JudeWill

Cozy quilter is a great term! I do tend to be a perfectionist with my sewing. I don't know why, I certainly don't in anything else. No, that's not true. I was like that in my job, too. But I'm getting better. I don't rip out seams because they are not perfectly straight anymore. I realize that others will probably never notice and if they do, so be it. It is much more important to me to get things done and to enjoy the process. Right now, I just want to learn how to do the fmq good enough not to be totally embarrassed to put it on a quilt. This whole quilting thing is still so new to me that I have a whole lot to learn! And I intend to have fun doing it. ;)

Joan

Yes, I like the term cozy quilter and it fits me to a "T".

I haven't been quilting all that long and find it exciting to think about all the things I still need to learn.

Even so, I am good friends with my seam ripper and have been known to rip and stitch more than once (on one seam!!!)

I want to enter some of my creations in our local guild show next summer and already have some reservations because they just don't look perfect or like some of the masterpieces I've seen. I am going to enter them anyway and hope some of them inspires someone to start quilting or gives someone an idea for a new creation. But, no, I probably won't be bringing home any ribbons......

A1penny

Every year I go to the Intern'l Quilt convention in Houston to look at all the wonderful.....PERFECT.......top quilts. I always breathe a sigh of relief that I decided long ago that quilting for me was for fun, not perfection. I love seeing what others spend their time doing, and I do get inspired with great ideas.

It is also interesting to me, that after a number of months, it is very hard to find the glaring mistakes I thought I had made on my quilts. They must not have been "that bad!" I like what vjengels said, "My standard is 'if it makes me happy, it's perfect.'"

Scissor Queen

Enter!! You might be surprised!

kapatt

My standards...??? FUN! My first priority in quilting is that I enjoy what I am doing. I use to be very picky about everything I made and would become very depressed at my results because they weren't perfect.

Then my neighbor and I started meeting once a week to work on Eleanor Burn's Undergrouond Railroad. Both of us found that we were having fun with the quilting and when the other one made a mistake, we were honest but encouraging to each other. If the mistake was too much we would tell the other one but many times, we found that our mistakes were not as big as we would personally think and we didn't need to do it over.

The funniest mistake I made was on the flying geese block. When I put the 4 smaller blocks together, I accidentally turned one of the blocks so you have the geese going around the block in three of the squares but they are flying out of the block in the 4th square. I didn't spot this until after I had trimmed up the block. I looked at it and started laughing....I said, "the geese are escaping from the block"... I didn't redo that one because every time I look at it, I start laughing.
That is when I realized that my reason for quilting was for "MY" enjoyment and I wasn't going to worry about the small stuff. I will redo some things if they are really noticeable but many times things are not as noticeable as the maker thinks.

weezie

Most of the time, my piecing is excellent (but never without some seam ripping and re-do). Once in a while I get involved in a "lulu" that won't cooperate no matter how many filthy names I call it.

My hand quilting is satisfactory to me ... now ... after many thousands of practice stitches!

My machine quilting pretty much sucks. I've done some machine quilting that is not disgusting or laughable, but it's always an "iffey" thing.

Bottom line: the people who get my quilt gifts sincerely love them. So, I've accomplished 2 things: satisfying my creative urges and making someone happy with getting a quilt gift (or is it gift quilt? or is it quift?).

chris_quilts

I am a cozy quilter. Made 2 wall hangings to give as gifts this Christmas and both had mistakes. Not all of my corners ever meet up nicely. But what counted what the love, time and effort put into those wall hangings and the reciepients were thrilled with them and didn't see the booboos. I try to keep a journal and learn from my mistakes but I try for "Am I happy with the quilt?" and not perfection.

mimisharon

ME too! I tell my grands if they don't use them they don't get another.

Hugs,
Sharon

Sheree from Chicago

I'm a bit of a type A personality, so I expect things to turn out perfectly and I get kinda "nutso" when things don't turn out that way. I would much rather be a cozy quilter type person instead of driven, but that is not how I was wired. LOL

Honey

I strive for perfect, but rarely, if ever, achieve it. However, I have come to a couple of conclusions. 1) If I make a quilt for someone and all they can do is pick it apart, then they don't deserve it. I tend to tell people like that to be my guest and make a better one because they will never see another one from me. 2) When people don't sew or quilt they are usually impressed with the fact that I did it for them. Last summer I made a quit for my sons best friends wedding. I labored (kind of like childbirth) over that quilt. She was so thrilled that I took the time to make her such a gift that she wouldn't have cared if it was all inside out and backwards. I was thrilled because she has told me that they use it almost every day. Perfect isn't all that it is cracked up to be. Trying to be perfect can cause ulcers and heart attacks. So I will stay healthy, thank you, and do the best I can without driving myself to drink. If someone can't accept that, oh well.