Redefining the Perfect Quilt
Have you ever attended a quilt show, lecture, or convention where hundreds of beautiful quilts are on display or toured a quilt museum and been awed at the workmanship, creative designs, and color palettes of the quilts?
How do you feel when you see a “perfect” quilt? And how do you define the term perfect? These are the questions that quilter Jessica Plunkett asks attendees in her lecture “Redefining the Perfect Quilt.”
“You might say the quilt you saw was flawless, precise, unique in composition, or had pleasing colors. Those are some ideas that may come to mind when you see a “perfect” quilt. You may be inspired when you see it and, at the same time, you might feel jealous and have a few negative feelings or might even feel defeated or discouraged,” said Jessica, a speaker for local and national quilting guilds and events. “You might ask yourself, why do I bother quilting? Or why do I bother submitting my work to a show if my work will never look like someone else’s?”
Redefine Perfect
“You should define the sort of goals you have for your work,” advises Jessica. “Stop comparing and learn to redefine what is a perfect quilt for you. You have to decide how you feel about your work, prioritization, and available time and resources. You should be seeking your own approval for your quilts. We may appreciate that someone was willing to spend 75 hours making a quilt when we only want to spend seven hours –there is no right or wrong. We don’t know what goes into each person’s individual quilting practice,” she said.
If you want to make a quilt that challenges you to try or improve on a particular technique, you may be willing to unpick a few seams to get it right. Do you want to explore colors that are not in your “comfort zone”? Then start playing with color in your quilts and embrace the outcome as the “perfect” quilt for “challenging your color choices.” Do you need to make a quilt for a baby shower, but the quilt design and colors requested are not what you would have chosen? You can decide to make the “perfect” quilt for the person you are gifting it to because it is what they want.
“So the next time you are viewing quilts in person or online, try to appreciate the work that artists put into their projects, but remember you are not them, and they are not you. Stop comparing because we’re all coming at this from our own experiences. Be inspired by others, and redefine what the perfect quilt means to you,” she said
Jessica has a newsletter, patterns, tutorials, and contact information on her website: Maeberry Square
