There is a lot of " beauty is in the eye of the beholder" for a lot of things.

A "poorly made" quilt may be a tobdler's most needed possession and the child loves the item.( still hope it holds together!)

An "exquisitely made" quilt could languish in someone's closet.- for any of many reasons.

What is the definition of "perfection"?

Well said. I totally agree. I made a quilt for my dau recently. It was "The Puppies," by Elizabeth Hartman. I worked hard on it to make it as perfect as possible, only to have my walking foot misfunction during the quilting process, creating lots and lots of puckers. Augh!!! I was disheartened, but I gave it to her anyway. She loved it! Especially all of those puckers!!! She knew that it came from love and not from the drive for perfection. (She promised not to show it to any of here friends that might be quilters...LOL.)

I made Krista Moser's Semaphore Stripes quilt several years ago. It had Y seams and was the first time I had ever attempted Y seams. I watched her tutorial and ones by several other quilters and started piecing. The Y seams were actually easier to do than I thought they would be. Finishes and points were lining up beautifully was so excited. Sewed blocks together, sandwiched, quilted and hung up on display in living room. Several days later I was looking at the quilt and realized that the last rows on left side were not correct. I thought about taking apart and correcting or leaving it. Left it on display and looked at it for a long time. Then my DIL was at the house and said she loved the quilt and commented she would love it. I told her it had a mistake and if she could find it I would give it to her, I even told her it was on the bottom left (I did show her the mistake) but she never found it and she left with the quilt which is now hanging on her entry way wall. I will take imperfection over perfection anytime as when finished it will be loved by someone.

Bottom three left triangle units?

Yep. I looked at it for days and something seemed off but couldn't put my finger on it. Finally after really staring at it everyday since it was to the right of TV I saw it.

Whatever happened to the tradition of putting a deliberate mistake into a quilt? I always thought that was a charming idea, and enjoyed doing it. Character in a quilt is delightful, and a lot more fun than perfection.

i guess i'll get a lot of heat for this, but i think perfect is better than not. of course. i didn't even understand why it was a question.

i try to make perfect quilts.
i never manage to make perfect quilts.
i will almost certainly never make perfect quilts.
i do the best i can; fix what i can; grudgingly accept that i can't fix everything.

i will keep trying.
and i will have to keep accepting.

perfection is a noble goal, but it stinks as a standard.

Yes! I was going to mention that too! It's said that it adds humility to the quilt and it's maker. I don't even have to try to put one in intentionally. They just happen on their own. :)

I am definitely not a "show" quilter. Not perfect and really don't want to be. I love the creative joy of piecing not quilting. I look at show quilts that truly are beautiful and I think, what are they going to do with them now? Some appear stiff as a board. I can admire them and not want to do them at the same time.

By definition perfection is better. For a lot of us perfection isn't attainable but I will always strive for it. I want my quilting experience to be positive and turning out a quilt that isn't as good as I can get it would be frustrating to me. If it's worth doing;g, it's worth doing well.

I also do not understand why anyone would deliberately make a mistake to leave in a quilt. It doesn't make sense; I'm not convinced that's a thing.