If its close, I leave it, if its blatantly noticeable, I redo it. Most of my friends who receive my quilts don't have any idea about quilting so I'm safe there. They just look at all the pieces in the quilt, the quilting itself and think I'm amazing. Why would I want to change their opinion??????

But I am getting better at matching my seams. Just finished 216 3.5 4-patches for a quilt I'm working on. Having the seams nest sure works nicely and pretty much they all matched pretty good. Maybe a few are off but just a scant thread or two but I can live with that.

You guys all have a little more patience than me - If it bothers me, I will rip it twice. If still not perfect, then so be it. No one, even me, will notice it when it's finished.

Ditto.....

No! And yes, you are too critical. Unless you are making quilts for sale or you are obsessed with winning prizes, be as accurate as you can be without giving yourself a mental hernia. froggyintexas

No, definitely not perfect.

Sometimes I un-sew and re-sew, sometimes I don't. Depends on how bad the boo-boo is, and who the quilt is for. If it's for myself I just leave it unless it's something I know I will constantly see and go mad about. If it's for family, I usually leave it unless it's really bad or it's on an "important" quilt. (Like, a wedding or baby quilt is more "important" than a random quilt I give for a birthday or Christmas.) I try to make each quilt better than the last, but "important" quilts get extra special attention.

I find that if I'm super careful right from the start, I usually don't have to re-sew anything. I made a quilt specifically to be entered into the fair last year and I was meticulously careful every step of the way, trying to make the best quilt I possibly could, and it went together so neatly that almost every seam matched perfectly and I didn't have to even touch my seam ripper once. Simple boxy blocks, but still! I'd only been quilting about year at that point and I was super proud of myself, LOL. (Got a 4th place ribbon too!)

But being extra super careful is stressful and takes away a lot of the fun for me, so MOST of the time I fly by the seat of my pants a little more, accept flaws and mistakes as they happen, and just enjoy myself. :)

I will rip something once if I can't live with it, but most of the time I can live with imperfection in my piecing. I always remind myself that I am a hobby quilter and I quilt for fun.

I just worked on a wedge border for a quilt. I'd never done this before and even with watching the tutorial several times I still managed to overlap the wrong side of the point so my first attempt would have all the points cut off. I started again and as I started to understand how the triangles needed to go together to keep the points I did a lot of ripping and resewing. It was worth it in the end.

Unless you're going for competition, I'd let it go. If doing it for yourself and you can live with it, let it go. If it's a gift for a loved one, let it go - they'll be too busy appreciating your efforts to even notice.

I have learned that what is acceptable to one person may not be acceptable to another person.

Mismatched seams may be more stressful to some than redoing them for a closer match.

Yes, my piecing is perfect. (Not!) :)

What's important is what satisfies you. Are you obsessed because of an outside standard you are trying to live up to? Or are you obsessed because you are precise by nature, and find it satisfying to be exact? I think whatever we are happy with is the way we should quilt.

Sometimes I will rip seams out if they are seriously wonky; but I won't let myself demand perfect seams, as I do tend to be a perfectionist. That said, I know my piecing isn't perfect, but it's close enough for me and the longer I quilt the better I get at lining up my seams. I don't know anyone who has one of my quilts that will check the quilt that closely, so I need to lighten up and quilt for the joy of quilting and less on being perfect.

I am a quilter with disability. I make a lot of mistakes, especially when the fibro fog sets in. If it is something large like sewing my blocks together wrong, I will fix it. If it's something small like my seams being a tiny bit off, I don't worry about it. If they are off 1/4" or more, I will fix that. Anything less and I don't worry about that either.

Of course I try to do my very best, but if I required perfection of myself, I'd probably still be working on my first quilt, rather than the 100+ I have made and gifted to those in need of special quilt comforts.

Not one person has ever rejected a quilt or complained of it's small imperfections.

I am not perfect, and trying to make perfect quilts would take away all the fun and pleasure I get from making them and would have prevented a lot of happy people from having quilts that I have made for them.

Perhaps if I were in business and charging people for the work, I would feel differently about it, but that isn't why I quilt, and never will be. It's not something I want to do, and I'm pretty sure it would be out of my league. LOL.

If after ripping and resewing three rimes, I give up and move on. No one will notice. Precision everything works the best. Most times I can't do it. I am still trying to make a perfect quilt and after 136 quilts, lots of comforters, biscuit quilt and such I still can do perfect. I think if I keep trying I may get closer. I am my worst critic.

Third time is a charm. If it doesn't match to suit me after the third re-do, I either re-cut and re-do, or let it go; whatever mood I am in at that given moment--no one has ever said anything about my l/8" out of whack seam; and that is all I will allow before I will redo. But I haven't done serious points, so I may be speaking out of my league here--wait and see. When I get to the point that I am talking to myself, I just quit for the day, and go cook something.

I do try for accuracy but quilting is supposed to be fun!

I agree, if someone is going to criticize if every seam lines up, they can make their own quilts. My unmatched seams are design modifications! haha

I've enjoyed reading all your opinions and want to add mine. I'm new to quilting (sewed garments for decades) and the need for accurate cutting and seaming which sounds easy but is proving difficult for me. So many variables in achieving accurate seams and making blocks that fit together. I'm currently working on a quilt that is giving me tons of practice in developing these skills. And I am ripping and sewing, ripping and sewing until I get it right because I think if I can develop accuracy as I go, then maybe it will be close to second nature to me as I become more experienced. For instance, I've learned that I will have to get better before I can do chain sewing. I tried that at first (it looked so easy) and I was amazed at how off my seams could be. After ripping all that I sewed in one day, I started making and measuring one block at a time. That helped with my sewing accuracy and showed me my cutting had not been as true as it should have been; did some re-cutting. Also tried 3 different feet (2 different kinds of 1/4" and 1regular) before I decided which foot worked the best. Of course, I tried various needle positions with each foot. So there is a lot to know and be careful of just to get the 1/4 inch seam. Sorry to be so long winded, but this subject is using up my brain cells these days ;)

Long ago when I was working on my degree, I observed that it took a measure of OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) to complete advanced work. You have to work hard, work consistently, and really care about the outcome.

But there were people for whom NOTHING was ever good enough: those who could not hand in a paper without agonizing, who were never satisfied with any of their work, and who, in the end, could not complete their final thesis for fear that it wasn't perfect.

There is such a thing as too critical about accuracy - and I would say that if it keeps you from completing things, if you are harsh about your work in a way that you would never be harsh about others' - you might want to reassess. Perfection is impossible.

As as bearisgray pointed out, often "good enough is good enough."

I am sure trying to have this type of perfection. Less seam ripper time and effort, less pinning (I would love to have master control of finger sewing, and back up "glue."

As others have said, Nope - not perfect, not by a looonng shot! But it is getting easier and better. I am currently working on a fall wall hanging that has 8 Maple Leaf blocks and 36 Flying Geese blocks. I've tried to be really, really careful each step of the way for all the blocks and it's paying off.
I'm convinced starch (or Best Press) is awesome, as is very accurate cutting, pressing, and sewing. I bought an 1/4" edge foot for my Bernina last winter and it's made a huge, huge difference for me.
As for ripping out seams, I do rip and re-do if a seam is more than a little off. I don't think I've had to do it more than twice, and that's really rare. I do use pins if I need to, and I sew very slowly, using my awl to feed the fabric through carefully.
I have been known to toss a block and make a new one from scratch, but haven't had to do that in a while. Be patient with yourself, relax, and enjoy the process. As they say, Rome wasn't build in a day!

Funny you should bring this up today ! I just finished 4 blocks our quilt guild has for our next meeting. (this is block # 6) My ripper and I are well aquainted today! I have been told I am too critical of my work. I have been at this for 3 years now and am getting better at accuracy. I do wash my material before using it, I have learned to be careful in my cutting and the 1/4 inch seams are very important. I am trying to do this present quilt carefully so I can enter in the next years local county fair.

Hi Kitty
I obsess over this too. It is like a horrible haircut that pre-occupies you. I do the piece again or I will not like the quilt.

For me I have accepted the fact that everything is not going to be perfect. If I am happy with results I move on. To many things I want to do to try and be perfect.

never sewed a perfect, but no one has noticed so far

I am not a perfect person and my seams are not perfect either. I try, we all need a goal, but I also do not obsess over perfection. That would take away all of the joy of the project. This morning I did some ripping and resewing to make some corners match better. The emphasis is on better. Some did end up perfect and some were close enough. Guess I am a middle of road kind of gal.

When I am ripping I try to ask myself, "Am I having fun?" If the answer is no then I find something else to do or let the imperfections be. After all, quilting's supposed to be fun not frustrating and stressful. If I have to be perfect at it, then its too stressful. I believe totally in the supposedly Amish mantra of only God makes perfect things.Relax and enjoy! No one will ever notice those slight errors after the quilt is quilted

I try to be as accurate as possible, with cutting and seam allowances and still it doesn't always work out perfect. Only God is perfect, but when quilting, I try to get as close as I can. Takes a LOT of practice

The original post could have been written by me . I enjoy the precision . I can buy quilts with mismatched seams at most retailers . I want my quilts to be the best that I can do . Sometimes I get stressed about the mistakes . I wish I could let mistakes go . I will be your friend in the precision lovers club .

I admire perfection I see in the work of others, but can live with small imperfections in my own work. Guess I am a little lazy? Don't sweat the small stuff anymore!