Nammie to 7

So was my great grandmother cheating when she used a sewing machine to piece a log cabin quilt in the late 1800's?That quilt is now displayed on the back on my couch.

twinkie

At our shows, we always ask on the form #1, Owner, #2, the quilter (or the one who constructed the quilt and #3, the name of the quilter. It is very common for the one who pieced the quilt and the quilter to be different. No cheating IMHO.

Sam Poodles

All the shows in my area have categories for "quilting done by others"...I machine piece and have the quilting done by a professional long arm quilter. I was having to pay for a binding to be applied but am trying machine binding for quilts that are made as gifts and that is working out well....my "practice" is on baby quilts where the machine applied binding is preferred to withstand rugged use. You see....I cannot hold a needle. I can barely pick up pins.
I got a blue ribbon at our state fair a couple of years ago for my most prized quilt. It was entered in "quilting done by others" category.
Most of the women in my quilt group that love hand quilting are our very senior seniors and one by one they are less able to do the quilting. Our younger members all prefer to use a long arm quilter. I have seen a huge shift in this in the past 5 years. The shows are even creating sub-categories in the "quilting done by others" group because of the number of entries not hand quilted.
I would take great offense to "cheating" as a description, just as soccertxi did. It's a different form, but not cheating. That, to me, is like saying acrylic paintings are cheating since they are not oil.

Jackie Spencer

I enter my quilts in a Quilt show every year. Some are hand pieced and some are machine pieced,some have been appliqued and a few have had embroidery. I always send them out to be quilted. You have to acknowledge the quilter. They are judged on pattern, color, piecing, binding, the quilting, and if they are even squared up. If you enter as a beginner, and win, the next year you have to enter as intermediant and so on. I always give credit to the one who quilted them. I have won 6 times, and do not consider myself a cheater.

bunniequilter

Not sure if its cheating, but its definatly unfair.Unfair to the person who did the quilting, and unfair to everyone else by giving the impression it was a single person quilt. Give credit where credit is due!

justflyingin

I think that initially when I heard that some people entered shows with quilts that others quilted, I also thought like the OP...but then I realized that you are supposed to give credit to the one who actually quilted the quilt if it was a different person than the piecer. So, if that is the case, then both are given credit and that seems fair enough.

The only reason it seems wrong to many is that if the judging is the "quilting" primarily (as opposed to the piecing of the top), then it seems like the wrong person is getting the ribbon. However, it appears like the judges have figured it all out and seem to cover all the bases, making sure everyone gets the credit they deserve.

Tashana

All I have to say is that I use my own patterns, I piece it myself, quilt it and bind it myself. If I win, it is all me and my effort. I do not think it is fair to have my quilts judged in the same category as professionally quilted ones, but hey that will make me work harder and eventually put me on the same level, if not higher with those professional quilters. Give credit where credit is due, and if you are like me, accept the challenge and be the best you can be.
Not to open another can of worms, but computer guided quilting is really raising the bar. Can I ever be that good to compete against the quilting software.

y.morman

I know that our local county fair has a category for professional machine quilted entries....so depending on the category she entered it it I would hesitate to call it cheating.

Scissor Queen

No she wasn't cheating!! She was at the forefront of technology for her time!

bigsister63

IMHO If you are going to enter your quilt in a show or compitition then be sure you read the rules very closely. If you do not like the rules then do not enter your quilt! Also do not questions the rules and do not make claims of "cheating " if you do not know the rules of the compitition!!!