hear a lot about "quilt police". just wondering, who actually makes the quilting "rules". I have a lot of books on quilting by various authors and there are sometimes different methods given. it bugs me b/c when our ancestors made quilts - the pioneer women etc, they didn't appear to follow "rules" and we never say they did it wrong. so who actually has the right to suddenly make rules on how things have to be done. is their a quilting law book or something? if i want all my seams to be 1/3" rather than 1/4" what does it matter? as long as all the seams are the same size? maybe it just the baby boomer in me but i sometimes resent having to follow all the "rules" that are made by so called quilting experts.

I guess the only rules that might count are the guidelines for quilts that are entered in shows and will be judged. They definitely have ideas about what's right or not. Otherwise, I don't think there are too many. I'm mostly self-taught, so I just have to do things the way it seems to me would work. Example: For a long time, I didn't know how to make flying geese, so I had to make 2 hst's and put them together. Worked ok! (O:

I agree! I do what feels right to me!

The Quilt Police is more or less a joke, except in the case of those who show their art, and I suspect that the judges use magnifying glasses to check out every inch.

But otherwise, like the Tooth Fairy and others, the Quilt Police is a joke. Personally, if they were real I would hear them pounding on my door and my cats would hide from the screams of the sirens!!

It's your own quilts and you should do them just like YOU want, and if others don't like them, tough!! Should you make more than you want to give away to friends and family, think of children's hospitals, wounded soldiers and women and children in distress in shelters. They don't care what quilts look like, it's the warmth that matters, and in the end, that is what a quilt or lap robe is about, warmth. The love that makes it adds to its value.

There are few rules that I follow...
Avoid bias edges whenever possible
A consistent seam is very helpful in constructing quilts
Try to remember to change needles and rotary blades before they cause problems :roll:
Interfacing can make quilting much easier when using stretchy fabrics
Just because someone says a technique/block is hard to make/do, isn't necessarily true
A clean machine causes less problems than a lint filled one :wink:

Other than that? I have probably broke more rules than I have ever dreamed of following LMBO :D:D:D

I have no idea on who makes the "Quilting Rules". And it is probably a good thing I don't, LOL!! About the only rule I try to follow is the 1/4 in seam. And that is because of 1/4 in presser foot makes it easy to keep my seams straight. If the Quilt Police were real, they would have arrested me for breaking almost every rule. :mrgreen:

Some of the "rules" are only meaningful when mathematics are applied. Like when working with triangles, the way you measure 1/4 inch seams help you (or should help you) get the tip of the triangle to be at the edge of the seam. Also, if you participate in a block exchange, the final size matters. Many machines have a 1/4 inch foot but not a 1/3 inch one, and when following a pattern, the measurements are made so that if you use a 1/4 inch, you end up with certain size block. Is up to you to change all that and do your own thing, but in some blocks you may not necessarily like the final result. In the end, is your quilt and your fabric. Just have fun with it.

The only rule that must be followed is.......enjoy what you do!:)

The only 'rules' are guidelines to make it easier to make a quilt, not to insist on conformity. As others have said, it's your quilt-do as you wish. The 'quilt police' are just for laughs.

I don't know who makes the rules. I don't pay any attention to 'rules' any more. I make the quilts I like to make & don't give a rip about what someone in some book or magazine might think about it. If I like it, that's good enough for me.