Ramblings on Piecing

I have come to the conclusion that I am a terrible piecer! And I am OK with that!

My daughter, Amanda is a fantastically accurate piecer. She is and always has been a perfectionist in everything she does. (maybe a bit of OCD as well, but in a good way!) The quilt she is making for Christmas has EVERY seam match up PERFECTLY! Each and every 4-patch has a perfect intersection.

I have found that MY quilts rarely have perfect intersections, and somehow I'm OK with that notion. I've always heard that once you start machine quilting,you become a better piecer, but I have found the opposite to be true for me. I've actually gotten worse in my piecing since I've been longarming! My quilts are less square and my borders are more 'friendly' than ever.

But, yet I don't have any problems quilting them...makes me wonder. Am I destined to be the quilter that people use when their piecing is quite a bit less than perfect? Or is my quilting also mediocre and no one notices how bad it really is...maybe like not having something to compare it to?

As I finished piecing two quilts last night while watching the election results (one was actually started while watching the results and finished in the same hour) I wondered is the quilting going to be up to snuff? I've discovered that I am pleased with my quilting if I can complete a quilt without too many thread issues, but is my quilting any better on those quilts than on the ones that I have multiple thread issues?

As I enter another phase of my quilting, I will be paying very close attention to that thought. I really hope to have some actual customer quilts by the middle of next year. Between now and then I need to re-evaluate my skills and mindset.

I guess I have always thought of my quilts as things to keep my family warm as opposed to pieces of art. While I know others think of them as pieces of art I also know those people are not the ones that will be asking me to complete their masterpieces. I guess I will be more of a utilitarian quilter. That's IT! I've found my niche! I will become the UQ extraordinaire!