Sometimes We Are Our Own Worst Critic

In January I pulled this stack of fabric for a quilt.  It was totally "me" in terms of scale (small) and print (tone on tone and dots) but it was more monochromatic than I usually go.  But my friend assured me that it looked good and really, how can you go wrong any fabric pull that includes Flea Market Fancy?

I sent fabric packets off to more friends to test block patterns for me.  I got their amazing blocks back, made a few more blocks and started to lay them out.  I want to make it very clear at this point that my friends' blocks were perfect and wonderful and that I would never, ever, ever have gotten this quilt made without their help and that the feelings expressed in the next paragraph are me being crazy not a critique of their blocks.   So....

I got to this point in the layout and started to freak.  Why had I chosen those colors!?!  Those blocks* stayed on the living room floor for a week (much to the dismay of my husband) and I would move a block here or there each time I would walk by.  I finally sucked it up and decided it was what it was and started sewing it together.

And it wasn't as bad as I thought.  Then I added the borders and it looked better.

Then I quilted it.  And it looked good.  (I really like that section of quilting!)  It wasn't my favorite quilt, but I knew wasn't embarrassingly ugly either.  So I turned in my quilt to AQS and went on with life.

And then I saw this.  I realize that the American Quilter's Society Quilt Week header shows just the edge of what could be any quilt but it is the quilt that I stood in the living room and cried over because it was so. embarrassingly. ugly.  AQS has no shortage of quilt edges to photograph and they. chose. mine.  To say I was excited is a huge understatement.

Then this flier for QuiltWeek came in the mail.  I think I am going to have to laminate it.  Not just because they say my quilt is beautiful ;) but because it's message is one I think we should all remember - especially when we are being hard on ourselves.

Your quilt is beautiful.

Really, it is.  

You've poured your heart and creativity into your quilt.

Now it is time to let it shine! 

I think we are our own worst critics.  And to paraphrase a Jillian Micheal's exercise video, "This isn't about being perfect.  Perfect is boring.  Perfect sucks!  This is about pushing yourself and discovering what you can do.  When you push yourself that is when change happens." 

I know I'm not going to stop being a neurotic perfectionist overnight, but I am going to try to keep things in better perspective from now on.  So, love your quilts, love yourselves, be happy with your quilting and have the best weekend ever!

* I don't know if you noticed, but some of those blocks are from the Skill Builder Sampler!  More info on that next week!