On Perfection

This quilt has been a UFO for a very long time. I think I started it in about 2011. The pattern came from a magazine. No, I don't remember what magazine. No, I don't remember what the pattern was called, probably something like "thousand pyramids" or maybe "flatiron." I lost the pattern years ago, and I had to use existing triangles that I had already cut to make a new template when I was piecing it together since I was short on triangles. Often quilts become UFOs when they have problems. I started this quilt before I realized that starching fabric that you have pre-washed before you use it is A Good Thing. Tiny triangles, no starch, bias edges--and you get stretch. I could already tell by the way the triangles were going together when I was in the block-stage, that all was not well. These triangles were NOT going to go together smoothly. So I put it away. And let it sit. And sit.

I took it out again in fall of 2020. And I decided that I wasn't going to worry about the technical problems, I was just going to get it done. I put it up on my design wall, rearranged it a bit, cut some more triangles, rearranged it some more, sewed it into a quilt top, and basted it. I fudged where I could, and where I couldn't, I sewed through those triangle points without a regret. (And then I basted it and let it sit for a year while I coped with 2021.) I finally got it quilted and I am finishing the binding. And I realized that I love this quilt. I started it with the skills I had at the time. I'm finishing it with the skills I have now. And even knowing how imperfect it is, I still find it beautiful.