Hi everyone and Happy December! I’ve got one more hockey inspired post to share with you today. There aren’t any games again until the new year, so this will probably be the last post with the hockey theme for a while.
Today I want to talk about why experience can’t be discounted. Last week I talked about why it’s important to warm-up and practice when you’re learning a new sewing technique. But I think it’s also good to remember that experience DOES matter when it comes to mastering a new skill. My hockey example of this is Pee-Wee Hockey.
If you’ve never been to a hockey game, Pee-Wee Hockey is when the little kids who are still learning how to play the game (or even how to skate!) come out on the ice between periods to play a little game of hockey. They’re usually set up across the width of the ice, but they use real nets and the horn blasts every time a goal is scored.
This part of a hockey game is great fun. The kids are adorable and obviously have a super time on the ice, but they’re clearly not very good hockey players. They fall down. A LOT. Sometimes they get turned around and send the puck into the wrong net, or try and hit it but miss entirely. The thing is though, no one EXPECTS them to be super hockey players. They’re inexperienced and still learning the game. They’re expected to fall and make mistakes as they learn a new skill. But we still cheer them on and clap for their successes, no matter how small.
This is where I think we all need to cut ourselves some slack when it comes to learning a new quilting technique or trying a new pattern for the first time. Experience matters, even in quilting. The quilter (regardless of age or sewing experience) who has never machine quilted before isn’t going to do it “perfectly” the first time. Or the second, or the third. You can’t compare yourself and your first work to the quilter who’s been machine quilting for years.
So this week I implore you to be kind to yourself. Put in the practice and remember that you’ll get better at a new skill as you gain more experience. One day, you’ll be the grown-up hockey player standing in victory at center ice.
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