People talk about making mistakes in their quilting and being nervous because they are afraid they will really mess it up.

I say quilting is about the process as much as it is about the finished result. You can't have one without the other. So enjoy the process or struggle through the tough parts of the process ( I do both) and come out on the other side feeling like you did the best you could whether that is spectacular or just ok in your eyes.

I work in miniatures and so I do a lot!!! of hotpads. Several hundreds over the last 11 years. One thing I have learned is to do it to my satisfaction and to the best of my ability whatever that may be at that time. You will improve with time whether you are trying to or not. Practice and doing it many times will do that for you so just keep plugging away at it if it is what you love to do.

Sharing with us is a good motivator and will lift your spirits!! So if you are a lurker or you are a member take the time to share and enjoy the accolades and support you will get! Don't hesitate to share -you will get only positive feedback here. We care and we support each other.

I have mentioned in the past that I once made a hotpad that I turned one vital triangle backwards and didn't notice it til the hotpad was already quilted! Too late to go back and fix it so I took it to Kalona (where I sell my stuff) and just included it with the other hotpads.
To my surprise it sold!! Now someone either didn't notice the mistake or thought I did it on purpose but to me it is very glaringly wrong!

See what you think. I found the picture this morning and thought I would share it with you. Even quilters who have been quilting 30 years make mistakes and not just mistakes that hide in the back ground!! I can always pick out my mistakes but usually I know only I can see them. But I thought this one spoiled the design.
Apparently someone didn't care or didn't see it. Hope they weren't upset when they got home with it.

i'm sure they never noticed. most non quilters can't see these things.

Another mistake I made last summer was also in a hotpad. I don't prewash anything. The only time I wash a fabric is when it gets dirty somehow.
In 11 years I have never had a fabric run. I spray most of my stuff with spray starch when it is done.
I had made this hotpad and was pretty satisfied with it til I went to spray and iron it. It turned several of the white sections to pink!! I tried to wash it out. I was not going to redo it. So I decided to see if I could turn all the white pieces pink. I did get it to do that but I have never been happy with it. It looks deliberately done and not done well to me.

The red that did this is one of my favorites and I still use it all the time. I found that that one particular piece of red was the only one that ran. None of the rest of them ever had a problem.I guess it was just that one lot that had a problem.
I still do not wash my fabrics. Too much time and trouble and I prefer the state they come in when I buy them. I don't want to go through the hassle of washing and spraying and ironing to get back to the stiffness they have when new.
This is the one and only time I have ever had this problem.

Thanks Klue you're probably right but I sell in an area that the tourism is primarily about quilts. It is the most important thing in this town. So it is not like selling at a yard sale. People in this town have quilts on all the walls of the businesses and have the Amish ladies come into the bank and set up a quilt to hand quilt on as a demonstration quite frequently.
This area is steeped in quilts -some painted on the windows and virtually everywhere.
I know that most who buy my stuff are tourists and want a keepsake so they probably don't see the mistakes.

Thanks for posting this Rhonda. I have been quilting about 3 years now and still worry about my mistakes and there is a lot of them! But I'm starting to realize that mine go to family. And my family doesn't even know what it means to cut off points or how many stitches per inch are considered good. So with each quilt, I try not to point out my mishaps. What they don't know won't hurt them. Still, it doesn't stop me from being too hard on myself, but I do feel better knowing I'm not the only one!

I love your pot holders by the way!! What do you use for batting? Is there something heat proof?

Wow Rhonda, I really needed to hear some of the things you shared/said. Ok, I might sound like a big baby but I actually cried when I was reading it. I was trying hard to make a nice big pillowcover for my partner and I just spent twenty minutes ripping a big part of it out to start over, I was so disgusted when I saw how it came out. Had to walk away from it yesterday after I cursed a blue streak and sulked a bit. You helped me get back a better perspective.

Thanks for posting this, Rhonda. Your words are wonderful for beginners like me.

Yes, I noticed the oddball triangle immediately, but I do that kind of thing professionally (though with computer software, not quilt patterns). It always amazes me how some people wouldn't see something like that at first glance, but in fact most people don't.

OTOH, the pinkish fabric looked natural to me until I read that it was from red fabric running.

To billswife, I'm sure Rhonda will give you a more detailed answer than I can, but yes, special insulating batting does exist.

Yes, the turned triangle is obvious, but if I'd done it, I would pass it off as a 'deliberate mistake ' - in design terms, you could say it adds character! :D The white turned pink - who would know the fabric didn't START as pink? :D

BUT it's easier for me to 'forgive' or explain others' 'mistakes' - my own? Well that's a whole other story! :wink: :lol:

Oh I could (and did consider it but decided to keep it to myself) point out al the flaws in the bear's paws I posted at the same time i posted this. I can see them and the only thing to me is that the flaws affect how square it ends up. That is important to me to make it come out to be a pleasing picture.
But each quilter has a differant level of what is acceptable or not to her or him. We are individuals afterall.
I happen to have inherited a streak(small one mind you that does not include my housework!) of perfectionism that means i have to make it the best I can or die trying!!!!
Anyway yes there are heat resistant products you can use. I think Joanns has one. I don't use them because the expense would be too high to sell my products.
I use a traditional batting made by Fairfield Co. It is a poly-fil and I use two layers. When I first starting making these to sell -the lady I sell to and I discussed the differant battings and I tried differant things. This is the one that we felt was thick enough to not burn your hand but yet not too thick as to look too bulky. It is a somewhat dense layer that is denser than a low loft batting but is still light enough to quilt well.
I use it in everything I do. Here is a sample of it.
I get mine at Walmart but if you don't have a Walmart fabric dept I saw it at Hobby Lobby the other day. I have seen it online also but can't tell you where right now.

Yeah that is what Joette(my buyer) said too! I always leave these things up to her. She has to sell it not me. When I have something I thought was a great idea come out to be a miserable flop I still take it and have her look at it. Some of them that i would throw out she has sold! No accounting for taste!!