What mistakes (design changes) do you leave as is and which do you change?
 

How/When do you decide to leave a mistake (unintentional design change?) or to change/fix it?

Also, is there a point in the process where you say "Oh, well - finished is better than perfect."?

As long as it doesn't change it too much and if it's small, I'm going to keep moving forward.

I only fix it if it bugs me. Some mistakes like chopped off points don't bother me. But is a piece is totally turned, I can't stand it. One time I didn't see a mistake till after it was totally finished and completed. Rather than disassemble or leave it. I made another component of the block, fused it over the mistake and requilted it. It was a hanger so it doesn't show at all and my mind is at rest.

When my seams nest I'm happy. When they don't, I promise to do better next time.

my seams have to nest, my points must be correct ..if not, i re-do until everything is correct. i have been known to hand finish points to make them look right. i use a lot of vintage fabrics & i've found that the variations in weights of fabrics can seriously interfere w small details in block construction. i also examine completed top while hanging on design wall & check for possible errors such as bock turned wrong way or a patch incorrectly placed w/in a block. i'm in no hurry, i quilt for the simple happiness i derive from this hobby, but it must finish to the same standards i employ in all things i repair, install, create or build. it's how i am.

I agree with roguequilter. All that time and money must show a complete, as perfect as I can, project. If not, PHD - Project Half Done - need I say, I have a few of those!!!!

This is me as well. However, one quilt - as I was hand quilting, noticed a star component was wrong. Fortunately was at a point where I was able to disassemble, fix, and continue on. Another I didn't notice until looking at the photo after being gifted. That one - oh well.

I just recently finished quilting a lap size quilt and when I was getting down to the end on the border I realized I'd goofed up on the last one on the side where it meets up with the bottom border. Decided to leave it as I doubt anyone would really notice an extra line stitched. I corrected the digitized pattern for the twin lap quilt though.

I feel if its not that noticeable and if I don't mention it, no one will notice either. Of course I'm lucky enough that my recipents have no knowledge on what's what with quilts too.

I take the top to my quilting buddies( aka the quilt police). If they can't find it,I just don't fix it. After being a stressed out,hard core perfectionist in my work; now I'm retired,I try to lighten up some.

I very rarely fix my mistakes on family quilts. That means you can definitely tell the progression of my quilts. The first ones don't have enough quilting & have a couple wrinkles even in the top. As I went on, they improved. My current quilt has some seams that switch directions partway down. On top of that, I decided to applique the letter "K" (for Kahlan) onto a few of the blocks as a Hidden Puzzle because one of the pieces of my Irish Chain had a small tear in it. Turned out to be needed for a few other blocks because the repro fabric didn't always survive the pin basting. It's frustrating, but the quilt is for a 3 year old. I'm not about to spend another 100 hours to make it show-worthy. After it's been through the dryer a few times, no one will notice but me (my home is a Quilt-Police-Free-Zone). And she loves looking for the K's (they are the same color as the background square so they kinda blend in).

For client quilts, if it's something I think will bug them, I'll pull it out. If it's some tiny thing that only I'll ever notice, I leave it in.

For show quilts, nothing less than my very best is sufficient. Uneven stitches? Pull it out. Seams don't nest perfectly? Re-do it. It means it may take me 4-5x longer, but what else can I do? All those tiny things will be noticed by the quilt judges.

I use a design wall and usually I can catch any major mistakes. I send out photos to my friends to see if there are any obvious errors.

I will spend the time to lay out my blocks "just so" on my board, but almost always manage to get them sewn together in the wrong order - I will leave it, and then usually start improvising the rest of the way through. It always turns out just fine.

If I've got a block wrong, that will be fixed. If sometimes points or seams aren't perfect, that often is left.
But each quilt is different, and one I'm working on now, it has kalidescope blocks, and I wanted them to be near perfect - so some got sewn 2- 3 times!

I learned doing home construction - there is never an easier time to fix a mistake than when you first notice it. I try not to think of it as "wasted time" but just part of the process.

Oh, I think I misread the question. If it's only an issue of mixing up the order of pieces in the block, I subscribe to the motto "one block that's different is a mistake, two or more blocks that are different are a design." I would just repeat the change elsewhere in the quilt top & call it a day. It's nice to change things up once in a while & sometimes goofs are the best/only way to find a new way to do something. I love things that are different from the "norm" and would go with it & figure it was just meant to be that way now.

You and I are quitting twins, ha ha! I do the same thing all the time! I don't guess I will ever learn. ��

There was a time when I would stress over stuff like pieces going the wrong way, but I think I have mellowed a bit.

I am not a perfectionist...that being said...I do like my work to be of high quality but I don't like ripping so unless it is a tragic mistake that is really visible I tend to ignore it ...or cover it up....another words quilt it out...one of the first quilts I made had a bad mistake right in the middle of the quilt....so I cut out a tulip appliqué and sewed it on right over the mistake....the best compliments I had on the quilt were that they liked the tulip....so make lemonade out of lemons if you possibly can....LOL

I do however hate puckers on the back (or front) and if it is not perfectly flat....I might rip...ugh...

Unless it's a really bad mistake, I'll call it "creative license" and move on to the "finished is better than a UFO":)

I usually hang up the finished top to check it over for obvious problems and will fix a turned block. But I try to catch problems with points or block construction as I make them...fixing them while relatively easy. Once it is quilted, it is done! I don't worry about the little things, most of the recipients never see the problem and I sure don't tell them....LOL! I want to enjoy making quilts, not fussing over tiny imperfections.

Many years ago I decided to make my first quilt. I picked out a pattern in a quilt magazine. This was the time when it was the fashion to hand piece. I made the blocks and put together the top and began to hand quilt. About a third of the way through the hand quilting, I took a good look at the quilt and compared it with the picture in the magazine and found I had put an extra square piece in each block. It wasn't exactly like the pattern. I was so disappointed I put the quilt away. Several times I almost gave it to Good Will. About fifteen years later, one day as I was cleaning out a closet, I found the quilt, looked it over and decided I really liked it and finished quilting it. I have displayed it in quilt shows and had many positive comments on the pattern. No one knows it is different from the pattern I was following. My error gave a common pattern an original twist and uniqueness and dimension that is very attractive. I am glad I didn't throw it away or change it. Of all my quilts, it is one of my favorites.

:thumbup::thumbup::o

Being OCD (just a bit haha) I have to have things just right. I will rip till it is just right. Annoying to some, I know, but I want things to be just right. I love it when my seams nest, my points are right, my blocks are square. Drives me nuts if they aren't!

I am a bit like this too- especially on my bindings. When I make changes and still not happy w/it then it goes into my own home stock and I only keep a few these days.

If I spot it right away, I always fix it. If the top is completed and it isn't a huge 'creative' point, I have my kids look at it and see if they notice it. If they don't spot it, I can usually let it go. The exception would be if it was a very important quilt or, of course, a commissioned quilt.

if I see it while piecing the block I will make corrections or if I have a very unsquare quilt, but otherwise it depends on the intended use. If it's going into a show, yes--correction, if on a kids be,no. But keep in mind that I'm the quilter that had a class quilt that I named "Points? Points! We don't need no stinking points!" because it was a booger to piece and after fighting bad instructions, etc I decide it was good enough--and just did elaborate quilting!

I'm a bit OCD also and try my hardest to do the best I can at the skill level I am at. If I rip a point or seam twice for the same thing, I usually leave it on the third try & chalk it up to inexperience. Too many rips and I feel I am doing more damage to the material. Now that being said, I will always turn blocks if wrong, unless it is quilted, and then it is a design decision. I'm a lot easier on myself as I age. Quilting is supposed to be fun and most non-quilters will never see it. Now, if a picture is hanging crooked or the blinds are uneven, those are corrected LOL

A funny story: Our son and both his kids are like this too (he is a middle child by the way). He had just gotten through changing our grandson, almost 2 1/2, and put new pants on him. Our grandson said, "I need a new shirt too." When asked why he replied, "Because my shirt is orange and my pants are green and they don't match!"

With me it depends on when I find it -- usually when I press the seams open during the piecing process, so I will fix the error -- if the top is made or even quilted, that is a different situation and I may have to accept the mistake--

Two old quotes: The Amish purposely include a mistake, because only God is perfect. The other: If you can't see it from a galloping horse, don't fix it.
Me: if I am quilting it for me, I don't fix it. If I am quilting for someone else I fix it.

In general I don't worry about minor mishaps in points or quilting. If it is something obvious, then it definitely gets taken care of. How obvious it has to be varies from day to day. Lol!

I have found that when I square up each component of a block that I usually end up with the right measurement block. I'm not saying that I don't make mistakes that way, because I do. Usually if the mistake doesn't jump out at me, I will leave it be. However, when I lay out the finished top, if there is a block going the wrong way, I will rip it out and place it the right way. usually my DH is the one to point out my mistakes, so I don't have to go looking for them; which makes me happy (don't think so), but he usually points out glaring mistakes and the not so little I can let it go ones. The Amish supposedly put in a mistake into every quilt because only God is perfect. Well, I don't have to deliberately do that now.

When do I "fix" it? It depends. On my mental state at that moment. If I keep thinking about it. The intended purpose of the quilt "Is it going to Puducha?" or an ART venue, or the unfinished bin. Will anyone believe me, "I ment it that way". Can I embrace the changed affect. It's got to be really "BAD" before I'll go backwards. So it's personal. Many of my friends fix ALL "mistakes". That's their thing and I respect it for them.

So for you, you have to choose your own standards.

OH! I just noticed, my Avatar is sideways. Will I fix it? Naw. It's art. And I figure it makes a good statement the way it is.

Me, I fix any mistakes I can see from a grazing horse. ;) No running allowed in my studio.

Seriously, I fix everything. Most get corrected during construction, but sometimes I miss one or two. Those are generally found with photos before quilting or during the time I have the unquilted piece hanging on the design wall. I put no limits on how much time I'll spend correcting something.

I treat all quilts as competition quilts...me in competition with my ideal of what the quilt should look like. It gives me far more pleasure to work that way than to settle for something less just in order to call it done. It's my work, there's no reason to settle. :o

Quilting is suppose to be fun! So I only take out the big mistakes. I'm a big believer that really good quilters make the same mistakes but know how to compensate and hide them. We each have our styles of quilting. Some of us want the quilting police to inspect, some of us believe in the horse riding by theory. Do what makes you comfortable and happy! You will always make mistakes no matter how good you get .

I might say forget it today, but after it sets around a while, I can't stand it. I just have to fix it. So it depends on if you will be able to live with the "design change" forever, or not. But try to give it a bit of time before you decide.

This is an old wives tale. Ask the Amish. They say they make enough mistakes. They don't need to make one on purpose.

I fix all mistakes that I see. My problem is that on two quilts, I did not notice the mistake until after binding. For me, that was too late. On the first quilt, I had sent pictures to a quilting friend throughout the process. I never noticed the error. I gave that quilt to my sister. The error doesn't bother her. The second quilt with an error was made for my granddaughter. I got that quilt back from the LAQ last week. Fortunately, on her bed, the error will not be seen; but in the future, I will be far more careful in checking my quilts before I send them to the LAQ.

I RIP! unless it would damage the block.