Finished is Better Than Perfect

I was about half way through piecing the second ribbon dance quilt when my son pointed out a mistake. I had the top draped over the rollers of my long arm machine and he saw a break in the pattern.  I calmly pointed out the blocks, still not seeing what he saw. Then I really looked at it and sure enough I had made the same mistake several times in both quilts.

The picture on the top shows how the pattern is supposed to look. The colored pieces or ribbons flow across the top of the first block down across the bottom of the second block thus creating the look of twisted ribbons. This effect is created by the white of the center strip of the blocks all going in the same direction across the row. Unfortunately when I was piecing the blocks I didn't notice that little detail in the pattern. In some of my blocks the center strip goes in the opposite direction. That would have been okay if all the block in that row were going in that direction. But when the blocks that are going in opposite directions are joined, you get a chevron effect as is shown in the bottom picture. Which is okay but not as dramatic as the the proper placement.

What really bugs me about this is I am better than that. I've taught my daughters to pay close attention to pattern directions. I was taught this by my mother. And yet I got cocky and thought I knew what I was doing and didn't read the pattern thoroughly enough to do it right. I am just a little disappointed in myself with this one. But not disappointed enough to rip it all apart and correct it.

Jenny Doan of Missouri Star Quilt Company has said many times that finished is better than perfect. I have to agree with her. Any one looking at and criticizing a quilt that is a gift, doesn't deserve the quilt. These quilts are for my granddaughters who are ages 3 1/3 years and 6 months. By the time they are old enough to see my mistakes, they will have been sleeping under these quilts for a long time.  Plus I know their mother will teach them about the love and time that went into the quilts. I would much rather get these quilts done and have my grand babies asleep under them keeping warm. The alternative is to rip them out and start over.  No one would have any of my quilts if I did that every time.

So Finished is Better than Perfect.  I will still strive for perfection but I am not going to beat myself up over this mistake. My granddaughters will still have warm quilts and I will still have my sanity.

Has this happened to you? What did you do?