@SnapdragonQ, I hope no one took offense. I understood you were referring to the post about Dad.
I don't think anyone did, but we were typing at the same time and I was thinking about my start in quilting and my experiences.
But looking at the timeline of posts, I kinda thought if anyone came and read this later it might appear as if my comments were aimed at you or your post about your dad.
Perfectionism is paralyzing!
Ain't that the truth!! And it put me off trying for a long time.
I was not taught quilting by a family member, parent, or grandparent. There were no quilts in the family either. I learned to sew as an adult with a kid and a job.
I'm self taught and while I'm good at it now, I certainly was not when I started. And so many times a lifelong quilter would come along...the ones who were taught hand sewing from the time they could walk, or talk, and grew up believing it was the one and only way to quilt...as if those old Singers were never even invented, and they would be so demeaning of my efforts. Not all of them were like that, but enough were that it really stung.
At the time my quilts were for comfort. Imperfect stitches are just as warm as perfect stitches. They snuggle the same and bring the same level of comfort. Some people acted like making a quilt for my child, while working and doing everything as a single parent, wasn't a worthy effort if it wasn't done completely by hand and all the stitches perfect. Never mind I wasn't sitting at home all day while the husband made the living and supported us, and also nevermind I have a bum hand from an accident that would not allow me to hand sew even if I wanted to...but those ladies judged me anyway.
Thankfully some good quilting advice I eventually got was...if you can't see it from the back of a galloping horse, then it's fine! And it was. And I kept trying despite the naysayers about my lack of sewing pedigree.
I don't know how to machine quilt, and just have a little table top machine, not a long arm, but I will learn to do small projects. If I ever make a full size quilt for our bed, it'll be the old school tied quilt--I know I have patience enough for that.
I started with a tiny 4lb table top machine! Made numerous quilts on it too because it was all I had. There ain't nothing wrong with that! If you could have seen me shoving a big full sized quilt through that itty bitty thing...scooting it across the table as I went...you would have laughed your backside off.
Took me years to build my skills and save up the money to buy a bigger domestic. I still could not get a longarm though until I moved. My last place was tiny and I could only sew on the dining table, which doubled as the office and homework table too.
To me quilts come in all shapes, sizes, and reasons. Some are for show, some are for art, some are for gifts, and some are for their intended purpose...comfort. All are equally important.
But for me it was the challenge, not perfectionism. The wall quilts were for a pattern to sell in my Etsy shop, and I needed finished works to photograph. They mark the changing seasons in our house, and remind me I was able to stick to it long enough to finish. 
