Five or six years ago, I bought the Sunny Days Quilt Blocks from Joanns. At that point in my life - had been sewing for years and wanted to start quilting.

I dutifully made each block and then dutifully assembled using the setting kit. I knew nothing of squaring blocks, etc.

I put the top away, because some of the blocks did not line up, and I sewed past the points. The worst is off 1/4". Of course it is in the center section.

So, am I being too critical of myself and should get over it and finish, or should I take apart and try to match up.

Below is the exmples of my "mistakes" where the blocks do not meet.

On the good side - I did learn a lot from making this quilt and it was the start of the quilts I now make.

Thanks for any advice!!

Let these go and continue. You can hardly tell because of the mottled yellow fabric and I wouldn't worry about the green point being off by such a little amount. The blue one looks fine to me, I wouldn't take that apart at all. You're being too hard on yourself.

Can't wait to see the finished quilt! :D

I think it's fine as is. Finish it and remember what you learned from it.

You're looking at it waaaaaaaaay too close!! Plus it's not quilted or washed yet.

Remember the galloping horse :lol:

Remember the galloping horse :lol:

I wouldn't worry about it either!! This is your first quilt and you should be proud of it "mistakes" and all. Though I must say, I pretty much always have seams off and points chopped in all the quilts I do and I love them (even though they weren't on purpose)! They show me that I still have more to learn. The day I make a perfect quilt is the day I will stop quilting.

Cheers!
Rachel

All of my quilts come out like this. I just figure I will get better in the future. And, since it is the same colors that aren't lining up I don't worry about it too much. I think it looks great.

What great advice! I think i will take it myself and get my first top out and finish it! Thank you!

I would not worry about it at all! It looks great, really not that off, and it was one of your first quilts. Remember, a person riding a horse going 60 mph past your quilt will never notice! (that's my rule of thumb for when to worry about stuff)

I too, think they are just perfect and you should just sew them up. But if these really bother you, take your seam ripper and take out about 8-9 stitches near "the mistake", resew this part to where you want it. I usually correct little boo-boos this way and when the quilt is all completed and quilted, no one is the wiser. good luck. Post it when you're done!

You are suffering from something my late sister dealt with. Too much criticising of her own work and not enough praise. Finish it, get it quilted fairly heavy to fool the eye at intersections. As you are finishing try to figure out what caused the errors which you want to avoid next time. Is it cutting, or sewing, etc. Remember every quilt brings new challanges , thats why we like it. Good luck, Annette

as I always say, you can't see it from the road...
It looks good to me

Ditto.

And please, please, please, when you are showing someone the quilt and they are oohing and ahhing and telling you what a wonderful job you did, do not point out the mistakes you made.

you could always quilt the point to look better by quilting in the yellow 1/4 inch around the blue/green point. that will fool the eye to look further than the actual point of the block.

I agree I think you are being way to hard on yourself. Some one told me when I first started quilting that the Amish always leave one mistake in there quilts to stay humble. For some reason that makes me feel better, when I see my mistakes. I figure if they could do it I should to. LOL Best of luck to you.

You always look more critically at your own work. Everyone else just sees a beautiful quilt.

Thanks everyone for the words of advice. I am a perfectionist at heart so it was hard for me to accept the imperfection.

After I finishe the lap quilt for my mother in law, I'll move on to finsihing this UFO.

Pictures will be coming when completed.

No one and I mean NO ONE makes a perfect quilt. Once all of it is together, quilted and on a bed no one will see the imperfections. I read somewhere that American Indians purposely put some imperfections in the blankets when weaving to protect the person under it from evil spirits. Put it together and protect the person sleeping under it. :lol:

I only wish my first one had been that good. My first one was dedicated to our doggers (as it only worked well bunched up).

Finish it up however it turns out as it will always be precious to you.

Are you happy with it? If you are, then leave it alone but if you are not, then change it. This is the question another quilter asked me once when I had that same thing. I have thought of it many times since. Remember, there is never a perfect quilt.

My first quilt didn't match up very well. I remember looking back at it after I had finished a lot more quilts and seeing all the mistakes. But no one else noticed it! It just makes you better for the next quilts!

Remember....better finished than perfect!!!!

I always say 'if you want it perfect, ask someone else to do it and leave me out of it'. I agree, there is no such thing as a perfect quilt. Even Eleanor Burns shows her mistakes on her program.

You would lose miserably if you were to enter this quilt in this contest. If you want perfection then buy commercial. These little "enhancements" make them ours. Love it for all of it's facets. They are reflections of ourselves. Not quite perfect but beautiful none the less.

http://www.amisimms.com/ofconen.html

Oh heavens, let it go....you are the only one who is going to know about the 'mistakes'...the recipient will just love it as it is (even if it is YOU)

That galloping horse or racing train is the mantra to use when having fun making your quilts.

warm quilt hugs, sue in CA

What? am I missing something? galloping horse???

It looks fine, there are no quilt police here....just keep going with it

The saying goes "if it can't be seen by the rider of a horse galloping by then it is close enough"

Laugh at your mistakes, be thankful for the distance you've come, finish it up, be proud of it and use it. It can always serve as your ruler. You can measure how far you've progressed in your quilting. I finally set my first efforts together the other day and had to cut off all the bunny ear tabs, threads, etc. As I sewed it together I thought, "Man this is horrible. How could I have ever put these blocks together like this. Look at these HUGE 1/4" seams.(they were much closer to 3/8)" It didn't help that it was that really ugly BOM from Hancocks with the big appliqued basket block. But the funny thing was that once I got it together and laid it on a bed to photograph, it doesn't look half bad. Not nearly as ugly as it used to be. Don't get me wrong, it's still an ugly quilt but it just looks better than before.

And before you ask, I wanted to learn to quilt and it was the only thing that I knew of that was being offered at the time so I did it. :roll:

finish it... use it... give it to your Women's Shelter.... the quilt does not know it isn't perfect... it only knows it is warm!

I say finish it and stop looking at the "mistakes." If it is your first quilt, it's a great way to look back and see how far you've come. My first quilt is far from perfect, but it hangs on the wall in my sewing room and I'm very proud of it.

I agree with the other replies I saw, go ahead and quilt it up but make a label with the approximate date you started it and when completed. The quilt in my avatar is THE VERY FIRST quilt I started. It was the ugliest thing on the planet so it sat in a cedar chest until our daughter got married and I needed it to store her wedding gown so took it out, took it apart and reconstructed it but in the beginning it was embroidered blocks alternating with plain white blocks so it was an easy one to redesign. With yours however, I would just leave it as is, sandwich, quilt it and be proud of all that you've learned from doing it and that's huge. It's a quilt that can be used to snuggle in on cold days. One quilt that I was not happy with turned out to be my granddaughter's favorite quilt to use when she visits Grammy. She just turned 17 yesterday and even last summer when they were here for their annual visit she again came to me and asked if she could use that quilt while she was here (it was in my bedroom where I put it over me to read while lying on the bed) and told me it's her favorite of all of my quilts. What a surprise that was. Her Mom has told me the same thing and it's one I almost didn't bother to finish. It's a patchwork biscuit quilt. Finish, enjoy, and be proud of it.

I love this answer! :D

I have another idea to diffuse what you think are errors. Use a cotton ( shrinkable) batting which will after washing make a bit of a puffy crinkle effect. The slightly mis matched points wont even be noticable.
Love the colors.
Annette

THIS SITE IS AN EYE OPENER !!!!!!!!!!

If these problems will make you lose sleep at night, by all means rip them slightly and try to correct. We all need a good night's sleep! However, I agree with others that say they truly aren't that noticeable. You should congratulate yourself that you are finishing a UFO !!! :D

I do understand your need to be perfect, though.... its a tough thing to overcome. :D

Well the finish it votes have it, so off to get the batting...I already have the backing.

I bought a darning foot to do free motion (haven't tried that yet only been a SITD unitl now), so I've decided to try free motion on it (after I practice on scraps first of course), then it will truly be my first attempt at all sorts of quilting stuff!!

Look for finished pictures in a couple of weeks.

Thanks for all the word of support and encouragement :)

Susan

And I thought I was the only one too critical about the work oneself does. I think it looks just fine. Remember nothing is to be perfect unless it's made by our Creator.