Quilting in circles

So I have my taupe quilt all pin-basted and my new table all ready to use. My plan is to use Elizabeth Hartman's orange peel motif, dividing each square of my quilt into two-inch quarter squares as the grid. Earlier this week I took the plunge and dove in with the first row. I chalk-lined the midlines across the center row and gave it a whirl: I was not impressed with my arc shapes. I let it sit for a couple of days while pondering whether to rip.

I have a real philosophical objection to ripping -- I feel that even the crummiest job is a valuable learning experience and that perfectionism is the enemy of productivity. Anti-Ripping Philosophy Appendix A: I always fix functional mistakes and problems that would interfere with a project's usability, but I tend not to overthink the aesthetic decisions -- these generally have a way of working themselves out. Last year in a class with Erin Waterston, she made a comment about seeing beauty in the "hand of the artist." Same idea, I think. This is a hand-made creation and I'm eyeballing the motif instead of marking every line.

So, philosophy in hand, today after a long morning of proofreading, I decided to try another row to see whether finishing a complete set of circles might make it look a little better. (In for a penny...)

Guess what? It did look better! By no means would I describe this as perfect, but I'm going to keep going instead of turning back. I did two more rows today, so I'm on pace (with a goal of two rows per day) to finish up just as the fall semester starts.

What's your opinion on ripping/unsewing?