I will never again be so hard on myself regarding this art.

And before I state what I'm about to I AM NOT THE QUILT POLICE.

I'm very much an outside of the box thinker so I don't necessarily follow the rules of thumb so to speak when I create something with fabric.

Anyway for the last several months I've designed or created some blocks without looking at patterns and such. If it comes to mind I just do it my brain shows me how to place pieces of fabric and to my amazement I'm told by those that see it when I do a show and tell that they love it and want to know how I created a piece. So I tell them and some say things like "oh I'd never have the patience to do that" or "I have to have a pattern to follow and still have problems at times".

I belong to two quilt guilds and even belong to a Wednesday sew group and I remember one time one gal from the Wednesday sew group after my being there about 4 months told me "quit practicing and show us something" to which I responded in my still small voice "you can't rush an artist" which shut her up.

I have from time to time posted pictures of something I was creating, started or completed online and shown to some locally and although I sometimes would make remarks perhaps being to critical of my work they'd always come back and tell me "don't be to hard on yourself" or "we can't all be perfectionist".

Yes I'm getting to the point..... I had joined one of the guilds yearly swap and we all had to make 25 blocks of the same so when we traded at the September meeting we'd all have each others block.

I was terrified to create such and actually ended up creating 4 different ones and in the end picked the one that I felt would pass. I had that mother sewed perfectly, ironed and seams straight. The day came when we had our little party for it and we had a blast. We all picked our blocks at the end of the evening and for the most part all of them were cut and squared away perfectly at 9 1/2 inchers. Out of the 24 I receeived only 6 were not squared away which was ok to me because I would use them anyway in some project down the road. What my shocker was that the ones that were that way or at least two of them were from some that I was told were perfectionist, best quilters around, do long arm quilting, etc. One of the squares was not just not squared away but neither was it ironed and smoothed out.

No I'm not the quilt police and I loathe them however I will never be so hard on myself again when creating something quilty.

Like I said I can still use those few blocks in other projects cause for the most part the stitching was nice and don't know that I could have pieced some of them.

I will never be critical of my own work anymore.

You go Girl! :):):)

Great post! I'm with you!!

we all have to be easier on ourselves. we all have our strengths and weaknesses... some are just more visible than others. do your best, create what you like and be proud of it!

See, you were being way too hard on yourself. As far as just creating blocks, who cares if they get into a quilt or not? The creative pleasure you get from the process is its own reward! Now having said that, I would get Sharyn Craig's book "Setting Solutions" . The book explains how to deal with odd sized blocks, odd numbers of blocks, odd colors of blocks etc. To put them together into a cohesive quilt. Should be in the library of anyone who participates in swaps or exchanges.

Well said

Well said, I'm often harder on myself than anyone else would think to be. I'm forever envisioning critiques that never happen! LOL

I bet that will be a huge relief and a great weight off your shoulders the next time you are creating and sharing your work. I have a tendency toward perfectionism too - and get my fair share of ribbing for pulling out stitches that pass muster for others but not for me. The real important thing is that you enjoy what you do and when you look at your work, you are satisfied. We are supposed to be enjoying the creative process, right? :lol:

Me too! My DH and kids say that I should stop trying to look at it as if I were a master and as it was made with love and that usually shuts me up... for a while anyway LOL.

Why do we look at others with loving eyes and not look at ourselfes that way?

In my opinion, there will be never a quilt or something else that mankind will produce, that is perfect. But for those who will receive one of your art creation, it is perfect.

Someone who is cold or needs to be comforted will always see how perfect our gifts are.

Our imperfections will make it unique it also will keep it interesting.

Looking at a drawing of a child, who cares if Mama has green hair, it's perfect, because your child drew it!

I am doing my first block swap and it scares me as I am also worried that mine will not measure up. I have never met any of these quilters, only know them online, but worry they will not like my block selection. You have made me feel better about all this. I realize I am not the only one who feels this way.

Amen! :)

We are our own woret critic

BRAVO! :thumbup: (I've been there myself)

Yes, we're often too hard on ourselves. Have you ever taken a really close look at some of the quilts in magazines? I've seen several with seams that don't quite match. Even the "experts" don't always get it right.

Good for you to figure out you have been way too hard on yourself. I am trying to make a perfect quilt, not yet but, I figure if I keep trying maybe I will please myself, or at least I will figure out it isn't going to happen. I have gotten a lot better with it all.

I love your post!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :thumbup:
Thank you :D

Im not a perfectionist and my home sure shows it.
Some of my blocks are good, others not so good.
When making blocks for a group project they must be the correct size and that takes some doing. I have never been able to use a perfect 1/4 inch seam and have a block the right size, they are always to small.

It's great when we finally learn to accept ourselves. It took several events in my life to let me learn that. I am now a relaxed & happy camper.

When somebody says something that upsets me I try to figure out if that person intended to or not. Then I decide if i should blow it off or not.

It's great to be older & wiser. :)

I was very intimidated to start the swaps too. But, you know, everyone has been very gracious in receiving my blocks, even those darned stubborn ones that would not go together right for me no matter what I do. I grew up with 2 perfectionists for parents, and am still struggling with the idea that good enough, truly is good enough. I remember forever ripping out seams when I was first starting to quilt because my mom would tell me "if you don't fix it now, you'll be sorry later" - but you know, I have never regretted one mis-matched seam - she's the only one who's ever noticed them - and I'm enjoying myself much more now that I don't have a seam ripper permanently attached to myself

YAY!!! Exactly how I feel....it's supposed to be fun, not stressful!!

I had been hard on myself when I first started out, and coming here was the best place I could ask for. The encouragement fantastic. Finally understanding that no ones perfect set in. So, I do my best and the family I give my quilts to love them.

Well said Clsurz!!! There is only one perfect person and someday I will meet him in heaven.

woo-hoo - way to go!

Good for you.. Let it be as it will be.... just don't lower your norm just because they did ~ironing, wonky squares...



SO go on, get them creative juices goin and show us some works of arts so we can ooooooooohhhhhh and ahhhhhhhhhhh over..

Isn't there some saying or psycho thing that the people who point the finger at others are just trying to deflect the attention away from themselves because they really are not perfect?

I thought of that with your comment that the women labeled good quilters didn't have the best product...they must not have thought anyone would notice with their good reputations!

Sounds like you could create circles around that person. Creativity, I think, is the biggest and best part of quilting. Sometime whenyou ae going through a qullting magazine, check the seams and corners. You will be very surprised what passes for 'perfect and publishable'.

you have found out something that will free you to really enjoy your craft from here on out. congratulations.

i discovered many years ago, in relation to my job, that i really knew much more than i thought i did. also, that some of those people that i thought were above me in skill were really faking it or getting by. since then i have had much more confidence in my own skills. this has allowed me to do so much more in all my endeavors.

keep going and never let them see you sweat. (tee-hee)

Nothing like seeing what kind of work "the others" do up close!!! :mrgreen:

Good for you!!

Lady T love your avatar quilt block.

Yes, we are hard on ourselves, but I do want to make one point. In swaps, I do not 'square up'. I don't want to use blocks with blunted triangles. Leave it to me, the receiver, to square things up if desired. I can always fudge in my sewing to keep sharp triangle edges for a block that isn't exact, but if you cut it off, I can't fix it. They end up in the orphan block box, not the intended quilt. If your block is off more than 1/4 inch, you need to resew, not chop it.

to Thine own self be TRUE....do what you want, but maintain YOUR standards, do not aspire to be at the standards of others, for you know not what their standards are!

Just keep reminding yourself of that every once in a while.

Good for you. This proves a statement that my Grandmother made to me when I first started hand quilting. I kept telling her that my stitches weren't very good and was constantly ripping them out. She said "No matter how hard you try to be perfect, it ain't going to happen".

:thumbup:

Well said. When I sew I want to have fun not be forced to do this and that.

I am NOT a perfectionist and my quilting is not perfect. In fact, I would hate for anyone to look at the back of my quilt tops. But I finally figured, heck, it's inside the batting, so if my seams don't all go the same way - so what! If my seams are not all exactly 1/4" - so what! If I have to fudge by easing one of the seams or stretching one of the seams - so what! I'm not entering a contest . I am doing this because I love it and I want to bless my family with my creations. So I try to keep my criticism of my work between me, my DH and my LORD! :P

Our guild had block of the month. You got a block pattern for a dime. They told you what colors to make it. You made it and brought it into the next meeting. Everone that made a block got their name put in the darwing. The winner recieved all the blocks. Well, If you won half of the blocks weren't usable. The weren't square, not large enough, lumpy, and some months someone would win 20 blocks and the next month maybe only 4 people made blocks. So that month they got theirs back and 3 others. This year you but a pattern for a dime, make the block bring it in to show and keep it. At the end of the year you will have a good stat for a quilt and they are all the way you like them.

I call that the "VAN GOGH" syndrome and ALL true artists suffer from it at one time or another. Most quilters KNOW where every SINGLE off stitch is in every quilt they make. The recipients could care less...they are just thrilled to get a beautiful quilt, yet we clobber ourselves with the failed "perfection club" over minor bobbles etc.

I'm finally to the age where I can be much more accepting of ME (and my hobbies)... flaws and all. It's a nice place...

Nice post!