I too am a cozy quilter. I made each of my grandsons a quilt for christmas and they were sure not perfect, but the joy that lit the 2 year olds eyes when he saw his beloved "tars" was worth far more to me than any blue ribbon.

You have no idea the answers to this has opened my eyes. I have a stop and start history with quilting. Visiting Paducah was fascination, but I stopped quilting...I can't compete with perfection like that. But I can enjoy playing. Thanks.

Oh I love the term 'cosy quilter'!! Yeah, thats me :-) I aim to do my best, and each quilt has some unpicking and re-stitching, but if I am enjoying the making, and there's heaps of love and smiles in it then thats perfect for me :D

I have a daughter who makes the most beautiful quilts you hae ever seen. She sews the seams and then measures each one to make sure that it is exactly 1/4 inch. Every corner matches perfectly.

I told her that I would quit quilting if I had to go to all of the trouble. I try to do a good job, to the best of my ability. If I am happy then the person receiving the quilt should be happy when I give it to them. If not then they can give it away to some one who needs a nice quilt.

I don't have enough time to be that picky. My daughter is exactly like my mother in her perfection. I think it is great, but not for me.

I hope that my quilts are cozy and that some of the fun of creating them comes across. I find quilting relaxing. When I am quilting, I am absorbed in the sounds, colors and patterns. It's like a vacation for my mind. It is wonderful to finish a quilt. I am usually ready to move on to a new idea.

I was ripping out a Fisherman's Knit sweater while on vacation when a Mennonite lady asked to look at it. She said if the mistake was obvious at a quick glance to rip it out, but if others had to search to find it leave it in honor of the perfect one. I've tried to have that philosophy when I quilt as I am my own worst critic. It's hard not to point out my mistakes when others look at my quilting, but I keep practicing to keep my mouth shut and enjoy the joy and excitement of those receiving my finished work, imperfect as it might be to me.

As a beginner learning the basics, I am striving for perfection.

I have tried many, many things over the years and was mostly ok at them, but never really, really good at them. So this time, I am striving to be a really good quilter.

I have Harriet Hargrave's books and am learning from them. Far from being daunting, I find them endlessly encouraging. Harriet shows you how it's done and mostly that includes not using lots of short-cuts e.g. cutting out one at a time rather than in stacks and lots of really tedious measuring and checking.

The hardest lesson I am learning is to SLOW DOWN. I really want to race ahead so this lesson is difficult to follow. My new mantra is "It's your hobby - What's your hurry?"

I too have to say that I want to be a cozy quilter. I have just a few years in quilting. So I am still learning alot with more to go. But even a friend of mine told me that I am trying to be to perfect. If one seam is a little off then I catch myself trying to make it just right. I don't want to be picky about everything I make. Friends tell me too that it is nice just the way it is.
Will I ever change my way of this as to not be so picky and everything has to be just right?

To my own standards. If I've done my best and am pleased. My motto is "It's not going to hang in a museum", it's going to be used or admired by the person I give it too. If we come to the point that we have to be perfect.......nothing will get done and think of all the fun we'd miss.

I have been struggling with the same issue. I can make a simple quilt and am trying to get better with each thing I make but when I go to the quilt shops for fabric etc. I see these perfectly made quilts quilted with a long arm and I was getting so depressed knowing that I cannot afford the machine and I cannot see my hand quilting skills getting to that level. I recently came to the conclusion, as you did, that quilting makes me happy. It doesn't matter if it makes anyone else happy. Although so far it has made members of my family happy. :)