To Rip or Not to Rip

I just ripped off Shakespeare with that title, but he'll never know.  How do YOU decide whether to rip?  There are definite reasons, but these vary with the individual.

*Major mistake -  We probably all rip those out or throw the project in the trash.

*Poor product choice - You bought a product that looked and sounded really cool, but it turned into a disaster.  Read about my poor choices here.

**Poor color or fabric choice.

**Poor thread choice.

**Poor planning.

**Inexperience

**You are unhappy with your work and know you can do it better

**You are a fussy quilter and strive very hard for perfection.

I could go on and on, but I did some ripping this week for about 8-10 hours.  That sounds like a lot of ripping, but I spent a third of the time tying knots and burying them, and another third restitching.  I did a really stupid thing.  While I was away from my sewing machine for two months I forgot some choices I had made before I left.

Initially I had improved my corners with an after-the-fact addition to the design of my quilt top.  This required a minor adjustment to my quilting design.  I had to flatten the circles slightly on top.  When I did the first panel I left out some little "horns," for lack of a better description.

The devil in in the details.  See the "horns?"

When I came home and started sewing again I barged right in, flattened the tops of the circles, but stitched the horns.  I did the remaining 7 panels in this manner.  When I came back to the first one I realized I had done those last 7 wrong.  Oh goodness me.  What to do?  My choice was based on the following:

**If I added the "horns" to the first one I would have to rip out a small amount of micro-stippling.  I decided that was more daunting than redoing the other seven panels.

**The "horns" were really hard to get exactly alike and symmetrical so there were variations that bothered me.  I imagine many people would never notice the diversity, but I did.

**With no "horns" the upper, squashed part of the circles look like a pretty, slender swag, but the design still retains the look of a circle.

Poor light for a photo due to heavy weather out the window, but I hope you can see the pretty swags.

TIP:  When you have been away from your project for while check your work before starting to sew to be sure you remember what you have done previously, or keep notes as you progress.  Some quilters actually keep notebooks as they go, but I don't.  I'm really good at ripping!

In the end, the decision to rip, or not, is yours based on your individual sensibilities and the purpose of the quilt.  Making a quilt for a child to drag around will lead you to different decisions than if you are making an art quilt for show.  I have ripped and I have repaired.  Today I will finish the last two corners, and then will block my quilt and bind it before doing the final quilting on a narrow border.  Eventually the end always comes when you persist.

TIP: Ask yourself these defining questions:  Is it more important to you how you feel about your work or is it more important to you how a stranger judges your work?  Some will make a choice.  Some think both are important.  I know where I stand.  What about you?

Sew lots of happy seams this this week.  I wish you no errors, but if necessary, easy ripping.