~ Best of 2018, Part 2 ~

For part 2 of the Best of 2018 hosted by Cheryl of Meadow Mist Designs I decided to once again leave it to my fabulous followers.  Today's "best" is the top 5 post that generated the most conversation.  Boy do we quilters love to chat!  Once again I'll be going listing them in order from small to large.  I also didn't include giveaway posts in the list.

Stars and Stripes, 7-8-18, comments 18

What a patriotic group!  This quilt stirred up quite the conversation on all my social media.  I've had several quilters ask for the pattern.  Well I started writing it and when it came time to add the instructions for the border I stopped.  The reason? Finding a way to describe how to made the border on this quilt.  I would hate to have someone buy the pattern, cut the fabric, and then my instructions for the border be unsatisfactory.  The border is what makes this quilt so wonderful.  So if you've been waiting on this pattern I've a question for you.  Would you be ok with no templates for the border?  The instructions would be to measure and eyeball the curve because that's how I made it.  So if you are okay with that, then I would be more than happy to finish the pattern.

This and That, 1-22-18, comments 19

I can tell I've a lot of followers that love babies.  This post was to announce my newest grand child, Mason.   We all go ga-ga over babies!  I have to admit every time a see a baby picture I can't help but smile.  I'm not sure why we do this.  Is it because we reminisce about our own children or is it a instinct of being a woman to love all babies?   He has grown so much and soon will be a year old.  But you'll have to wait till then to see how big he has gotten.

Oh How Do I Quilt Thee, 12-17-18, comments 20

The comments on this post were so much fun to read.  It's always interesting to hear what other quilters like and why.   Sometimes something someone says can alter the way I design a quilt or quilt a quilt.  Inspiration can come in many forms.  This post was also hard to share due to I don't have a big fancy machine.  My hope was to inspire others to do the best they can with what they have and keep trying.  It breaks my heart when quilters get discouraged and think the only way to improve their skills is to buy the newest shiny object.  Many beautiful quilts have been made with the very basic of tools.  

Blue Quilt Marker=Brown Marks, 1-16-18, comments 22.

Who hasn't had issues with marking a quilt only to find the marks are permanent.  Over the years I've found there is not one fail safe method.  Just when I think I've found the perfect product to mark my quilts it will fail me.  So all I can do is find a way to fix the problem.  Recently I was thinking about making the switch to Crayola Washable Markers.  They were on my shopping list until a fellow quilter shared her devastating story of the marks staying on the quilt.  Oh that poor lady!  But I was also grateful for her honesty.  And we won't even talk about the horror stories I've read about Frixon pens.  For now I'll stick with this method of marking my quilts until they come out with a fail proof method.

Fudging It, 12-6-18, comments 29.

You just never know when you're going to stir up commotion in blog land.  This turned out to be a great post about getting real.  So many quilters felt relieved knowing the accurate piecing challenge is real.  We all struggle to make great quilts.   I want to thank everyone who came forward and commented on this post about their own quilting struggles.  It was a great discussion that encouraged many quilters to keep moving forward even with a few errors.  We tend to show our best in most situations whether it be about quilting or in our real lives.  It's nice to just let it all hang out and be truthful.  We've all heard the old saying....."Honesty is the best policy".   I think one of my biggest pet peeves in the quilting community is on Facebook and other social media sites when quilters ask other quilters to stop mentioning their mistakes and faults.  If you never acknowledge a mistake you can never improve.  You must first know there is a problem before you can fix it, right?  Right!    But just because we are honest and share our faults does not mean we dwell on them. 

Thanks again for following along on my quilting journey.  I'll see you tomorrow for the last of the

 "Best of 2018" series.  You can see Part 1 by clicking here.  Don't forget to hop over to Meadow Mist Designs to see more Bests of 2018 posts.

#bestof2018 #meadowmistdesigns #podunkpretties #baileyhomequilter

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~ Fudging It ~

Earlier in the week a fellow blogger/quilter and I had a lengthy email conversation about Bonnie Hunter quilts and accuracy.  In our conversation she stated that accuracy was a challenge and she felt until she were better at it she couldn't make a Bonnie quilt.  This really bothered me.  Why?  Because I know the truth about quilting and what quilt makers and designers do to make you think everything went perfectly.  Lets say that again in bold print so it sinks in.....TO MAKE YOU THINK EVERYTHING WENT PERFECTLY.  Oh yes my friends, most designers won't admit it and you will rarely find a blog post or YouTube video about it but the truth is WE FUDGE IT!  It's one of things you need to learn as a quilter or you'll never finish a quilt.  To be honest I can't think of one quilt in my 30 yrs of quilting that has been 100% perfect.  This used to bother me until I went to Lancaster Pennsylvania.  I was expecting the most perfect and beautiful quilts from those Amish gals, who I thought were the best quilters in the country.  Wrong!  Every quilt I looked at had mistakes.  Then I remembered the humility block must be the reason.  Wrong again.  The humility block is one of those lies in the quilting community.  The mistakes you see in Amish quilts is just a quilter who didn't care that she made an error.  We are imperfect humans.   Then I thought a big quilt show would have nothing but perfect quilts....wrong again!

So what's going on?  Fudging and an attitude adjustment.  These errors in quilting that are visible when close up are not so visible from afar.  The quilt is beautiful.  Since I'm writing this post for a blogger who would love to make a  Bonnie quilt but is fearing her quilt won't be worthy let me share this with you.  This week I purchased my first, well all of Bonnie's books, Merry Christmas to me.

As I looked through the books last night I started paying attention to the pictures in the books.  Bonnie if you're reading this, forgive me.  I'm not picking on you, I think you and your quilts are amazing.  And the most amazing thing about Bonnie is she's REAL.  Not afraid to show up close the reality of quilting.  Look at this amazing quilt!  There's so much movement and at the same time a place for your eye to land.  Some would say it's busy.  But you know what, that busy hides a lot.

Now let's get real.  In this close up shot I see several mistakes but have only pointed out one.  The center of this block isn't perfect.....And she gave it a close up shot in the book!  It doesn't get more real than that.  This is a form of fudging it.  Who cares if it's not perfect it still looks great.

So it wouldn't be fair to just pick on Bonnie.  Most of my quilts are stored away right now due to the construction we've had going on in the past year.  But I did have my one and only Bonnie quilt on display in my studio because I love it so much, even with all its errors.  Here's a picture I took when finishing it earlier in the year.  Quite stunning, huh! 

 Lets get in there a little closer.  Still looks pretty darn good.

Now lets get real.  I had a terrible time getting things perfect, cut off points....

....Seams that didn't line up.  But she is still one of the most amazing quilts I've ever made.  Thank you Bonnie for all you do for the quilting community by keeping it real.

So remember I said no one wants to talk about fudging it.  Well I did a google search, several in fact.   Trying to find blog post about leaving mistakes in quilts, hiding mistakes and fudging in quilts.   Most of what I found was bloggers and shop owners telling you how to fix your errors, or how not to make the mistake in the first place. I found ONE quilter who was willing to be real.  The quilt she's working on isn't her quilt but she does talk about how she too fudges.  Hop over to   Jo at Jo's Country Junction for a  great blog post about what sometimes is on the inside of the quilt that we will never see.  Thank you Jo for your honesty. 

When I searched Fudging in quilts this is what came up.  Only 2 pages of quilters talking about fudging.  I search every term I could think of to find quilters talking about hiding error, making it work and this was the best results.   I found it very interesting that most of these are lines out of quilt books.  The first gal is still in denial...LOL!

And guess who was in the line up of real quilters?  It was a line right out of one of her books.  Yes ma'am!  Bonnie!  So I had to see it for myself, page 24 of String Fling.  It's there in black and white....FUDGING!

So my point is, never be afraid to try something new.  Never be afraid of it not being perfect.  Always know that online quilters are very selective about what they show you.  I know it's hard to believe that the internet would lie to you.  It's not that we are lying, it's the Don't Ask, Don't Tell motto. Maybe a full sized Bonnie Mystery quilt isn't for you.  Doing half would be a great way to start.  I totally understand loving Bonnie's quilts but being afraid to jump in with both feet.  I did it too.  But now I look at differently. It's fun, it's a break from my everyday quilting routine, and lets face it.....IT'S JUST FABRIC, most of us have more than we could ever use in our lifetime. 

So I like to put out a challenge to all you bloggers, instagrammers, facebookers.  Lets start a new hashtag  #quiltfudging  Can you keep it real?  Anyone up for a Fudging it linky party?  If you are let me know and I'll be more than happy to set up a linking party.  

#quiltfudging #podunkpretties #quilting 

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