, all I wanted for years when I was young was to go to art school. That unfortunately never happened for me as I started a family early, and many of you know just how hard it is to go back to school with small children. But it was a blessing, truly, because my family is my world, and making a quilt for my daughter was what brought me to find my life's passion in quilting. All of this combined with a really awful experience with a quilt shop owner who hired me to teach a class but then treated me so rudely as if I didn't know a darn thing I was talking about has left me with this need to prove myself artistically and I feel like for the past several years I've been on this personal MISSION to prove to anybody and EVERYBODY that I am capapble, I am skilled, and gosh darnit, I'm artistic!!!
You know what? I refuse to live with that insecurity any longer, I know who I am and what I can do. Here I am. I am 30 years old, I'm a Mother first and foremost, second a wife, and third I'm a dedicated quilter. I have finally learned that FOR ME, every quilt doesn't need to be a masterpiece. Every quilt that I create does not have to knock everybody's socks off, and it doesn't have to encase all the techniques I have learned in the past 6 years to PROVE that I am a capable quilter. That is not to say I don't do the best I can with every quilt, but a corner that doesn't match perfectly doesn't always need to be ripped and resewn. Every project doesn't need to be the hardest and most complicated project I've ever done. I adore challenging projects but a simple nine patch quilt can be just as satisfying to complete as the most complicated paper pieced mariners compass.
Thanks for the vent. Just thought I'd share that little revelation, because I know I'm not the only one who feels like they need to prove themselves to the local quilting veterans. ;)
You know what? I refuse to live with that insecurity any longer, I know who I am and what I can do. Here I am. I am 30 years old, I'm a Mother first and foremost, second a wife, and third I'm a dedicated quilter. I have finally learned that FOR ME, every quilt doesn't need to be a masterpiece. Every quilt that I create does not have to knock everybody's socks off, and it doesn't have to encase all the techniques I have learned in the past 6 years to PROVE that I am a capable quilter. That is not to say I don't do the best I can with every quilt, but a corner that doesn't match perfectly doesn't always need to be ripped and resewn. Every project doesn't need to be the hardest and most complicated project I've ever done. I adore challenging projects but a simple nine patch quilt can be just as satisfying to complete as the most complicated paper pieced mariners compass.
Thanks for the vent. Just thought I'd share that little revelation, because I know I'm not the only one who feels like they need to prove themselves to the local quilting veterans. ;)
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