Why am I so critical of my work? This is a question that I have asked myself many, many times, but why am I so critical of my sewing?
My first ever quilt
I am self-taught and have only been sewing / quilting for around 2.5 years and I watch YouTube tutorials to learn new techniques, and then I try them out.
When I made my first ever quilt, I was so proud of it, I could see where I could have done things better but despite a few creative flaws, I was really happy with my creation. As time has gone by and I have made more quilts, I find that I am getting more critical of my work and I think that I should have done better. So why do I feel this way?
I know that people say, ‘there are no quilt police’ and ‘it’s not a mistake it’s a creative difference’ etc, but that does not seem to make me feel any better about some of my creations.
After 2.5 years, I still seem to struggle to do a straight seam line and my seams all tend to taper in at the ends, why is this?!?!
People also say, ‘practice makes perfect’, I hate sitting at my sewing machine and practising, in my mind I see it as a waste of sewing time and fabric. However, when I have my sensible head on, I also know that this will make my finished quilt much better.
What I really struggle with is the actual quilting. I have never used a Long Arm Quilter’s services and quilt all my quilts on my domestic machine, including my super-king sized ones. No matter how hard I try I always end up with puckers in the backing, uneven stitch lengths and the pattern that I sew, being uneven.
The people that I have gifted quilts to or sold quilts to, have always loved my work and are always happy to receive / buy the quilt. They look them over and are always thrilled with what they have received / bought, so why do I feel that I have let them down in some way?
I have decided that I feel this way because I have been quilting for a while now, and I can see ‘flaws’ that other people (if they are not quilters) just cannot see. I refuse to use Jack (The Ripper) on quilting as it is just too hard to unpick, I do however use him when piecing if I need to. I just want my finished quilts to be perfect in every way and to me they just are not and to those that receive them they are.
I made a deal with myself, that if others love the quilt that they receive whether bought or gifted, that I will refrain from pointing out any ‘unique characteristics’ in it and just let them enjoy it.
So, beauty really is in the eye of the beholder!
Like you, I am largely self-taught in quilting. And, like you, I feel the urge to point out every flaw. But we are all learners, and so I am going to try to accept the joy of the recipient while holding back the criticisms as part of my desire for improvement and development !
It’s hard to stick with the decision not to point out the bits that you are not happy with but if you do, you just spoil the appreciation of the recipient as their eyes will always be drawn to the bits you point out to them. I now show them the bits I’m really happy with, i.e. the quilting or binding etc and it makes me (and them) have a more positive experience and memory. Thanks for your comment Maggie x