Mystery Quilt 2013

Early 2013 I decided to join a Mystery Quilt group through Connecting Threads.  It sounded like fun.  I was still VERY new to quilting so I was a little nervous about since I had no idea what the final product would be I had no idea if it was at my skill level or not.  I went out and bought my fabric and couldn't wait to get started.

The first step was all about cutting the fabric and sewing a few pieces together. "No problem!" I thought. 

Then I got the second step.  Yikes.  It had flying geese in it which I had never done before.   I was instantly intimidated but the instructions seemed clear enough so I did it anyway.  The first few that came out didn't look right and when I measured them the measurement was off so I gave up and didn't touch the quilt again. 

I have always been a believer in finishing what I start.   I always knew I would come back to the quilt when I had a bit more confidence.  I brought the quilt with me to the retreat I went to seek experienced advice.   My friend Catherine told me they looked fine and to remember that once the geese get added to the other pieces it will be fine.  So I plugged away and kept making the geese and adding them to the other blocks.  What a relief it was to see the final end product and to know it truly was going to be okay!  Here is the end result:

I think in the beginning of my quilting experience I put a lot of pressure on myself to be perfect in every aspect.   I've learned to forgive myself when it isn't perfect right off the bat and to keep plugging along because the end result may still be perfect even if this one strip is not.  If I seek perfection 100% of the time while quilting I will just get frustrated and quit.  Thanks to Catherine I persevered and created something beautiful.  Now I will move of the next step and finally finish this quilt.

 

 

WIP Wednesday