We’ve all had them: quilting mess-ups. I had one this morning!
I’m binding a softly-colored scrappy quilt I made recently. I chose these soft stripes on a textured woven cotton from Moda, from an old group called Seaside Rose. Since the fabric is woven I assumed it had no right or wrong side and I sewed all the strips together with diagonal seams, not worrying about right or wrong sides.
But wait! I discovered there is clearly a right and wrong side to this fabric—of course I made the discovery after the strips had been sewn together.
???
Should I take them apart? Or can I leave them be? How should I make this decision?
???
Since I have mess-ups on a regular basis, I’ve grown accustomed to asking these questions and then deciding:
1. What’s the purpose of this quilt? Does it need to be worthy of the quilt police, or is it to be well loved?
2. Who is this quilt for? Is it for my best friend’s 50th birthday, or for my toddler great-nephew?
3. How much time have I spent? Is this a one-month quilt or a five-year quilt?
4. How much money have I invested? Is it Japanese fabrics that cost a whopping twenty bucks per fat quarter, or is it fabric from the guild’s garage sale?
5. How much time and money will it take to fix the problem? If it’s less than a few hours, to me it’s not that big of a deal. If it’s going to be months, and hundreds of dollars in extra fabric that must be purchased? Hmmm.
6. And for me, the most important question of all: Is this going to bug me forever if I don’t take it out?
Today I decided that yes, this is going to bother me, so out come those stitches. It actually only took me about 10 minutes to unsew and resew all of the seams. Time well spent. Onward!
How do you decide? Leave a comment here by midnight Friday, Sept. 2 and I’ll choose a winner who will get a variety of fat quarters to play with. The winner is Joanne Pringle. Congratulations!
My thought process goes like this – I will NOT take that out. Looks awful but nobody will know but me. Drat …. I know, where is the seam ripper?
My seam ripper and I are one. And I often have to take things out when I’ve made a blunder with my fabric. I’d much rather take out the stitching then be “bugged” by the mistake.
You are right the first and foremost question is “WILL IT BUG ME”? The great thing is that sometimes those mess ups become quirky “design decisions” that add to the charm of a project. Or it can be your “Amish block”: the visible error that shows you are a humble human not perfect like a diety.
However other times they lead to discovering other mess-ups (happened to me on the the top I am working on – one mess-up turned into six (gratefully) found and corrected. As you noted time and cost will also play a factor in the correction decision. But if “a man on the galloping horse” can’t see it – then it stays!!
For little ones – “where is that unpicker…I just had it a minute ago…I’ve got three of the X…X things….” rip, rip, sew, sew, repeat as required.
For big boo-boos – the whole project gets bundled up into the cupboard with the rest of them and I open a bottle of wine.
It is amazing how little ‘big mistakes’ seem when the project has been out of sight for a while.
I spend a fair amount of time tearing out. Just enough that I will be happy with the project when I am done. After all, if I am going to put that much time into something, I don’t want to be only 90% happy when I am done. How much ripping it takes to accomplish happiness varies from quilt to quilt, but I generally don’t mind too much because each time I have the chance to learn and improve.
MY first thought is Grrrr…I do not like to use my seam ripper. After that my thought process is very much like yours. I also add in the thought if this quilt lasts 100 years will I be embarrassed that I didn’t take out that seam and fix it? 99 % of the time I take out the seam and fix it.
I really like your thought process on this! The purpose of the quilt and who it goes to is foremost to me. A child will never know..and most times an adult won’t know either! You never see a mistake when you are wrapped up in a cozy quilt!
I’ve never thought out the thought process before but now that I do………
I have to say that foremost is probably if it’s going to bug me with cost and time running close behind.
#1 is my answer – what’s the purpose of this quilt and how perfect does it need to be? Sometimes fabric that ends up being backwards lends charm to the quilt because it’s a different shade of a scrappy quilt that already has a lot of colors in it. I seem to do this often with white-on-white designs when the light is low or I’m not paying close enough attention while chain piecing. It rarely matters enough to rip anything out. If I didn’t notice the first time, chances are no one is going to notice once it’s pieced, quilted and washed.
If it bugs me (and it usually will), I will try to fix the problem. I don’t really mind un-sewing but if I can’t correct the problem after two rounds of ripping, then it stays the way it is.
i have just about the same process. I realized, though, that my first thought was “how obvious is it?” slacker! ☺
I used to pick out every little mistake I made but I think I am getting better at loving a quilt for it’s non perfections. I try to go by the “If I know it will drive me crazy” rule of thumb
For me it always has to be right…so I always rip them out and start over.
It is your quilt and you are the only one that knows that you made the mistake. You will not be able to feel good until you have fixed the mistake. You will try to talk yourself out of this. You will try and get distracted so you will forget, BUT you will not forget. So, in the end, you will just fix the darn mistake and feel so much better, about yourself, the mistake you just fixed. Perfect. Life is so much better now.
Sandra Timmons
Sonora, CA
If I catch the error early in the process I will correct it. If a project gets to the flimsy stage or beyond (basted or quilted or bound) I will leave it. That’s exactly what happened with my Roll Roll Cotton Boll which I will pick up from the longarmer this week.
“Once is a mistake. Twice is a design element!”
Sort of the same thought process as you though I haven’t ever listed it out before. The “buggy factor” is usually the deciding one. However, if I am really puzzling over it – say the cost or time factor says no, but the buggy factor says yes – I usually get hubby’s opinion. He is good at boiling things down to the bare-bones and getting emotions out of the way. One of the many reasons we are a good fit.
wow…those are great questions to ask…although it would bug me so I would have to fix it…
I have a two-step process: how much does it bug me? if it is a lot, then the second step is: where is my seam ripper hiding? if I can find it, I unpick it. and usually I’m with you — it takes more time to worry about the mistake than it does to fix it.
I decide by 2 things. Is it going to bother me (probably) and can I learn something from doing it (most probably). So I will usually undo and resew, unless I can lazily cut around it if there’s enough fabric to manage it with. My biggest lesson learned is to “stop” when I’m too tired even though I feel like I have some time to sew.
Every time I mess up, its a new decision, sometimes I rip out, other times I start over, I have even ordered more fabric. I walk away to tackle it another day or I trek onward until its right for me at that moment. Sounds kinda wishy-washy but, it works!
I normally decide if it is going to bother me everytime I see it. If I am giving it away to a non-quilter or non-sewer, are they picky, detail noticing people? Will it take away from the overall wonderfulness of the end product? Sometimes I leave it in and some times I unsew. Thanks for the giveaway!
I have a sneaky strategy that I put to use when I discover an “oops!” – I display the quilt top, ask my husband to look at it, and if, unprompted, he spots the goof, I rip it out and correct it. If he can’t spot the mistake in the first 2 or 3 minutes, I decide that it’s really just me, being way too picky….. and then I still rip it out if it bugs me enough!
I think I go through a similar thought process except that I have an overriding “rule” that says if it is a community quilt (I make a lot of them) I don’t ever unsew things or redo…..
thanks!
Yes, Will it bug me? That is the answer to the question! Sometimes, it won’t bug me; but, if it does, I must rip-rip-rip. Love the quilt! Scrappy seems to be my favorite.
I actually ask myself all the same questions you do – that was amazing to me!! I’m a hand piecer and quilter – so, likely my stitches come out a tad easier than those done on a machine. It’s the question of whether it’ll bug me or not that usually settles the question – that works the same as when I’m making skirts and dresses for my granddaughters – !
If it’s for a gift, I would take it out. Let’s face it – if it were only for me, I’d take it out, too. I’ve got a thing about doing it “right”. It would bug me too badly to leave it, unless I only figure out there’s something wrong once the project is totally finished. Then . . . pffft! . . . too late! If it’s finished when I notice it, it stays!
I am currently working on assembling blocks that were made in a Guild work session. I am also making blocks to have enough of each kind for a quilt. I am being paranoid about having enough correctly made blocks. I had 8 quilts that were reasonable correct. These are for Habitat for Humanity–we give a quilt to each house when it is dedicated. Now what do I do with all the ones that are incorrect.
My thoughts
1. trim them all down to the same size
2. lump them all together and make even the mistakes scrappy
3. include blocks that were samples and not used (some different coloring)
I think this will still make an interesting ninth quilt from all these blocks and I am ready to have them DONE!
I have done something similar to this. Bottom line is that I know about it, and it is going to bug me every time I see that quilt. Luckily the only thing wasted is my own time & a little thread.
My biggest mistake is on my bed now. I am reminded of things not to do, or things to remember to research for corrections. I have a pinwheel(my first large quilt) and the biased edge is strectched. I have quite a puffy quilt and it is not due using high loft batting. It is still beautiful to me because it is my first large undertaking and thankfully it was not to go to anyone else. The quilts I have done for others since have definitely been taken apart when I discovered a mistake even if it means several blocks taken off. I hope I find the errors before I get that far though. I was hand sewing a Grandmothers flower garden when I was a teen and I saw some colors together that I did not like and took a lot out to go change those colors. There is a name for this “Syndrome” isn’t there? hahaha But I love my grandmothers quilts more than mine becasue that “Little” imperfection that she left in made it “ALL HER” and that is sooo special. I think it is ok for an heirloom to have an imperfection but if the quilt is for a contest then : “how many seam rippers can be too much?”
I usually put the whole project away for a night or two, then bring it out and look at it again, see how big the mistake really is, and decide if the person it is for will notice, and I of course weigh the “bugging” factor. I have also been known to do the husband test, if he notices, I fix it. The only flaw with that, is he occasionally picks out other mistakes that I didn’t notice…!
First does it really show up…… do I have enouph time to fix it…..
Then like everything else I make..is it gonna bother me every time I look at it.
Oh, yeah. The “bug me” factor is the decider for me. Much as I hate ripping it out, I just can’t stop myself from doing it!
It definitely bugs me when I make a mistake whether it will be seen or not. My seam ripper gets used quite regularly.
Mistakes like that haunt me. I have to rip it out. I’m not a perfectionist, but that would be what I see everytime I looked at the quilt. Of course, sometimes the wrong side of the fabric, can add a little more distinction, I’ve tried that answer a few times. Sometimes it works.
I just quilted my first quilt here recently. I did not sew my stitches close enough together and it left areas with puckers. Also, decided I did not like the thread I was using. So, everything came out. I went from an off white to a variegated color thread, sewed my stitches closer together and the front of it turned out beautiful. I am still in the process of finishing up the binding. I have one side of the binding sewn down and trying to decide what stitch I want to put on the top side of the quilt. This is a very bright colorful quilt for my great niece, who is now 5 months old.
my first thought is “who is it for?” The quilt I’m working on now is very special so there’s been lots of seams ripped on this one!
I’m of the “will it bug me?” school of thought. If the answer is yes–out it comes. If not, I just live with it. With quilts I give away, ha! My non-quilting family is impressed with anything, so it isn’t likely they would even notice!
When making a mistake,
and believe me, I make lots of ‘em!
I’m usually betwixt and between,
do I “rippit”, or keep the stitches in ‘em.
I’m befuddled and can’t make a decision,
do I start over or finish the “mistake”?
If I leave it in, will it look really bad?
Will the quilt beg for me to remake?
Oh, heck, my poor brain can’t do this,
I keep going to and fro.
I guess I’ll resort to rock,paper,scissors,
to see if I “rippit” and sew! (or no!)
If my blunder will be very obvious and will detract from the look of the quilt or make it shabby in any way, I undo and redo. But often, if the mistake is known only to me and doesn’t affect “the integrity of the quilt” as they say, I let it go. In fact, I’m not sure if I’ve ever made a perfect quilt, but I’m hoping to.
Here are my thoughts…. when I first started quilting, it really bothered me to have a mistake in any quilt. Since I have now been quilting for almost 20 years, I figure if you can’t notice it going down the road at 35 mph it’s OK
I enjoy piecing so much more now. I have come to enjoy the process of quilting and not seeing how many I can get done.
I remember hearing a saying a long time ago about quilts – that there should be one “mistake” in each quilt – a testament to being human! One mistake that no one else, except me, would notice! It helps to calm those feelings of having to have absolute perfection! To err is human ………….
First will it bug me and most important due no harm. Sometimes the more ripping the more warped I make the block.
It depends of the final use of the Quilt. I Wouln’t rip out for a Dolly Quilt but my Challenge #1 Quilt just required 4 days of UN-STITCHING of the Panto I quilted on it. NO FUN!!! I had cut the backing too short and had to add another 6″ to make it right. I’m glad I did it, but it was a “Royal PAIN”. At my house we call it “frogging”.
I used to get so upset when I’d make a mistake. But due to some good examples of my mom and quilting teachers…I slowly reach for the seam ripper and fix it. Of course if it is really bad…I still run to mom and have her help take it out. It definitely takes the sting out of messing up! Thanks mom!
I look at many of the same questions you do – I do a lot of scrap quilts, which in a way can be more forgiving- and I also subscribe to that 10 foot rule…. lately I have resorted to planned applique to cover a particularly obvious oops that is too far back to be torn out without lots of angst…
At lot depends on how severe the mistake is. If it’s not real noticeable except to me, I remember the saying my Mom would tell me “In a hundred years and a guy on a galloping jackass, whose gonna notice?”. If it’s really, really sticking out like a sore thumb, I will unsew it and resew it.
I’m borderline obsessive, so yeah, I’d have to unsew and fix it!
I hate when this happens, I also can’t stand it to know that I did something wrong, so I try to convince myself that nobody will notice but me. A couple of days later I still haven’t convinced myself, and out come all the mess up’s!
I first have to decide if the quilt is better or worse because of the mess-up, and if it is better, GREAT! But if it is worse, I will fix it, because it WILL bug me.
When I find a mistake, if it is not glaring, I remember reading somewhere on the internet that ladies used to purposely make a mistake for the judges to find in a contest. I feel that if a judge can’t find my mistake, nobody else will. Yet, I still have a quilt top with glaring mistakes that I haven’t fixed. It’s been about 2 years. OH well!
It will bug me, this I know. I will always know that I did something “wrong”/not as good as I could have. I feel it will reflect on me and my skills. So, I will probably take my “reverse sewing implement” and make it right. Oh, yes, my family ALWAYS notices if I’ve done something not quite right – and they are no longer afraid of mentioning it. Ah, for the days when all I got was praise and admiration!
I follow a criteria similar to yours. Most times I will rip out the mistake and redo it. If I am not able to fix the mistake after two times, then I will leave it. If the mistake is really big, then it will certainly bug me, so it will have to be fixed.
I use Jane Quinn’s (of Quilting in the Country) theory – if you can’t see if the back of a galloping horse, it’s good. LOL! It really comes down to the intended use of the quilt, whether or not it’ll go into a show or how much it’ll bug me.
Your reason #6 about will it bug you is about my sole criteria
I follow the galloping geese rule. If I can’t see it from a galloping geese, then I don’t worry about it! If it’s an obvious mess up, then I’ll fix it. But if it’s a “the points don’t match” then I don’t worry about it!
At least you caught it before the quilt had been finished. I made a memory quilt of my favorite dogs pictures after he passed away. My mother hand quilted it, and it went on the wall for everyone to enjoy. I was not until I took a picture of it to email to a friend interested in me making one for her, that I noticed that one of the star blocks had the stars facing the wrong way…..It was on the wall for a year. I tell everyone now that it has a quirk or two. I am not perfect so why should my quilts be???
Generally I make that decision by the “Will it Bug Me?” question first followed by the “How much time will this take to correct, and considering that, Does it STILL bug me?”
I too, would have pulled the seams you spoke of, but take that same mistake and postpone the discovery of the error to let’s say After you have sewn that binding onto the quilt… Might bug me, but I’m not about to be bugged enough to tear out a binding!
Thanks for the chance to win!
Paul
http://www.OutnumberedQuilter.com
I tend to fix most things..I am type A and know things will bug me! I have occasionally given up on a block or two that I just couldn’t seem to fix…but I know one of those blocks is around here waiting for me to try again!
Diane, this was so fun to read! All good points made and so spot on. I’m rushing to get my August UFO done now; just last night I made one of those nasty mess-ups! In a hurry you might know. I’d be one section further along, but it would have haunted me to no end not to redo! Then there is the point that Paul makes…how far is to far in to fix? Enjoyed your post. Sandi
You are so right. I swore I would never pick out seams but I have. Sometimes. And sometimes I accept my little mistakes and tell myself they make my quilt “charming”. Ha! Whatever works on the old mind.
If I think I can get away with calling it “custom”, I leave it alone. Otherwise I’ll fix it.
You had a lot if GREAT questions to ask yourself if you should leave it or fix it. I fix it if I have the time, if its going to bother me and what kinda mood I am in. I have made quite a few mistakes and I tend to rip it apartment then fit it. I am a beginner quilter and I want things to be perfect even thought it wont and sometime it looks great with the mistake in it.
I’ve forgotten to add the 1/4″ seam allowance on one piece of the quilt block on all the fabric for that particular pattern, ended up with smaller blocks…small quilt than designed.
I have to go with #5 and #6. If the mistake can easily be fixed I do so, if not no biggie.
If the quilting isn’t perfect, I step back close my eyes and look again if it doesn’t jump out at me I move on. Besides 98% of the people who will see my work see the over all affect not the slight imperfections.
Oh I would have to fix it. My mistakes always seem to be the same thing, sewing the wrong sides together or sewing the wrong colors together. I get into a zone while sewing and easily forget what color comes next. I just want to hurry up and sew – I want to see the finished project.
I would not go through such a long list of questions because I am a horrible perfectionist. The minute I saw I’d done them wrong, I first would have tossed it aside with anger at myself and then go back to it ripping them all apart to start over BUT……..that may not be for about two weeks until I am over my anger fit. LOL
I recently made a quilt that before the top was totally complete I noticed two alike pieces side by side. It was a scrappy quilt with many fabrics so I considered myself lucky that I only found that one small place and went on. However the table runner made of the same scrappy fabrics got the tear out and replace used on it. Lost in a quilt is one thing. Laying on top of a table is yet another.
I call these “design decisions” or my “humble spots” and leave them especially if it is binding. From the image, the quilt police would have to look very very closely to ding you on it. And really, as long as it is going to be loved and cherished and it comforts someone, who cares. It is a work of art and a thing of beauty made with love. It’s all good!
Every quilt I make has some kind of mistake in it – and usually more than one. My motto is if I catch the mistake before the quilt block is put together or if it is in a location that doesn’t require picking out half the quilt top, I’ll fix it. Otherwise I just remember what the Amish say, “Only God is perfect.”
My worst mistake that couldn’t be taken apart was the quilt top tore (in several places) when it was being quilted (it had been stretched too tight on the frames). Because it was a gift for my graduating senior, and had to be finished in 2 days, I just mended the tears once the quilting was finished and told her that those mended places represented all the mistakes I made while raising her and that I was just trying to fix everything. She loved the quilt even more for those extra stitches!
As soon as I noticed that the front and back were reversed I would say to myself, darn now I have to rip that out and do it right. Usually you are so excited to get so close to finishing the quilt you get mad at yourself, but I couldn’t just leave it.
If I’ve seen it, it won’t go away. It would run around in my head every time I look at the quilt. Worse yet is to find it in the “finished product”. I rip………..every time.
I’ve seen quilts where one block is turned wopsided, and it throws the whole path of the pattern off – that would have bothered me to no end. But smaller mistakes I can leave be. My most common mistake is sewing a bit of white-on-white fabric upside down. Sometimes I leave it. Your reasons #1 and #2 are important to me.
Most of my quilts have some small mistake, that only I know about or notice. I leave them, knowing that I am not perfect. Since most are baby gifts, I don’t worry about it- it will hopefully get pooped, pee’ed or spit up on anyway. I consider it showing the love of another human being.
Evey quilt I’ve ever made has either one little mistake, or one noticeable mistake. No one who has received a quilt from me has ever said, Oh, look at the mistake! So while I fix major ones (like fabric on the wrong side), I leave the minor ones that only bother me.
haha ~ I can relate. Usually it’s for my kids or a friend that doesn’t know a straight stitch from a crooked one, I leave in a mistake. But if it’s for a friend or family member that knows how to sew or quilt, or an auction quilt, or a quilt for a VIP, I fix it.
My biggest whopper was when I decided to NOT follow the directions and do it the “easy” way. Ha, what a disaster. The unfinshed blocks sat in a plastic tub for several years before I took them out and “downsized” the blocks, reversed sewed and resewed some of the blocks into a totally different quilt. I ended up with two lap size quilts (instead of the queen I was making) that I donated to the U/M Cancer Society. I turned a moment of extreme arrogance into a “re-design opportunity” that I believe put a smile on at least two chemotherapy patients.
I think I’m probably like most quilters – undoing depends on the mistake and the nature of the quilt. If it’s a gift for a special occasion, I’m more picky about those little imperfections. If it’s just for fun for me, it usually doesn’t bother me much to leave a mistake in. I just finished a tablerunner, that will be a gift, and un-quilted part of it because I didn’t like how the fabric on the back had wrinkled up.
At the point you discovered your “mess up”, I would have fixed it. I started a Halloween quilt a couple of days ago, and it is a scrappy/sampler sort of project. I just recut the background fabrics for one block because I was one piece shy and there was no way I was going to be able to piece that “one piece” from the itty-bitty scraps left. So, back to the drawing board.
I’d like to say I’m perfect and never make mistakes, but who am I kidding – LOL! I really try to not let little mistakes bother me. i was once told that a quilt is not a quilt unless there is at least one “mistake”. Over the years when I first started fretting over them, I would make people stare at my quilt and try to find the “mistake”. most of them couldn’t! This is when I decided to take a step back for myself and just let it go. I’m not perfect, neither is anyone else, so why should I expect everything I create to be that way? Since I have started this way of thinking, my quilting has become so much more enjoyable. And, if it’s just a small mistake and I can still fix it without to much hassle, I will…no big deal.
I definitely decide by whether it is going to bug me or not!
I am #6. I need to fix it cause it will bug me forever if I don’t.
If it’s bugging me enough to question myself about re-doing it, I’d better re-d0 it. Past experience has taught me that I will be pointing out the mistake to everyone who views the quilt so fix it.
The question I would ask will anyone notice? i made a ‘chicken- scratch quilt top and after I quilted it I noted one of the blocks was set up in a strip that I had turned wrong side out. Well– to late. No one noticed! But I will always remember to be sure if I do another one.
I had my quilt loaded into old faithful, my Grand Hobby Quilter on my very old, but functional, Inspira frame. After taking a deep breath, I began happily quilting away. After I started rolling the quilt to move to the next section, I noticed a terrible jumble of threads on the underside of the quilt. Ugh!, I didn’t put down the presser foot, what a mess! After, cursing and crying and a glass of wine, I decided to take another deep breath and finish quilting it. I then threw the whole thing in the closet, and didn’t look at it for about a year. One day, I decided to be brave and take it out of the closet. I thought the top looked alright, so I cut it up, ironed on some fusible stabilizer to the back to secure the stitches and made a tote bag, a handbag, another tote bag for a friend of mine, and a small zippered pouch. I call it my lemons to lemonade quilt.
I usually go through a list similar to yours. I have been known to take apart entire quilts because I didn’t like the setting. Some times I bite the bullet, finish, and give it to charity.
I try to not do too much thinking, if I know it will always bug me, I rip; if I think I’m the only one who will notice, I leave it. I am my worst critic! Thanks for the fun!
I looked at your work if you didnt tell you would not know.I have made problems with quilting unpick and resewen and hoped for the best I have never been taught i just decided to quilt and i love it I look at a picture and and think ill try that if i make a mistake i have unpicked many a time
Can I live with it? And I use all those questions you asked to decide…but in the long run, if it bothers me it will continue to bother me and I might as well change it while it’s easier done!
I seem to make a mistake on every quilt, so I have a lot of experience deciding about whether or not to fix them! It depends upon where I am in the quilt. It’s pretty easy to fix cutting errors because I’m a scrap quilter. Piecing errors usually show up on the design wall. If they slip by me, I hope they’ll show up during assembly. If not, then I have to decide when I notice it if it’s going to bug me. I figure I’m the only one who counts on this matter. If it does, I fix it. It’s been fun to read all the comments.
Not all boo-boos worry me, so I use a similar criteria – if it’s a gift, I fix it, cos I know it’s there and don’t want to give something that I know isn’t my best effort. But if it’s for home, not so much of a big deal.
Yes, it would bug me too. I’m not a perfectionist, but I would like it to be right.
Thx
I usually try to live with my boo boos unless they are very evident, then I will try to fix them.
I would have done the same thing. It would probably keep me awake at night, thinking about should I or should I not remove & redo. I would finally take out the stitches and fix it.
Despite my greatest efforts, I can never seem to get a quilt “perfect.” Any imperfections are glaring from my perspective and most times I end up fixing it or putting it away for a while until I can come up with a solution. Thinking your list of questions is going to come in very handy for my future snafus in a more relaxed way!
I’m a perfectionist and tend to be very critical of anything I make. If I mess up, it generally has to be ripped out and redone, but I’m trying to adjust my thinking and go with the flow. I once heard someone say, “The charm of something handmade is in it’s imperfections”. I tell myself that every time I finish a project!
I think you have to weigh all the variables, and if you can brazen it out, “I did it that way on purpose – I like the contrast of the right side and wrong side together” then all the better! More power to you!
I re-do my work if if will “bug me” otherwise, I treat it as an unintentional design element and go on my merry way.
I always fix it… it bugs me too much to leave a mistake in. I wish it didn’t, but it does. My eye goes right to the mistake every time I look at the quilt, so I just have to fix it.
KAT
Oh it would bug me no end. For who ever I made the quilt or any other project. Mistakes have to be ripped out and corrected. Many a times when I have shown a mistake I have had comments like, but we don’t know it is a mistake. But I know so and it will remain in my mind as a mistake. If it is a gift then it has to be redone. If it for myself then may be I will keep it if the mistake is not glaringly a mistake.
I tend to be a perfectionist and when I discover a mistake I say a few bad words and debate with myself for awhile and then get out the seam ripper!! When I know there is a mistake it will “bug”me til I get it fixed. Its nice to know that we all go through these little goof-ups.
Yes, something like that would bug me and something I have done myself, lol.
I think I go into brain fog sometimes and then realize I sewed something backwards. So far it has been when I can fix it easily, but sometimes when I find a mistake on a quilt, I leave it in and call it a God’s eye;)
Debbie
I tend to believe that finished is better than perfect, and I also know that most people, especially those who do not quilt, will ever notice the mistakes we so generously point out, especially when someone compliments our work. I don’t know why our first reaction to a compliment is to point out why we don’t deserve the praise, but we all do it. If it’s fixable in ten minutes or less, I fix. If not, I try just to forget where the mistake is.
Yes that would bother me. I find that if I’m not happy with how a quilt turns out it gets buried in a pile and never gets to the top to be used.
I would go through the same steps as you and if it really bothered me I would take the time to fix it.
It too would bother me. If piecing or long arming… if I catch the error– I will keep attempting to correct the mistake. Thankfully we learn from our mistakes. Too bad my memory isn’t what it used to be…I can’t remember like I once did!
I agree with all you have said. but i want to add it depends on when i find the mistake. if it is before i layer it, i will fix it if it really bothers me and if i will see the quilt forever. if it is quilted forget it. it stays.
Like many people, I usually consider how bad the mistake is (how noticeable), who the recipient might be, and how much wear the quilt might have to endure. If the quilt will be heavily used and the error is not that noticeable, I’ll leave it. Otherwise, I guess my pride in my skills takes over and I’ll unsew. Hate to do that, but I can’t stand leaving the noticeable error there.
I’ve had that same problem sometimes sewing a dress & trying to decide which side is which!
FUN! IN THIS SITUATION, I LEAVE IT BE FOR A DAY+SEE HOW I THINK ABOUT IT THEN, LIKE YOU, IF I CAN’T LIVE WITH IT, I MUST TAKE IT OUT!
KNOW ONE KNOWS BUT THE STITCHER THOUGH!!!!
THANKS FOR SHARING!
I have a rule for myself if I make a mistake, I will only rip something twice. If, after that I still haven’t managed to solve the problem, I leave it. I know that I’ve tried my best and that’s all I can do. Thanks for the opportunity to win!=)
In most situations if I know about a mistake (not like an unmatched seam, but maybe like an upside down block) I will rip it out and re-do. Once I discovered after quilting AND binding a baby quilt that I had sewn an entire section (about a third of the quilt) upside down! I only noticed when I took a photo. I undid the binding and the quilting on about half the quilt, turned the section around and put it all back together. That was one of my biggest goofs in quilting, and I’m glad I fixed it.
“Will this bug me forever if I don’t fix it” is the way I decide if something needs to be redone. I’d say about half the time, I decide I can live with it. The amount of work involved in the redo often is a factor on whether or not I can live with it!
If I can live with it the mistake stays, but if there is no peace I know that it will always bug me, so the out comes the stitch ripper. It is worth it.
I run through many of the points that you listed in your post. Who’s getting it? What do I have invested in it? Will anyone but me really notice this?
I pretty much go with the same question: is it going to drive me crazy every time I look at it? If the answer is yes, then I fix the problem. (This happens quite a bit, and it is amazing that I am getting faster and faster at dismantling something!)
if I first think – should I take it out? should I fix it? i Know i should just do it! thanks for the fun giveaway.
How would I decide? Does me bug me that much? If I take it out, will I mess it up more than if leave it be? Is it a little or a lot of work? Will someone else notice it?
Now, I’m making a gfc quilt so fat quarters are always welcome!
If anything is sewn wrong or anything, I have to take it out, as it bugs me to no end. I’m too much of a perfectionist…
I think your criteria are good ones, and the last is probably most important. I think of my friend whose son always assured her not to worry about any mistakes. After receiving another, “Oh, it’s fine”, and feeling that there was some dismissal of the craft and care in there, she said, “If this were your project, and a reflection of you, would it be ‘fine’?” After that, he was more judicious in his recommendations. In the end, “Will I be okay with it?” is my deciding question.
Like you said, if it is going to bother me every time I look at the quilt it is worth taking the time to fix it.
It bothers me when I sew the wrong side of the fabric and normally I’ll rip it out however, a quilt I’m working on now has some fabric (wow) sewn on the wrong side and it was too late to rip it out so I’m leaving it. I don’t think it’s going to be that noticable unless you are the quilt police.
I am a perfectionist!
If I made mistake, I will squeezed my brain to fix it!
It too would bother me enough to ripppppp it out… either in the piecing or long arm quilting phase. My eye would keep going back to that error, subtracting a little joy of accomplishment in the skills employed in the making of the quilt. Of course, I am getting more inventive at fixing “mistakes” as my quilts evolve and the errors are new to me! Great survey question!
Most things would bother me, so I take the time to fix my mistakes.
If it doesn’t look right to me I will take it out and do it over. If my husband says that nobody will notice it I ususally leave it alone because he is right most of the time – lol!
I would of done the same thing, but sometimes a loooooooooong time will go by before it gets done though.
I go through much the same thought process. If it going to bother me later, I normally fix it.
I decide by a few different factors. 1) is this a quilt that is going into a show – then yes I fix it. 2) is it a quilt for a baby or child – no, it is just going to get spit on, etc. 3) how much is it going to bother me. Sometimes I can fudge things and other times it just has to be ripped.
I basically do what you did: I ask myself if anyone will notice, how much it will bother me, and how much time/money it will take me to fix it. Unfortunately, the “how much will it bother me” part gets me in trouble as I see my mistakes as being more obvious than they probably are. I picked out all the machine quilting on the first quilt I tried to make because it looked so bad that I couldn’t bring myself to bind it as it was!