i would like to know and hopefully before quilting. after quilting, it just becomes "the bastard block" as we say in our circle of quilters. it is the block that keeps us humble.

Nope. I'm not blind. If there is an error, you can be sure I've seen it.

[QUOTE=bearisgray;5477087]If there was something glaringly different in a quilt top you were making - such as one block being placed differently than the rest -

Would you appreciate it if someone asked you about it?

I had a fellow quilter ask me if I was a perfectionist or not - I said no. She said that's OK because you have one corner on your border turned the wrong way. It was barely noticeable, but once she pointed it out I couldn't stand it. Ripped it off and redid it. I was not offended - really grateful it was caught before quilting!

Or would you consider the person a member of the dreaded 'quilt police'?

I would like to have someone mention it to me and ask if it was intentional? If not intentional, I'd like to be able to change/fix it before it's quilted.

I would definitely want to know, however, you can do it kindly or you can do it in a way that is strictly "mean" or with a superior attitude. But, I would definitely want to know before it was quilted rather than after and then someone point it out to me.

I would rather know while it could still be fixed. A lot depends on the attitude of the person doing the telling. It can be done nicely which is best.

If it isn't already quilted, I would say -- "Did you happen to notice that one block is . . . . or did you mean it to be that way?"

I don't know...sometimes it is nice to have direction when I'm not seeing the full picture. Most of the time I'm paying attention. If there's a block turned the wrong way and it's already quilted, I say it's my calling card - leave it at that.

I would want to know.....Even if already quilted.....The knowledge would prevent a similar mistake on the "next" quilt.

If it is something that can be fixed I would want to know..that gives me theoption to fix it..If it is too late, there is no purpose in telling

our guild had a raffle quilt ready to be sent to the quilter and we were looking at it and I asked "doesn't anyone else see that"....one block completely turned wrong... it was fixed in time but what if we hadn't seen it...WOW

I want to know if I am making a mistake. Last month there was a block the quilt guild asked us to make for a quilt. I made it and brought it to our bee and everyone loved it. Another lady decided she would make hers right away and when she did, I saw an error and told her about it. Turned out that I had the same error ! And then someone who had taken the picture at the guild meeting showed the picture of the block and it had the same error. Yes, it would have looked bad if we had all made it wrong and put it in a quilt, so we were very glad to see the mistake.

It depends on who's doing the noticing. And would I tell someone? Again it depends on who it is. I have a friend who makes a lot of mistakes and she always appreciates someone telling her so she can fix it before it's too late. Would I tell her after it's quilted? NO, she would obsess about it.

For me it is ALL in how they say it. "Quilt Police" know how to say things like "NEVER, HOW COULD YOU?, WHAT WAS THE IDEA, YOU KNOW THAT'S NOT HOW THAT IT DONE!!!". When I see something that doesn't look like it fits (for some reason), I say something like "Can I ask a question?". I think we ALL would like the chance to fix a mistake if we've missed it. I know that I will sew late a night, so a 2 or 3 AM every thing "Looked Good", but in the light of day that's NOT always the case.

What I do when I am showing someone a quilt in progress, I ask them to please tell me if they see anything wrong. Another thing I do during the process is periodically take a picture and then blow it up on my computer. I have found many things that I otherwise would not have seen. If the quilt is finished and there is something wrong, then I just consider it my "artistic license" and don't worry about it. Chances are most people will never notice.

I would want to know especially before it is quilted. I made a quilt and didn't notice a HST was turned the wrong way until I took a picture and it stood out. Never noticed it while making block, putting it together or when quilting. Anyway it was one HST so I made another one and placed it over the wrong one and stitched it over the top. The quilt is for me but no one has noticed and it is used a lot. Could not do that if giving away. We all have stories about our goof ups.

This is very interesting. Quilting for others, I sometimes notice a block or part of a block turned different from the other matching blocks in a top. I ALWAYS question myself if I should call the owner of the top as I don't want to look like I am picking apart the top. I really need to ask when the top is dropped off if they would like me to call them if I notice something that I am not sure about after they leave but before I start quilting it. I have been known to not see something until after the top is quilted, and in that case I never mention it to the owner.

As a long arm quilter, I have learned to ask before quilting. One time I had a quilt for a lady, and one of the blocks was sewn - wrong side of fabric showing - of course she wanted it back to fix it. Had another one for sister and she had one block turned the wrong way. asked her and she said just leave it - her humility block (she's a quilt teacher and she now uses that quilt as an example of 'when you are tired, be careful - things just happen'. Usually start conversation with ' I like the originally you put into your quilt by making one block different'. This gets their attention and you find out quickly if it was meant that way.

Well,that would depend on the attitude of the teller.If I thought the teller was trying to help,yes.If I thought she was trying to show me up,then no.

I was told many years ago by a lady in Millersburg Ohio{Amish country}that they leave a small mistake in their quilts on purpose so as not to seen as having too much pride

I would not mind someone saying something, but it would be better if it was said in private and then only said in a kind way.

I have trouble with my hands, and for a while I was knitting and the only way I could do it had my stitches crossed in one direction and not crossed in another. I had someone who loved the scarf I was making but when she saw my stitches she started to lecture and called other folks to comment and re-enforce how awful it was. Even when I told them why, they continued the tirade. It was in a class at a yarn shop -- I have never been back.

For me, it would depend on many things. Do I know you? Do I like you? Are you an annoying person in general? Am I making this as a keepsake for a very important person in my life? Or is it a throw for the back of the couch in the winter? Is it something easy to fix? Is it a scrappy quilt I'm making for fun? Is it so obvious that it's ugly? Or does it add character?

I had a friend point out a mistake on one of my quilts, but I absolutely love how she did it. "Oh, I see you were creative and did this one different. " I looked and realized the block was upside down. It was a simple fix and we laughed about it.

I'd only want to know if it was still fixable. After the quilt is done (quilted, bound) I'd rather not have my mistake pointed out to me - because I'll never to be able to see anything but the mistake after that. But, if there is still time to fix it, I definitely would want to know (and certainly I don't ever want to hear "Oh, I noticed that weeks ago" after the quilt is finished).

Personally, I would want to know.

If I have asked someone to check the quilt before I get it together, I want him/her to ask why such and such a block is turned differently, etc. I want to know if he/she thinks another color for the border or another width would be better. And if you are my best friend and we are talking quilts, yes. "Hey, is that what you meant to do? Or did you think about this?" But since I am mostly of the "will it be seen from a galloping horse?" persuasion and since I have become very suspicious of the motives of those who feel they have been divinely called to be critics, I usually want the QUILT POLICE to keep their opinions/suggestions to themselves. froggyintexas

I read something interesting about the Amish and their quilting. When they quilt, they deliberatly make one mistake because they believe that only God is perfect.

i dont view that as quilt police....i hate the ones who come up and say...gee, it looks like you had a bad day when trying to make those seams match...or...that blue really isnt the right shade....but to see a misaligned piece, i would want to know so i could possibly fix it before its quilted and then too late...especially if its a gift...as for the other critiques....i totally disregard them....it also lets me see the true person they are...then i avoid them & have less respect for them...monica in texas

Yup! It's kinda like have lipstick on your teeth!
Tell me! Tell me! Tell me!!!!! :)

I had all my blocks put together and showed it to my friend and she noticed the one that was sewn in backwards. I was so glad she saw that. It was a king. I was able to fix it. I would for sure want to know, but only in a helpful manner. Don't make me feel bad about myself while you are telling me about it. Whisper it to me. A whisper always seems like a kind way of telling someone something you really want to be helpful about. I was able to fix it right away. I would have been upset to have sent it to the LAers with the mistake. I really like the gal and the way she whispered my goof to me. No one was around, so there was no need to whisper, but it just made everything okay. Felt like she was being a good friend. Kind of like when there's something in your nose. You want to know, but not be embarrassed by it. Whisper it to me. I'll take it like you're being helpful.

I like to think I catch errors - like in proof-reading - but sometimes I've just gone over it so many times, I literally do not 'see' something that might be awry.

Now that was just mean! I wonder how many customers those women have run off.

As for wanting to know if I've made a mistake in my quilt ~~ as long as it's still a flimsy and fixable, I definitely want to know.

If it's been quilted, no!

I was told a long, long time ago when I bought a Navajo blanket in Flagstaff, AZ, that every blanket has a small mistake called a Spirit Hole.

And that, my friends, is what I call any mistake found after the quilt is finished. :)

I also take photos of the design wall as I design my quilts. Sometimes stepping away and coming back into the room will make a booboo jump out at you. My BFF is also a quilter and I've had her help me take a last minute "Look see" to make sure everything is the way I want it to be.

There is a whole group of questions like this one. Another one of these is "Would you want someone to tell you if they knew your husband was having an affair?" These type of questions are so personal to the type of person we are that they make us think about ourselves.

Yes, I would like to know but only in the gentleness of terms. Then I can decide if I want to go to the time and effort to fix it or just let it be. I have a large mirror on the opposite wall from my design board. You would be surprised how quickly you pick up errors when looking at your piece in the mirror image! Whether it is a real mistake or just a design placement, it sticks out like a sore thumb!

I would like to be told about it so that I could fix it before it was quilted and bound.

I have posted pieced quilts before and had someone point out some inconsistancies (sp?) and I was much appreciative of it. So I do not mind if someone questions something on my quilt design.

Lets all face it. It depends on how and when things like this are brought up.Sometimes it makes me sort-of hot and then again it is a good thing

I would definitely want to know before I quilted it!!! Please if I show a top on here let me know if you see something amiss!!!!

I'd like to know. You will always see the mistake in the future because you KNOW it is there but so what. We have a town about 6 miles from us. My husband always says if they can't see it from Blue Grass, the town's name, it doesn't matter. When I trained people at the bank I worked at I always told them, there probably isn't a mistake you can make that I haven't already made myself. I also said if you aren't making mistakes, you aren't doing anything.

I'd want to know. If it's really a mistake on my part. Just general bitching like the points aren't perfect, keep that to yourself.

I ran into this recently, one of my quilting buddies who is also a longarm quilter was showing a quilt that she was going to feature in an artisan show that weekend - I noticed that she had missed quilting a small area - she was thankful and said that she should let me look over the rest of the quilt to see if I could find anything else - she wasn't mad - she was grateful.

I think it is all in the telling ... I am always thankful when someone points out something like that to me - especially if it is early enough in the game for me to fix ... sometimes I am too close to the project (when it's mine) to see a block turned the wrong way, etc.

I make my quilts to be used and abused, not hung up and judged so if there is an imperfection I don't usually get too upset about them ...

I'd want to know. I like to fix my mistakes or have the freedom not to fix them. I also sew late at night when I can't sleep. So I try to double check my work then have DH check it. Sometimes fresh eyes spot things I have overlooked several times.