I have been thinking a lot in the last year about comments people make about their quilting.
'My points don't match but I don't care'. The fact they have to say it out loud, means they do care (this is different from people who deliberately miss their points). So why not do them properly in the first place? It doesn't take any longer, it just takes care. Care when you are cutting, care with your seam allowances, care with your stitching when you come to a point. It might mean you have to pin on that point, and stitch just off the seam side of it, but you will end up with something to be proud of.
It still might not be 100% but as near to perfect as possible. This means you are pleased with your work and not ashamed of it.
I hate hearing quilters pull out their work and then just continue to run down what they have spent hours or time and good money making.
Take classes and make sure when you do, you learn from the best. One class with an award winning quilter is worth a whole course with another. There is a reason they win awards, they take CARE with what they do. There are exceptions to this, people who have great skills in composition of their work, people who have a wonderful sense of colour etc. Make sure when you take classes with these people you take away with you the thing they are excellent at and not the other aspects of their work. When you go to a show learn to look carefully at the quilts, look for the good and the bad bits of each quilt. Learn to get your quilter's 'eye'.
Make 2011 the year that everything you make is something which makes you proud.
Happy New Year everyone and thanks for taking the time to read my ramblings.
nicely said!
ReplyDeleteI always try and do my best...somedays are better than others.
I have a rule I don't take it out more than twice
if the point still doesn't match its ok
move on!
Happy new Year!!!
Kathie
Thanks for the insperational post. I am going to take more care this year and try to stretch my skills. Happy New year.
ReplyDeleteA timely post for me. I vowed not to be a perfectionist when I started quilting again. I won't throw in the towel when things don't match. But... I need to learn better skills. I agree about finding a good teacher. I was just reflecting on who has taught me to quilt and who has helped me make another quilt block.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year!
What a great post. I particularly like the advice about taking classes with experts - any chance of you sharing your skills in a workshop setting?!
ReplyDeleteHappy new year, and happy quilting.
An excellent reminder to all of us, Sally. Thanks! :)
ReplyDeleteI've taught quilters who have done lots of classes (spending a lot of money on them) but they have never grasped the basics of accurate piecing, the importance of pressing, having your seams lie in opposite directions etc ..... we all need to learn to walk before we run and quilting is the same, then we can produce beautiful work. And if a point is really awful, there is always the option of a little bit of applique to hide it!!
ReplyDeleteBravo! Well said. As quilters, we should be very proud of the work we do to carry on this great tradition of handwork. You have set a very positive tone for us this year. Thanks a lot.
ReplyDeleteHere here! And thank you. It made me think about my own comments as I am sometimes told "Your points all match" in a derisory tone as though I've done something wrong. Then I make some inane comment about being anal. (an expression I hate anyway) Truth is - I care. So from now on, I shall no longer put myself down for caring. I used to own a quilt store and when I was teaching classes, I'd start out by saying "It only matters if we care, and for this class, we are going to care." In 2011, I will continue to care!
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year Sally - may your points always match!
ReplyDeleteC.x
Happy New Year to you too!
ReplyDeleteI am never happy with what I do because I'm a perfectionist, and can always see room for improvement or for doing things in different ways. I'm my own worse critic! My great joy is that it seems to be something confined to quilting and not to other walks of life....that would be unbearable for the family I think!
I like the way you've expressed this issue and I would add to try the teachers methods so we can all add to our library of techniques and skills.
ReplyDeleteWell said Sally. Taking care through the entire process is essential for quilters to work on improving their technique. Even beginners can & should be taught that taking care through the process will make the process slower but more satisfactory in the end.
ReplyDeleteTeri
Thank your for the post, Sally. You speak right from my heart.
ReplyDeleteGreat post!
ReplyDeleteI know i'm guilty of this....part of it is my personality...to always point out my own flaws before someone else can.
i take my time and do the best i can. Sometimes it's great sometimes not so much.
Happy new year!
Spot on.
ReplyDeleteMany times in classes, I have to put the brakes on quilters who think speed is everything rather than taking care with their work. At the end of the session, it is usually the work of the quilters who took that little bit extra time that get the oohs and aaahs out of their peers, not the speed queen's.
Very well said! We should probably all print out your post and leave it somewhere highly visible in our workspace. Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely post.
ReplyDeleteThere is a tendency at the moment to say details don't matter, but if they matter to you, then they matter to you.
Well said, Sally. As it has been said.it is all in the detail! A simple piece of patchwork with seams straight and true is worth more than a complicated piece "thrown " together. I was reading comments on another list from quilt judge ( USA), and was horrified to read that some quilts come into shows "dirty" with thread ends still showing and covered with animal hairs..........!!
ReplyDeleteI get comments on my blog all the time about how I should just "enjoy the process", etc. I was taught anything that was worth doing was worth doing right. That being said my own experience- when I got sick I was happy to be able to make quilts. Any quilts at all.
ReplyDeleteHere! Here! If you're investing the time, you may as well do it right. You are so right Sally.
ReplyDeleteTaking classes with top notch quilt teachers is the key. I was lucky enough to do all my initial lessons with Di Ford who has produced the Morrell, Phebe, Anns Legacy and Oh dear, Mrs Tompkins (aka the Burnt quilt)quilt patterns. This has meant that I've only taken a few quilt classes recently to learn different techniques. And these classes have been at Threadbear, of The Civil War Bride quilt fame. All brilliant teachers and designers. I learnt to take my time and I don't undo my work. It helps to be a perfectionist but preparation is the key.
ReplyDeleteWonderful comment for the New Year Sally but I really came by to see how you were...notice you haven't been around for a while or are you busy?
ReplyDeleteHope you are well and quilting or planning something wonderful!
Best Wishes
Kay in Scotland
I beg to differ. Sometimes my points don't match and I really don't care. And if I say it, is is to emphasise, not that I do care really, but that I think it doesn't matter. If the overall effect of the quilt is pleasing and the time I had making it was fun and three of my points are a little off. Nope. Really genuinely DO NOT CARE! Nor really do I always care what a quilt Judge says. Its only one opinion from one persepctive. I do enter quilt shows to particpate rather than to compete and I once entered a quilt I had made for my parent's 4oth wedding anniversary. the Judge comments - points not quite right in places, applique stitches sometimes visible. Well so what? My Mum cried with delight when she saw it and shows it off every chance she gets. And I don't think she even notices the points. Guess whose views I care about more? And anyway it was mostly made by hand in the semi dark on a cummuter train so it lucky the thing stays together at all never mind with only 95% precision. So, no my points don't always meet and I don't care :)... lathough thats not to say I condone deliberately careless and sloppy work. Just that I beleive in fun and self-forgiveness. After all quilts are made by humans.
ReplyDeleteI beg to differ. Sometimes my points don't match and I really don't care. And if I say it, is is to emphasise, not that I do care really, but that I think it doesn't matter. If the overall effect of the quilt is pleasing and the time I had making it was fun and three of my points are a little off. Nope. Really genuinely DO NOT CARE! Nor really do I always care what a quilt Judge says. Its only one opinion from one persepctive. I do enter quilt shows to particpate rather than to compete and I once entered a quilt I had made for my parent's 4oth wedding anniversary. the Judge comments - points not quite right in places, applique stitches sometimes visible. Well so what? My Mum cried with delight when she saw it and shows it off every chance she gets. And I don't think she even notices the points. Guess whose views I care about more? And anyway it was mostly made by hand in the semi dark on a cummuter train so it lucky the thing stays together at all never mind with only 95% precision. So, no my points don't always meet and I don't care :)... lathough thats not to say I condone deliberately careless and sloppy work. Just that I beleive in fun and self-forgiveness. After all quilts are made by humans.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with Helen's post. If the over all appeal of the quilt is lovely, then what the heck difference does it make if a few of the points of the HSRs are in the seam allowance!
ReplyDeleteIf you admire antique quilts, like I do, most of the ones that you see are not perfect, so what does it really matter? This perfection thing started when quilt shows began. They needed something to "judge" them by. I really don't strive for perfection. Just good craftsmanship with "human" mistakes.
Trying to be perfect sometimes make people not even continue on because they are afraid that someone will criticize their work. Isn't it better to encourage them on than to judge so harshly that they quit?
The only ones it really matters to is the judges and I don't have mine judged, so I'm just not going to worry about it.
I like my work and every one of the people who have received one of my quilts have LOVED them and that is all that matters to me.