Synnove

This afternoon I watched a video by Karen Brown in which she discusses "overthinking" quilt making decisions. I thought her point was very well taken that none of us makes a perfect quilt. Considering this today is making me more accepting of the border of a quilt I'm currently binding. The border fabric is bizarre and apparently stretched, so much so that now the edge ripples. I do know how to attach borders and rarely have this problem. However, I still like the quilt, despite it having that -- and other -- faults.

Question: How much deviation from perfection are you willing to accept before you feel compelled to fix it? What kinds of issues will you tolerate and which ones are unacceptable to you?

QuiltingPandaBear

I’ll try to fix it if it’s really bothering me, but I have set myself a 3 strikes rule. If I’m stitching something (a block, a row, etc.) and it’s not lining up to my satisfaction, I can unpick and restitch 3x if it’s still not working I just leaving and move on with my life. At that point it’s not gonna happen and it’s not fun anymore.

bearisgray

Depends on who is making it.

For myself, I will now sometimes allow an intersection that is 1/8 inch off stay if I can't get it any closer. After a while, i am able to more or less ignore it

There are so many places in the process of making a quilt where things can go awry.

there really no substitute for experience to learn what works - and when to redo or abandon a project when it is not working.

I'm still in the trial and error phase of quilting.

quiltingcotton

If it is when I'm assembling the blocks etc. I will at times set the block aside and then come back to it later. If I can't see the 'mistake' right away. I leave it.

Remember, we are our own worse critics.

newbee3

I also if it can't be corrected after a time or two forget it life is way too short

RedGarnet222

First, I try my very best on each quilt I make. I also consider the person I am gifting it to and the use it will have. If it is a dragger quilt for a kid, I am a little more accepting of a few little flaws. I quilt the dickens out of it to assure the quilt will hold up to that lovin' it gets. The kids are so happy to get a quilt, they don't inspect each inch of it. I think many of the people I gift to don't know a wit about quilting and just love the fact I thought of them with my talent and love.
I guess I am the one who polices when it comes to my quilts. I don't enter contests or events where someone is inspecting the seams and design I chose. So, I am a careful quilter, but I won't stress anymore over my quilts. I do put many quilts up for charity auctions. They are so well accepted, and the people are generous bidders. So, I am happy with my skills so far.

aashley333

I make quilts for pleasure. I try to match seams that are important/matter. If I make a tiny mistake, I just call that the mistake for this quilt, as each quilt has a mistake that probably only I know about! Also, I have thick, wild, curly hair which seems to shed quite a bit. Sometimes a strand will get caught in the stitching. I say that CSI Investigations would be able to identify my quilts!

Stitchnripper

I also quilt for my own pleasure and I like my quilts. They are not entered into shows. I try and make them as close to perfect as I can but that may not be perfect in the eyes of a judge. I also quilt my own on my Brother PQ1500. I do an acceptable job. No one that I have ever given a quilt to has commented on the quilting. They comment on the fabric and patchwork. I have even convinced a lot of my friends to do straight line quilting on many of their quilts if they don't like FMQ (which I do) and save a few bucks by not paying a couple hundred to a long arm
quilter.

Iceblossom

One of the things I like to say about us more experienced quilters is that we don't necessarily make fewer mistakes or have issues, but we've learned how to correct them. And often preventative measures so we are better the next time.

I try to do the best I can, but I recognized that maybe 10 years ago with my vision issues, my best quilting is probably behind me... but there is plenty I can still do. So, maybe no New York Beauty, Pickle Dish or an elaborate Mariner's Compass on my to-do list (although I do have a Compass I am planning to do), but there are all sorts of projects I am still quite able to do.

This year while working on the Bonnie Hunter project, I was still severely impaired and couldn't see the stitches. On one easy step (square in a square) I cut some of my pieces short. I was running out of some of the fabrics and couldn't just do new ones, I couldn't couldn't see the stitches to take out the errors, so I decided to do what I could do to fix the bad ones and go ahead and have some way off large square points, ones I normally wouldn't have tolerated, we aren't talking an 1/8th, more like 1/2" off.

For one, between Bonnie's design and the fabrics, it is so busy unless you are looking for trouble/problems, you aren't going to find them. And two, because I'm keeping this one and it's ok for me to have a reminder of I was doing the best I could, and it was pretty darn remarkable all in all I wouldn't be able to give it away in the state it is in, or if I was making it for someone else.

petthefabric

Quote Iceblossom: "I try to do the best I can, but I recognized that maybe 10 years ago with my vision issues, my best quilting is probably behind me... but there is plenty I can still do."

Over the years, what's important to me has changed. "Perfect" is no longer near the top.

I've got only a limited number of quilts still able to be in the que. So I'm prioritizing. "Art, friends, be me, express myself, be kind to myself" are near the top.

Recently the quilts bottom 2 rows were ripply. Thought about how hard it would be to fix and how important it was to me. Finished it as is. It got 1st place in a show. Not that I care about ribbons-had entered it as not judged but someone insisted.

So, you decide about your quilt. What's your priorities? Will it be judged? Etc.