Scrap Happy

Everyone has already given you such good advice I don’t have any new suggestions for you. Just wanted to 2nd a couple things.

I think you are being waaaaaay too hard on yourself. We quilters tend to see the goofs on our own quilts that others don’t see. I like the suggestion about making easy quilts for children in crisis. The children will love them.

charity-crafter

Go back to the parts you enjoy and do that for awhile. In the beginning I couldn't make anything work properly. You wouldn't beleive the number of UFO's that I gave away because I just couldn't bear to look at them any longer.

My first attempt was a double wedding ring quilt... yes, all the knowledgeable people are quietly laughing at me right now.

Then I didn't pay attention to the bias lines on my templates because I could get more pieces from the fabric if I just lined them up...go figure, there's a reason for the bias edges helps with the easing around edges

and then I used sheets because that's what my grandmother said she did, but I negelected to trim off, or rip out the decorative pieces at the top of the sheet and only needed just a little bit more and it wouldn't matter.

And then I wasn't very good at cutting or sewing straight lines so my pieces sometimes didn't fit quite right.

Needless to say, it's sitting on the top shelf, I'm not sure it will ever be finished.

A few other disasters occurred. I made a quilt for my nephew and after the first wash there were a bunch of seams that needed to be fixed because my 1/4" seam wasn't quite 1/4". I had to fix that.

I made a photo quilt for my aunt and uncle's 60th wedding anniversary, fortunately they didn't try to wash it. My uncle framed it and then told me that the quilt wasn't square. He had to fiddle with it some to make look good in the frame.

I finally got better when I went back to basics, read a lot of books from the library, check out a lot of good videos on youtube and just listening to others and learning as you go.

Take a break if it's driving you crazy. And honestly, even now that I can make pretty decent tops I don't feel like I make them good enough to sale.

jillnjo

I agree that if we don't truly love or enjoy a hobby,it's fine to pursue another that we do,but that said,you may just be too hard on yourself! Choose something simple and use fabrics you love,get it completed and you'll feel wonderful!I promise you everyone can pick out many personal mistakes that others never see.I'm cheering you on!!

GreatStarter

HUGS! Brenda you are not alone. Please don't sell everything off or you are likely to really regret it down the road.
Right now I suspect you need to take time off from trying to quilt. Go outside if the weather is getting springish there. Go watch movies you love, eat your favorite food, just do something that is totally unrelated to quilting.
More HUGS!!! Take a big breath and take a long break.
Kat

btiny36

Quilting is just a pleasure craft for me, I really don't have any plans of trying to do this for a living....If you go to my blog and go to the archives starting in 2009...there is a few of my quilts....They may all look fine, but the trials and frustration that went into each and every quilt doesn't show.....thanks for listening......My Fiance' says I'm just having a moment, maybe he's right, then maybe not....The closest place to take classes is 1hr 30minutes away..... :-(

Central Ohio Quilter

Please don't give up! I always have something go wrong with each quilt. I take is as a learning experience and go on from there. I have often made the same mistake more than once, several times in fact.

Maybe take a couple steps backward and make some really easy project to get your confidence back. Relearn the basics and you might find a step or two that you skipped at the beginning, thinking they weren't all that important at the time, or they didn't apply to what you were doing at the time. Now a couple of those beginner steps might make all the difference.

Use this board as a sounding board for each of your problems and I'm sure there will be 10 or 20 people with 10 or 20 different ideas on how to fix things.

Good luck!

Ramona Byrd

I think you need a vacation. Set back with a glass of wine and stare out the window. Go see a good movie. Have dinner in town.


Close the door on the sewing and let it set for at least a week.

You sound just plain TIRED and need a rest.

Then I think you could go back to sewing and enjoy it.

btiny36

Someone asked what made me get into quilting...The mother of an exboyfriend...She was a wonderful wonderful quilter plus she sewed clothes....I grew very very close to her and am still very close to her...she was my inspiration and still is....but unforunately, we live over 2 hrs away, so I don't get to see her very often and when we do meet it is usually in a coffee shop and do lots of show and tell....I love her to pieces for sure....maybe I will call her tonight.....

btiny36

So with my current frustration with the wolf song quilt, I'm on the last borders that will be 5inches wide...I've read on this forum that some rip the borders....so in order to do that do I just measure 5inches, make a slice and then rip????I just want to finish this stupid quilt, thank heavens the person that is recieving this quilt isn't judgemental at all and just wants a homemade quilt....

feline fanatic

Ripping the borders? I had never read that here. I have read when some fabric shops used to rip the yardage you bought. I would not take chances with ripping a border, I would cut my 5" strips then measure your completed center at the center for the border length measurements. I like to attach my side borders first so measure the length of the center of your quilt from the center (do not measure the edges). Cut your side borders to that measurement then pin them in place easing in any fullness.

Once those are on do the same for your top and bottom borders.

Good luck.