When making a quilt, quilters should strive to embrace the following positive traits: determination, flexibility, passion, courage, and, most important of all, patience, especially with oneself.

When it comes to valuable, hard-learned lessons about patience and perfectionism, my greatest teacher was not a person, but my quilt, Portrait of My Soul. Yes, patches of fabric, batting, and thread had the power to humble and teach me the necessity of being patient and the folly of perfectionism.

Purchase the February/March 2013 issue to read the full article.