All's Well That Ends Well!

Thanks to each of you for your thoughtful comments. After reading them all it is apparent to me that; A) as quilters, we will all be faced with this sort of thing from time to time, 

and B) there are many paths to take when it does happen... 

the important thing is to find the one that feels right to you and follow it.

It was midnight when I wrote about my botched quilting in my last post. After I posted it I went to bed and when I woke up in the morning I had decided to re-quilt what I had ripped out, and then finish quilting the whole bugger, mistakes and all,

 (and believe me the quality of the quilting did not improve any). 

The end result would be to give it to my dear dog, who I knew would love it no matter what. 

(I was warmed to see that a couple of you suggested this as well.)

It took me a few tries to adjust my attitude accordingly, which meant letting go of what I had thought it was going to be, and accepting it for what it was. It helped to keep my happy little dog's face in mind, and know how delighted she would be by this quilt.

Once I got it all quilted, I did a really quick machine binding, then washed and dried it in the hopes that the desired crinkling from the washing and drying process would help blend in the non-wanted, machine-quilted puckering boo-boo's. Once the quilt was out of the dyer, I headed over to my pup Eleanor, to show her her new quilt, but was intercepted by my husband who wanted to see it. 

Now, my husband is a dear and supportive man, but truthfully has never shown a great interest in my quilts, outside of a quiet nod, followed by, "It's nice, I like it. And that is that. 

(He is a man of few words, unlike his wife, who is rarely at a loss for them.)  

But on this quilt, he started to hold it, stroke it and sing it's praises.

I tried to show him all that had gone wrong with it, the way the quilting had distorted and pulled the blocks, how the fabric had fed unevenly thus turning under hear and there creating a puckered mess, how the whole thing wasn't even squared up... he would hear none of it.
To him it was the best thing I had ever made, and he preceded to lay it over him,
while he watched TV and eventually fell asleep under the warmth of it.
Luckily, he and Eleanor like to snuggle together, so I guess they can share the quilt. :)

I know now that this very humble, little lap-sized quilt has come into being to reinforce in me some lessons that I  need to continue to learn over and over again, (and I am not just talking about the quilting lessons!) The real lessons are about love, forgiveness, gentleness, acceptance, patience, humor, happiness, giving, non-judgement and staying present in the moment... 

all things that I am trying to practice and strengthen myself in.
(And that beauty really is in the eye of the beholder... )

Also, the irony is not lost on me, for I am always drawn to the beauty of imperfection, in love with all that is wabi-sabi, and I often try to incorporate those esthetics into my work... but I am also a bit of a control freak, and slave to perfection in craftsmanship... 

I want to be in charge of intentionally creating that look of imperfection. 

The reality is I am not so comfortable with actual imperfections that come unintentionally from me. 

I believe that is what we call ego and she is a bit of a joy killer...

I need to keep her in check!

So again, thanks to each of you for sharing your experiences, 

for laughing at my folly, and for offers of help and kind suggestions! 

xo