The worst advice or rather directions........were for paper piecing. Just put the fabric on the paper and sew........i was so lost and frustrated and the person who was "teaching" me was no help. Grrrrrrrrrrrrr

ALWAYS follow the "rules".
If you want something really special, think out-side-of-box.

I have been thru all of these. So, we live and learn. help each other every day.

Thats for sure!!

I think I must be my worst enemy. I really do try to do what is best, but waaaayy too often, try to take short cuts. Short cuts never turn out for me. Think, think, think. I really goofed when I tore my last binding and borders. Never again.

As a former quilt store owner my advice is to buy what makes you feel good about your project. Quilt store owners are not always "experts" and most of them recomend what they like which is not always what you like.
Many people ask for recommendations or advice on a project. Many people are very unsure about picking colors, especially new quilters. I always tried to give customers two or three options and then let them decide.

I took a beginning quilting class and the instructor did not square the fabric before she cut it. She said it didn't matter if it was square or not because when you cut that first edge it's straight from the cut so you just had to make sure everything else was cut based on the first cut. But then, she also didn't have us press any of the seams. Just said she didn't feel a necessity to have to stop and press all the time. So now I have a lap quilt where the seams are all wonky and I have never bothered to sandwich it and quilt it. I think I'm going to try though because I really do love the fabric and the pattern. Geesh! How do some people qualify to teach quilting?

I always buy more material than I need, and I always end up using the extra! Love your avatar, BTW!

I took a beginning machine quilting class and the instructor yelled at me for not going fast enough. She said I would break needles going so slow and my stitches would be messed up. I became afraid to machine quilt and was convinced i couldn't do it. Then, I met a quilter (not a teacher) who had won many awards at quilt shows because her machine quilting was so beautiful. I said, You must sew very fast.....She replied, Oh no, I sew very very slow. And, come to find out, she had the same machine as mine and she has never broken a needle. It took me a long time to convince myself that I could do it and to get the 'You must sew fast' idea out of my head, but I machine quilt much better now and without fear.

Wavy borders are due to poor measuring; not sewing IMO.