keep at it, you will suceed

to do something once takes luck,
to do something twice takes practice,
to do something three times takes perseverance.

in machine quilting there is an acronym- PPP. the accepted phrase is "practice, practice, practice" but for me i think it should be "perseverance, perseverance, perseverance"

for example....feathers. most machine quilters strive for beautiful quilted feathers and as a newbie i was no different. i admired and drooled over all the beautiful show quilts i saw published covered in beautiful feathers. i was so excited to get back to my machine and load some muslin and try...only to be disappointed that it was a bit harder than my previous excitement. BUT i kept at it, i bought books and traced other's feathers with my fingers. i doodled feathers on anything that would sit still long enough...i was not going to give up...if they could do it, so could i.

so here's the very first quilt i quilted feathers on (back in 2005). i look at it and at first i see every stinking mistake! i've never really shown it to anyone. then i see how much i've grown as a long armer. i remind myself that was the goal to start with, that i am constantly growing....and perservering.

in piecing as well as quilting, don't give up- ever! sometimes learning curves are simply speed bumps on your road to success!!

10 comments:

  1. Your feathers are beautiful. Do you have a long arm?

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  2. your feathering is inspiring. I love 'em

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  3. bertiequiltsSeptember 20, 2010

    your feathers have always looked awesome to me....

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  4. Love where you are with your feathers now . . . I have a question though, do you draw the meandering spine for the feathers first in the entire big area, or do you add to it as you go along?

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  5. What a nice cheering section you make. I may just have to print this out and post it in my quilting room, and then persevere/practice.

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  6. I wholeheartedly agreed with everything you said in this post... but isn't it difficult to force yourself to live with less-than-perfection? That's my struggle. I know I CAN excel, but it's the getting there that's tough. I think your feathers are gorgeous!

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  7. I just want to say...How Very Well Put!

    Best Wishes
    Kay in Scotland

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  8. Beautiful feathers. I made a goal at the beginning of the year that this was the year of the feather. I was going to practice every chance I got and get really good at feathers. Well, I haven't kept up with that, but that doesn't mean I can't start again and again and keep trying. Every time I try, I get a little better, it just takes practicing!

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  9. Perserverance is the name of the game. For those who only know your current work, it's great that you've posted where you started. I know that when I get frustrated now, it helps to go look at earlier work and see how far I've come.

    Just imagine where the next five years will take you:)

    Lynn

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  10. Ooh I have some feathers from 2004 that look like yours too. But with perseverance, a lot of reading and learning, more PPP I can now put them on a quilt and enter in a show!

    Lyn

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