Sunday, November 15, 2015

Done vs. Perfect

 I seem to get stuck in quagmire sometimes with my quilting because I want things to be perfect instead of done. This quilt is an example. I sewed all the chicks and the top together back in June. Then, I did not quilt it because I wanted to quilt it so it looked like chicken wire as was shown in the Farm Girl Vintage book. I spent some time shopping for a chicken wire template on-line and I did find one, but the shipping was more expensive than the template. Dilemma! Should I even bother? In the end, I decided I just wanted to finish it and not spend any money on an expensive template or bother with hand quilting it.
 I started today off with hand binding it for Slow Sunday Stitching. Check out other handwork projects here http://kathysquilts.blogspot.com
 The quilting does not even show up that much because of the busy fabrics, so I am pleased with my choice to have a finish instead of perfection.
 A trick I have bee doing lately is to make an extra block for each quilt and turn it into the quilt's label.  I machine appliqued the block onto the backing and quilted right on through it too.
My niece and nephew have birthdays coming next month. They have reached the age where it is difficult to shop for them, so I decided to make birthday cake banners and buy gift cards for them. My sister recommended purple, green, and blue for my niece. Using the free pattern from Lori Holt found here http://fatquartershop.blogspot.com/2014/10/who-wants-to-make-cake-for-quilty-funs.html 
and Cynthia's tutorial found here
I whipped up this banner this afternoon and plan on working on my nephew's this evening. They are so much fun to personalize and easy to make, I think everyone in the family needs one for their birthday in 2016.

I also placed an order this week for some zippers, so I can make some monogrammed pouches for colleagues as Christmas presents. Stay tuned for progress on them soon!

31 comments:

  1. Cute chicks. Finished IS BETTER than perfect. At least now you can enjoy it!

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  2. Cute chicks. Finished IS BETTER than perfect. At least now you can enjoy it!

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  3. Cute chicks. Finished IS BETTER than perfect. At least now you can enjoy it!

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  4. Your chick quilt is darling. Pink and yellow are a great color combination. Most likely you would never use a chicken wire template again. Wise to save your money. Clever idea on an extra block being the quilt label.

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  5. The chicks are adorable! Did you use the scallop sort of stitch for your quilting? It looks great to me! I wish I had that stitch on my machine.

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  6. Smart move finishing the quilt. I can caught with that one too.
    It is a great finish. Lovely idea with the block o the back as a label.
    And the birthday banner is a great idea, too.

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  7. In the end your quilting looks pretty much like chicken wire. I'm often bogged down at the quilting stage, myself.

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  8. I agree with Lisa, I think your quilting does pretty much look like chicken wire! I think you might have done AND perfect with this quilt!! Beautifully done :)

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  9. I love your chick quilt and the idea of adding an extra block to the back of your quilts. It is so pretty! Just adorable.

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  10. Love the chicks quilt, looks amazing!!! The quilting you have done looks really good too....the extra block is a great idea too. Birthday banners are wonderful too.

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  11. Those chicks are really cute, the quilting does look like chicken wire. I think you got both, finished and perfect choices!

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  12. Oh my - I saw your quilt @ the Oh Scrap! linky party and came for a closer look - Tanya it's just adorable! All the different fabrics, the sweet chicks (with their lil chicken legs!), the hearts, the extra block on the back - you did an amazing job - that quilt is fantastic :) I'd say you can consider it done AND perfect :) Nice banner for Bailey too :)

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  13. Your quilting design works well. I love the zigzag backing fabric. A good finish!

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  14. Your chick quilt came out really cute and I love the extra block for a label idea.

    The birthday banners are a great gift.

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  15. I love your label idea - I'm going to have to borrow that! :) Done is ALWAYS better than perfect, and I think you did a great job on the quilting. It looks like chicken wire - you did it!

    Those birthday banners are a terrific idea! The colors in the finished one are so sweet - I bet your niece will love it. Thanks for linking to MCM! Have a great week. :)

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  16. That chick quilt is very cute - and so much cuter that it's finished!!! Isn't it funny how we can procrastinate over such things ... waiting for the perfect time, the perfect design or perfect thread.

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  17. It is both done and perfect,if you ask moi.

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  18. I agree. This is perfect..... And those chicks are adorable! Well done!

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  19. Your chick quilt looks great to me :) Love all those different yellows.

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  20. Love your chicks quilt! It has fun colors in your scrappy pinks and yellows! The quilting is perfect for it!
    Susie

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  21. This quilt is super cute! I love the sweet feeling that it has. Great crinkly look too. Do you mind if I ask what batting you use?

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  22. I think the quilt looks great and that the chicken wire may have detracted from those adorable chicks. What a cute, cute pattern! (I'm like you: perfect or finished. It's never always the same but even when I go for perfect I find I didn't succeed.) Thanks for sharing your sweet quilt.

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  23. Looks pretty perfect to me! Adorable in fact, and I love the little chick label:)

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  24. Oh I really like the quilting you did!! It makes is so cute!!!

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  25. Love those chicks and you are right, finished is better than not!

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  26. very beautiful, best regards
    Andrea

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  27. Those are absolutely adorable chicks! I like your tip to make an extra block and turn it into a label and quilting with it already in place is another good idea too. I heard that historians put more credibility into labels stitched in with the quilt rather than sewn on top where info could be falsified or just guessed at; just in case any of our quilts last long enough to have someone wanting to know more about it.

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  28. Let's reword things: Finished IS perfect! Plus the quilt is really cute, better to have it to use than to have an unfinished top :)

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  29. Scrumptious. Delicious. Perfect in every way.

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