Thread:Superkenzie/@comment-33437691-20200103172834/@comment-37542647-20200111012200

I can't believe how much alike we are! I too am a perfectionist about things I make and do in life. It really bothers me when something I make does not turn out perfect. I used to rip out a lot of stitches when I would make a mistake in cross stitch. Now I just leave the mistakes unless I can't adjust the design to accommodate the mistake. A long time ago I remember reading that quilters intentionally leave a mistake in their quilts because only God is perfect. That seemed to be a turning point for me and I gradually accepted that I can always stitch perfectly. It also helped when the shop owner I have frame my completed pieces praised me on my stitching. I was amazed because I believed that I wasn't "perfect". Her husband also agreed. That really made me feel as if I really was good. After my grandmother died my mother and I were looking at some of the embroidered linens left in her house. My mother turned over an embroidered dresser scarf to look at the stitching and proclaimed that my great grandmother had stitched the piece because the stitching was messy. I'm not sure if that is something to be proud to be remembered for but at least someone recognized her work! I hope someday someone looks at my stitched pieces and recognizes my work because it was beautiful instead of messy. Since my son will inherit all my finished pieces I have instructed him not to sell them at a flea market or garage sale or I will come back and haunt him. I told him I would rather he give them away to people who will love and appreciate them. Reading your comment about the dragon quilt that your mother "took" and when it was returned to you in a well used condition it reminded me of the quilt top my mother found at my grandmother's house after she died. It was just small squares of all different types of fabric stitched together. My mother said she had never seen the quilt top but she recognized some of the fabrics as those in clothes she had as a child. I'm not sure if my grandmother used the fabric after my mother had outgrown the clothes or if she used leftover scraps of fabric. I wish I had known about the quilt top before my grandmother died so I could talk to her about it. I don't ever remember seeing her quilt but she would crochet beautiful pieces. I have some of the doilies she crocheted as well as a table cloth. My mother also could crochet but for some reason I was never taught by either one of them. Not sure why. I also have a crochet bedspread that was stitched by my great grandmother. It was given to me by my grandmother's sister several years ago. (My great aunt will be 100 in March of this year) I treasure all the hand stitched pieces from my family. I seem to be the only person in the family who appreciates them. I seem to be rambling on. Sorry. I need to save some of my thoughts for a later time or I will run out of things to write about!