Originally Posted by
stillclock
i went to a "quilts of great britain" show this weekend and a number of things stood out about their gorgeous work.
they don't have the same inclination to send out quilts to long armers. there are long arm quilters in the uk for sure, but the whole industry that is blossoming here around contracting out that part of the craft is not taking hold there at all.
i would say more than 70% of the quilts were handquilted. that's something i am seeing less and less and less of here.
in talking to one of the visiting quilters, she spoke about the long and rich tradition of quilting as cultivated through the guild system. the emphasis on handwork is still huge, and she said they can't offer enough classes to meet the demand from young people. and that's true across traditional skill guilds. the resurgence in a genuine desire to learn hand craft is massive there, and shows no sign of slowing down.
the quilts in the show were of all different styles and types, but i am hard pressed to think of one example of an "over quilted" piece. that is surely partially based on who chose the quilts to travel, but it was really different than a lot of what i am seeing in local shows.
handquilting by its very nature is disinclined towards overquilting. it takes so long to complete, and most quilters spend a lot of time carefully thinking through their designs. i feel like with long arming - especially contracted - they are working from a totally different perspective. they didn't piece the quilt and aren't attached to it that way. the quilt becomes a canvas for their art on top of the piecing. this isn't to detract from the amazing skill and creativity of people doing the work; i think some of the stuff i see is absolutely breathtaking. but i do think sometimes the quilting is disconnected because the quilter has no attachment to the top in front of them. it's a paid job and while some of them might pay more attention to the details than others, i know my tops inside and out because i made them. the quilting part of the craft is just a continuation of the same creation, not a separate work. does that makes sense? it does to me
aileen
Thank you for sharing about your experience in the UK--I like hearing about quilting in other countries And while I find hand quilting too painful on my hands and avoid it, I have seen some handquilted quilts with dense quilt, which makes them even more amazing!
I have to disagree with your statement regarding long arm contract quilters being detached from the quilt top and thus the quilting is disconnected. Long arm quilters work with their customers to find out what type of quilting is desired--design and density. Since they know "time is money", doing excess quilting for their own reasons would not be smart business.
One thing that I find that overwhelms the piecing is the use of numerous large scale prints in the fabric--which seems to be what I see frequently in the quilting magazines and find I can't really see the quilt piecing design until I flip the page and view the diagram. Does anyone else have this issue?