When I took my first quilting class back in 1984, everything was hand pieced & hand quilted. These were not my first quilts, but my first classes! Before that, I mostly read the directions & followed them, but not necessarily to "a T." I learned a lot that way. The teacher for those first classes would say something like, "You will ALWAYS . . ." Sooo, I ALWAYS did it whatever way I was supposed to. My favorite one is PRESS TO THE DARK! I haven't always pressed to the dark. I press the way a particular seam wants to go, or for the way the piece will be the flattest. Alex Anderson called it something like "for the best construction."
When you are hand piecing, things pretty much turn out perfectly if you are piecing properly. Corners will match every time, etc. However with the introduction of machine piecing, we have become a bit more lenient as to what is is "perfect." However there still are some who seem to think that there is one and only one way to do somethings. We sometimes not so lovingly refer to them as the "Quilt Police."
Back in the September/October issue of McCall's Quilting magazine, there was an article about copyright law. It took us all off our feet. Talk about Quilt Police. They (McCall's) even published a follow-up article as so many of us expressed our concern over the future of quilting and quilting shows in the future because of what this woman said. They tried to smooth over what she said, but I don't think it worked. Personally, I thought the original article was rather hateful in tone. Kind of a, "You better not do this or else!" flavor to it. The follow-up article still had the same tone to it. :evil:
My biggest concern is the showing of a quilt. I don't agree with the article. I made the quilt from a pattern in a book, magazine or pattern that had been bought. What I do with what I made is my business. If I chose to hang it in a local quilt show, I don't see where that is a problem. Can you imagine if you had published a pattern and everyone around decided to make that quilt and show it in a show. AND everyone decided that they must contact you for permission to hang it!!! You'd be swamped and have to hire a secretary to respond to every request!
Perfect example of how silly this is - In October our quilt club had a small, one day show. The ladies who organized the show were concerned that they might not have enough quilts to fill the space, so they came over and "raided" my walls. They were hanging the show in the morning. I did not have permission, and there was no time to obtain it. What's a gal to do?
While the origin of the quilt is not on the label - if there even is a label, when I submit a quilt to hang, I write the pattern info on the registration form. That is usually put on the card attached to the quilt and it's pinned to the FRONT of the quilt. How many of us either get the gloves on or ask for someone to turn the quilt over so we can see the label? When we gift a person with an outstanding quilt & they decide to hang it in a show, are they going to ask you for the info so they can contact the pattern designer about hanging it? Let's get real!
My thoughts on the Quilt Police is to let 'em come. I don't make quilts for anyone else, but me! If I'm happy with them, that's good enough for me. If they hang in a show & if the Quilt Police can even find this town that's on the edge of nowhere on the day of a show, let 'em look!
I hope this doesn't seem rude, but most of us are sweet, kind, lovable ladies and gentlemen who just want to make quilts with absolutley no ulterior motives.