I learned that I never want to do another mystery quilt. What a mess, none of the colors even looked like a scrappy quilt. My mess went into the trash on the way out of the class.

I think the worst is the quilt blocks signed at my daughter’s wedding. I wanted to trim them down to 5 1/2 inch squares, but I couldn’t really figure out how to center them correctly. So I kept trimming some here and then some there. Well, some of them don’t have 1/4” seam allowance. I finally got so frustrated I put them in a box where they’ve been for over 20 years. At the time, my daughter said she didn’t know what she’d do with a quilt like that. Well so here we are and my daughter has never even asked about them. I should take them out and do something with them for their 25th anniversary!

The worst that ever happened to one of my quilts is gross...if you're squeamish stop reading.
I left a sandwiched quilt on my quilting table, ready to do some more quilting the next day. It was was a quilt for my daughter. One of my cats jumped up and vomited on the quilt...not just once. I couldn't wash it at that point. I had to finish quilting it enough that it would hold together through the wash. I finished it using rubber gloves and set the world speed record for straight line quilting.
Now when I'm finished for the day I cover my work with plastic sheets.

I used to make a lot of clothes. Two memorable mistakes boil down to the same thing: putting sleeves in backwards twice, and in junior high sewing class, attaching the top of an apron backwards to the bottom, several times with the help of my sewing teacher. She gave me a generous C in class, and knew I'd never amount to much. I had a hard time learning to use a thimble, too. The end of that story is that I did learn, and ended up writing for Threads, Belle Armoire, etc. I showed her!!!

My biggest (and costliest) mistake was buying ALL the fabric for a mystery quilt. Ended up trashing the unfinished top because it literally made me sick (pattern and colors were way, way, way too busy). I literally got dizzy just looking at it.Not even people in my guild wanted it for a charity quilt! With mystery quilts, I now print out the clues and wait for the reveal to see if I want to make it.

Lesser mistakes? Plenty. Biggest one is not fully documenting, with photographs, the many quilts I have given away.

When I was a kid I sewed my finger...twice. You think I would have learned the first time.

cute about the doggie jackets. the moral to your post is not to let anyone near your work until it is complete! and maybe not even then.....

Yay for you! I love those kinds of stories! I had a typing teacher that did not like me and was always really hard on me. She told me that my typing was terrible and that I'd never make it as a secretary when I grew up. One day, I came to school with the flu and told that teacher that I was really sick and needed to get outside for some fresh air. She wouldn't let me, of course. Five minutes later, I threw up all over the typewriter. I'm sure that she was the one who had to clean it up. And yes, she was right. I would never have made it as a secretary, but I sure do like to type now. (Obviously.) :)

My daughter was a flower girl in a wedding. I made her dress but the morning of the wedding I discovered I had sewn the lace on the front of the dress inside out. No one would have ever noticed, but I was so frazzled I told everyone I talked to. Yikes!

In my clothes sewing days, I made a beach cover-up out of a lace fabric. It had a smooth side and a rough side. I put the rough side on the inside and regretted it every time I wore it.