Marking "wrong size" blocks

[Patti P.]

Oh my, this is almost painful for me. I cannot get perfect with all the effort I can put into my quilts. This is my 2009 resolution and why I'm doing this BOM aside from the sheer beauty of it. I am so trying hard to reform my inaccurate ways. But I have to let myself off the hook. What's that saying? Shoot for the stars and hit the moon. My efforts are definitely producing a cleaner result. But I can't get perfect no matter how hard I try.

[Margo C.]

Ease up on yourself, Patti!! Remember that "only God does perfect"!

We are dealing with FABRIC here! This stuff stretches in three different directions. Do the best you can to make it accurate (measure, cut, stitch and press precisely) because it will make the next step easier. But more important, is to enjoy the process and be pleased with the product.

Just think of all the new stuff that we are learning that we will be able to apply to our quilt projects from now on! We are all getting better!

[Margo C.]

Patti, when I first started sewing clothes, I was always making seam allowances too small, so things didn't go together too well and my mum always said ' just keep moving and no one will notice!' :lol: I always think that when things are not matching up. So keep it moving!

yours in the cause
Rosemary

[Diane O.]

Patti,

It takes practice to get to be perfect, and even then, it doesn't always happen. As long as you learn something with everything you do, and can apply that to your next project, then it is not a loss.

As you said, you are producing a cleaner result because of your efforts. So just keep doing it, and eventually, your results will be as good as you want them. If something didn't turn out right, look at it and figure out what you did wrong. Then with the next one, you can figure out what NOT to do, so it will turn out right.

I just started on the feathered star last night, and on one of my sections, I noticed that one of my points wasn't pointy. It isn't that noticable, I'm probably the only one that would even notice it, but I took a look at it, and realized that when I pressed that seam, I didn't quite get my fabric as flat against the seam as I could have, and that is what caused my point to be off. From that point on, I made a point of making sure my pressing was more accurate, and the rest of my sections have almost perfect points. The fact that I can look at a mistake, and figure out where I was off, and then correct it, is a major accomplishment in my quilting, but it has taken me awhile to get to the point where I can pinpoint my mistakes.

With this BOM, there are many opportunities to do the same thing over and over. If you pay attention to what you are doing, and how to improve it with each section or block, then by the time you have made the last one, it should show improvement over your first ones.

Remember, YOU get to decide how accurate you want to be. If you want to strive for perfection, there is nothing wrong with that, but just realzie that as long as you learn something, anything, new, and can take that on to your next project, you accomplished something important. You can enjoy the process and strive for perfection at the same time, but just don't let the fact that your blocks aren't perfect take away the joy from your quilting.

Something I have started doing with some of my quilt projects that involve doing something new. I will take some scrap fabric, and make a block or two, so I can get an idea of the process that I'm trying to learn. Then when I'm comfortable with what I'm doing, I will use my "good" fabric that is going to go into the quilt. This way, I can use up my scraps, and learn something before I work on the "real" quilt. If my "practice" blocks look really bad, I can throw them away, and not be concerned if I have enough fabric to finish my quilt. If they look good, I can either use them in a sampler/scrappy quilt or for totebags, placemats, tablerunners, what ever.

No matter how accurate you strive to be... remember to have FUN!!!!

Diane in Colorado Springs