Don't Compare!


I thought with our recent discussion about being our own worst critics (in the comments on this post: Working the Ruler Work and later on Instagram) when it comes to our quilting, that I'd share this today.

Please don't compare your anything with that of someone else's. Comparison is the thief of joy. What is important is progress. Your own progress compared to yourself of the past.

Don't forget, when stitching free motion quilting, with or without rulers, on a domestic or sit-down machine, don't judge your work with your nose practically touching the quilt!

I am reminding myself today not to compare my work (my crazy blend of quilting, teaching, Janome shop, my online shop, and kid raising) with that of some other wonderful folks.

That's all for today, my wonderful peeps!

21 comments:

  1. Yep! Excellent reminders!

    And you may be in chapter three of your life and someone else may be at chapter seven. or twelve. or twenty seven.

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    1. That's right! I'm like one of those great novels that ends in a cliff hanger and there's a huge wait for the sequel. Now I'm in the starting chapters of that sequel and I can't wait to see what happens next!

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  2. It is very difficult to keep a healthy perspective with venues such as Fb with posts that seem to honor the "bar" that has been placed high!!! Along with that is an age that gives expectations of "instant" everything, sometimes with the underlying thought that no effort is needed!!!!!! The practice needed to achieve the mastery of a skill can be such a pleasurable time..........a time when we can focus, and enjoy, the process and congratulate ourselves on an outcome that, while not "perfect" is better than when we started!!!!!!! Yay!!!

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  3. Wise words.
    A good reminder.
    a word that brings life

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    1. I surround myself and my home with scriptures and great quotes, because I need 'em!

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  4. To help me only compare with my own progress, I took the VERY FIRST FMQ sample I had made in my first FMQ class, bound it, and hung it on the wall above my machine as a constant reminder that I may not be where I want to be yet, but I've come a LONG way!! : )

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  5. Totally true! I think this was one of the best discoveries that I my life, trying not to compare myself or my work to anyone else(s). And just doing things because I like them, or because I am interested in something. Not because It has to be perfect or the best, but for fun!

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  6. Thanks for the reminder. We really need this with all the photos of "perfection" all around us.

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    1. Oh yes, it seems everything needs to be Pinterest inspired and Instagram worthy!

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  8. My mom taught me that comparison was the biggest cause of unhappiness from the time I was small.

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  9. TY... I needed that today. My FM and ruler work have a long way to go before I will be happy with it... But, compared to my first attempts... it is a bit better

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  10. I guess it was meant to be that I read this post today. I'm working on a friends quilt and I keep saying that I wanted to be more like a professional, that I wasn't pleased with what I was doing. She kept saying that It looked great to her. So I guess I shouldn't compare myself to someone that's done it for years. When I've just been at it a year. Thank you Amy for your words of encouragement.

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