^^THIS
Anything kind will give encouragement. Nurture the desire to try.

I've always been able to see something beautiful in a quilt even if it isn't what I particuarly care for. Especially when it is someone's passion and they put love into it. Most of us quilters are constantly changing, growing & evolving and she will too.

Uh-Oh, that comment sounds familiar!

When I first started quilting I had been making clothes for 40 years so my color and fabric choices were very conservative. I combined things the way you would combine for cloths. Going to quilt guild and seeing show and tell expanded my knowledge of what I could do. I've been quilting for over 10 years now and I still see color combinations I wouldn't have thought of. I have made some quilts that didn't turn out as I expected and thought they were ugly, garish or both but there has always been someone who liked them.
I always try to say something nice about others work.

I don't know why anyone would want to hurt someone's feelings, we are all different and we all do things different, why woudl anyone want to crush her like that...I am appauled that anyione would want to say anything negative at all...

:cry: :cry: :(

kind words and encourage to continue the craft...

Funny you brought this up right now. I said "yes" to quilting a quilt being made by a very close friend's mother. The mom had a stroke a few months ago, and my friend said her mom was struggling to complete the quilt top. It's for a wedding gift.

Well, they brought me the top on Saturday. It brought tears to my eyes, as I could just see the struggle the lady had finishing the top. It was a very simple pattern with many uneven seams, puckers, folds, open seams. It would not lay flat no matter how I patted and tugged. I spent yesterday gently taking the borders off and separating the rows so I can at least straighten them enough to re-sew them together. It is obvious that the machine she used was having tension issues, as there were knots of thread and very uneven stitches.

Anyway, I will NEVER say a word to my friend or the mom about me fixing some of the issues. I can't do them all, because I would have to take it completely apart. I love the effort that she put into this top, and the amount of love she showed by that effort. Her struggle is written all over that top, and it is to be cherished. My goal is to make it a useable quilt, not to re-do her work. Hopefully they will not notice that I straightened the seams, and will just think that I did a great quilting job!! :thumbup: :D

BTW, I had quilted one of her previous quilts, and it was really quite good. She is home-taught by her mother, and has been making her quilts for several years.

:):):)
This lady should be an example to us all!

Totally Agree. We are quilt guardian angels-not quilt police.

I think it is always possible to say something positive about another's work.

"Your quilt is a large one...so much work"
"I can see that you like brown"
"I'm not familiar with that pattern. Did you design your quilt?"
"I like small projects too"
"I love seeing everyone's work"

There are many things that can be said that are not critical. I must admit though, that if someone made the comment that my work was "interesting" I would perceive that as..they hate it.

I also would never give them unsolicited advice on improving their skills, or color choices. I think that could be interpreted as critical and somewhat "quilt police" like.