Monday, September 03, 2018

Monday Motivation - Perfection

Ah yes, the continual struggle for perfection!  I know that in my quilting it is often something that I think can be achieved.  Accurate cutting, accurate sewing, careful choice of color and pattern, and just maybe I can reach perfection...or maybe not!
There is an old "tradition" among quilters that those wonderful Amish quilters would purposely add a mistake in their quilts (a humility block), because only God can be perfect.  Of course, what does that say if you need to add a mistake on purpose?  No one is really sure where this notion originally came from, but it appears to have begun sometime around 1948.
Isn't it funny how a small mistake, like turning a unit in a block the wrong direction, can go unnoticed until late in the process?  I was working on quilting this top, laid it out to see how I liked what I had done, and what do I see?  A blue and white four patch turned cattywampus!  I've looked at it, thought about it, and pretty much decided that I am just going to leave it that way.  Call it an original quirk, a humility block, or just a plain old mistake.  It's a fun way to get people to stop and look a little longer at the quilt!  Here's a block that turned out just fine:

This quilt was made using my Quilter's Primer pattern.  I've taught this as a beginner class several times, and this is the version I made for my very first class.  The fabrics are so fun and vibrant, but I wasn't sure whether it would come out ugly or fabulous when I started.  I actually ended up loving the results, especially that crazy sashing fabric.  It will be displayed at my quilt guild's show in two weeks, and I need to get the quilting done, so am working at that this week, along with several other projects.  At least there are no wedding dresses at the moment to interfere with my quilting!

We are winding down the Great Outdoors blog hop, but it's not too late to enter my giveaway!  Here are today's posts:

Monday, September 3 - Sweet Tweets - Kathleen McMusing, Adventurous Applique and Quilting
Happy Monday!  Don't worry too much about being perfect, just enjoy the process! 

3 comments:

Kathleen said...

It is funny how often we do that little thing that makes us crazy! I don’t think many will notice but more will know because you told them than would see it! I, too, have a few things to finish for our show in a few weeks - thanks for the reminder. Mostly watching my blog today...wonder why!

Sewgirl said...

I did exactly what you did recently, and fortunately hadn't done too much quilting over the problem area. I actually did take the piece out and turn it around because it was a tree and had different colors for the background and sky area that would have just driven me crazy if I had left it. Yes it was a fat hassle, yes things did not quite fit back perfectly, but I was happy with changing it out for this piece. I have had it happen other times and just like you, I decided it wasn't worth changing. Thanks for sharing!!

Sumac said...

I love the crispness of batik fabrics.