I had a hard time recently making a quilt. It fought back- that ever happen to you?
First, I used two different machines to piece- long story, but… it is true, the 1/4″ seams were different. Really. It was like using two rulers from different manufacturers. They are not the same.
Then, I tried to quilt it myself. I don’t usually do that with bigger projects. The straight stitching went well; the free motion- not so much. And as I was jamming the quilt under the arm of the machine, I managed to jam the edge of the light underneath my fingernail.
Yeah. It hurt. A lot.
I ripped out all the free motion stitching. By now, I no longer even liked the quilt.
Then, I went to a local shop that has a sit down long arm that you can rent time on. Nice machine. Nice people. It went so much better. Others saw the quilt and loved it. I saw the quilt with new eyes and found it really was lovely.
Striving for perfection was part of my frustration. Perfection in piecing. Perfection in machine quilting. Instead of piecing and quilting with love and enjoying the process, I pieced and quilted with aggression and determination to be done.
Relax. Enjoy.
That is why I quilt- because I love it. Because I cannot imagine not quilting.
How about you?
happy quilting,
Kate