As some of the others have said, we never know what the person has gone thru to produce the piece of work. My cousin gave me a beautiful cross-stitched table topper for a wedding gift and I used it on the table where the guest book was displayed for people to sign. I overheard someone remark that "it looked like it was made by a 3 year old" and then laughed. I took her aside and shared that it had been made by someone who only had the use of her left hand due to a stroke when she was 5 years old. She had the grace to look ashamed and apologized. I treasure that topper as she passed away 3 years later at 28 years old. Mom always said "if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all". Thankfully, there were others who remarked how beautiful it was. She was sitting at the table in charge of the guest book. I remember her happy smile to this day since she had never heard the nasty comment. She was a very remarkable young lady.

I embarass my husband a lot. He is a very kind and unconfontational (word?) type of person, I am not. I love a good aguement/debate. Soooo, I have learned to shut my mouth... sometimes. LOL But if they are selling and asking more than the fabric is worth, I fear my hubby will get embarassed. LOL I would ask first for the history. i don't want to hurt anyone's feelings either.

That must have been a difficult project.
I bet that was interesting to work on.
Could I ask where did you get that pattern?
Did you have to buy any special tool(s) fior that project?
Are you planning to do another one?
What did you learn doing this project?

I am very new at quilting however I have a good eye for things so with that being said one can always find something positive to say about others efforts.

Projects like these have to speak to me for me to be able to say it has the "wow" factor. Personally I don't think I'll ever get into "traditional" quilting because it simply does not speak to me but folks that go that route create some awesome pieces.

I'm pretty much a non-conformist so to speak and a thinker outside the box and I know many folks cannot stand my choices but that is ok to because I create what speaks to me and I certainly have a long ways to go to learning quilting of any kind.

I like applique alot and also lean towards "crazy quilting" more so than any other form of quilting if I were to ever complete a quilt and someday I will.

No matter how awful we may think someone's work is doesn't really matter especially if the person did there very best based on there knowledge of what they did.

It is alot better to say something positive and encouraging folks than our being negative about it. Personally if I were very experienced in quilting and I saw something so awful I would make a point to befriend that person and try and exchange contact info and as time went by I'd be sharing my knowledge with that person without there realizing I was and they would learn new things.

We know not what a person goes through to create something we believe to be the ugliest thing we have ever seen. All that matters is that they did there very best based on their knowledge they may have and ability.

Many of us have serious illnesses and we try our best to do it right and that is all that matters....that the person did there very best.

IMHO I say "judge not lest ye be judged".

I so totally agree with this! Imagine if we were all clones as quilters! It would make for a boring viewing of many quilts.

I would find SOMETHING that I like about the quilt and would then make a positive comment on that.

I would say "that is neat!" (with enthusiasm) - and as above. We all start somewhere, and obviously imagination is what has lead to the jillions of style quilts out there. Encourage them - a greater idea just may be in their horizon.
Marysewfun

Why do you have to say anything? Can't you just walk on by.

I was thinking the same thing! (smile)

i was once going to visit my sister in London, so I took three off my quilts with me, two that I had spent many hours on and made from gorgeous top of the range fabrics in beautiful colour -ways for her to choose from and one made from muddy coloured scraps which i thought was awful so I put it in the car for the dog to sit on. Guess which one she preferred and chose, yup the scrap one complete with dog hair, she thought it was just lovely, beauty is definitely in the eye of the beholder.