I know I can't be the only one out there.... I really really dislike making tops. I will be the first to admit that I'm not the very best at it, but I can do it. I'm pleased with the results but I hate the process. So much that I'm going to go ahead and say it aloud: I HATE making quilt tops and I'm not going to do it again ever.

I love quilting. I love hand-quilting and I'm good at it. I am having fun practicing machine quilting, but I'm not good at it at all (yet!). I would love to quilt for hire but who can afford a hand-quilter??! My dream is to partner up with someone who loves to piece and she/he makes the tops and bastes them (ha) and I quilt them. :)

Sounds like a good plan, hope you find a quilting partner.

I rather make runners,toppers anything other than tops

Lots of people hire hand quilting ... I am one of them.
To be honest, the rates are not all that different (in this area) between the two options.

If you enjoy hand quilting so much ... do a full top with LOTS of intricate quilting on it! That'll keep you busy for sometime!!

Wow Ashley, I wish we were neighbors!! I love to make quilt tops and hate to quilt! We'd make a good team. I have 3 tops made and folded up for when I get better at machine quilting or have time for handquilting. As for piecing, the more difficult the block pattern, the more I love it.

I love to make tops!! Sometimes I get top happy and just keep going. I enjoy the whole process actually, just wish hand quilting went faster :roll:

i'm thinking that there must be someone who loves to sew quilt tops but can't afford the materials, etc. and would do it just for the joy of the sewing process. perhaps you could find such a person to sew/piece the quilt that you choose. then you can get the top back and hand quilt it yourself. do you belong to a guild? you might find such a local person there. or try a girl scout troupe or high school home ec class. just some thoughts.

I love to make tops! I look forward to quilting them so that I can start another one!

I LOVE to make the tops, but drag my heels when it comes to quilting them. I guess it's because I'm a handquilter & it does take me a long time to finish them.

i wish you were closer i love making tops but dont realy love quilting them (i dont like basting eather) but if you whant we could do a swap some time.

I wish you lived closer to me. I also love to make the tops but cannot hand quilt due to arthritis,and really do not enjoy machine quilting all that much. Hmmmmm.....maybe you just have to set a price and advertise in our 'buy,sell,trade' section. Bet there would be a lot of takers!

I might be interested. PM me if you are serious and see if we can work something out. I know I am on the other side of the USA but there is always US postal services.

Ashley, A woman after my own heart. I make a lot of Linus quilts but they are a simple childish print layered with batting and a flannel back. I then machine quilt them just enough to hold up to laundering. I do use colorful, often varigated thread and a decorative stitch.
My most favorite thing is the handquilting. For several years I was a handquilter for hire. Alas the long armers have put me out of business. Everyone is in a hurry. I can usually quilt a bed size quilt in six weeks or a little more depending on the size. My favoriate quilt to make is a wholecloth , premarked tone on tone or white on white. I have made a number of them.

Sorry

Send me a private message. I love to piece and am really good at it (won honorable mention at the NC State Fair) but I hate quilting in all forms.

I'm sure it wouldn't be too hard to find one. I'd gladly make a quilt top for someone that would hand quilt one of mine.

I think bartering is the wave of the future. I FMQ tops for a friend and in exchange she does all my binding by hand. My computer tech fixes my laptop and in exchange I make his wife or daughter a new purse. Bartering is the way to go.

any time you want to join forces let me know.

i would love to make tops in exchange for hand quilting.

Darn - you live too far away for me to partner with you. I hate to quilt - but love making tops.

Wow, I am overwhelmed!!
I posted this message quickly before I got busy at work and came back to this!! I will PM those who have requested it (and feel free to PM me to speed things up a bit and let me know what you're thinking because my mind is blown!) when I get the chance too.

I love this forum!

Oh, I'm the opposite from you. I love to design and piece the tops, but hate the layering and quilting process. Too bad we don't live closer to each other.

PICK ME!!! I love making the tops, but hate the sandwiching & quilting & binding. So I have several tops sitting in a pile. I would love a working relationship with someone like you!

Also, if you are interested in getting some just for personal practice, you can usually find tons of tops on ebay for cheap.

I love making tops and don't enjoy the quilting as much I live too far away and am too old to be your partner though. I need someone like you near here.

Boy if we lived closer, I love to make the tops and I dont like to quilt. I keep thinking that someday I will grow to enjoy the whole process.

I wish I could trade with you. I love making quilt tops.
My problem is after I get the top done, I can't afford the machine quilting.

You are not alone, Ashley! I love hand quilting but I don't like piecing, that is one of the main reasons why I have started to do wholecloth quilts.

talk to some quilt shops around your area and show them some of your work and leave a card. you should pick up some business.

I love the whole process but do not like making bed size quilts. They are so difficult to handle.

I love the hand quilting more then the pieceing. Like to buy and shop for fabrics, hate cutting, I like to sew, but we have a full household and the adults work at different hours of the day, so I am never alone....that makes a dif. right now I am in the waiting roomof our hospital my DH is getting his heart abalted and they just called and are going ahead and putting a pacemaker in while they have him in surgery. You know all you need is a surragate top sewer. have fun. Jackie

LOL, I should also warn anyone wanting me to do their quilts that I have one on the hoop now and a whole cloth waiting! I stopped my guitar lessons because it was affecting how my hands felt when I quilted. I felt like I had to make the choice: guitar or quilting. Obviously, I chose quilting (and I'm much better at it than the guitar!) but my hand is still recovering. So I thought I'd give machine quilting a go until my hands are ready. I'm still not good at it at all, but it's way more fun than I thought it would be! (Me and my sewing machine don't like each other most of the time!) So my plan is to do both.
I'm not emotionally attached to anything (yeah, I'm weird like that) so I would try to sell most everything that comes my way! The exceptions are the ones I have in line now, one was a gift to me and one is a gift.

I am rather stressed right now with getting packages out to the troops for Christmas, (we sent 530 last year) but maybe after the first of the year we can work something out. I love to piece but have not gotten the whole quilting process down yet.

I am a hand quilter and love to do it. I love to pick the fabrics and designs for quilts but don't really like sewing everything together. The problem is it doesn't take as long to piece as it does to quilt so I always have plenty of tops laying around. And the basting part isn't so bad either. The way I figure it, I have enough material on hand to make about 30 tops (at least), I will be 65 on my birthday and have a life expenctancy of hopefully 10-15 years so I had best stay off the computer more and keep my hands busy. Inbetween I make quilts for Linus and have been practicing some machine quilting which is going sooooooooooo slowly. Carol

Love piecing the tops and not so much quilting but I get by.

Lol, I can keep myself busy with cheaters and tops I buy and this quilt that was supposed to be a whole cloth with a monogram in the middle of it... I screwed that one up and have to do some more work with it.. and it must be finished by May.

Baste 'em and send 'em! LOL

I might do that after I finish my UFO's and my 90 day probationary period!

You can hand quilt in 6 weeks or machine quilt?

OHHHH, I hate the quilting process but I LOVE the piecing process!

I love the top making part. I hate the quilting part of the finished quilt.

Ashley I have a friend who also dislikes making quilt tops. However she loves to machine quilt other people's tops and does it at very reasonable prices.
So you are definitely not alone.

Kat