Originally Posted by MomtoBostonTerriers
I have one foot firmly planted on both sides of this argument. I appreciate the older quilts and think they are beautiful. I'd rather have a 50 year old quilt than a modern one.
However, if I had to quilt the way my grandmother and auntie did, I'd never quilt. I don't have the patience or time to hand piece and quilt for the hours it would take to make one quilt. Now that arthritis has set in, I don't have the physical ability to do the hand work, either. So, those old quilts have given me a standard to appreciate, and the new quilts I turnout out show that I love to continue this wonderful craft.
I am with you. I would never quilt if I had to go back to scissors and templates.
I am concerned though being a quilt teacher that there is too much emphasis put on 'how many quilts can I get done this year' versus the quality and creative design of the quilt. While I love some of the new modern quilts made with just strips and squares are we (especially new quilters) losing something by not learning to piece curves, get good points, work with different angles, etc.
The same goes with hand quilting. I would hate to see it become a dieing art due to machine quilting. Don't get me wrong there is some beautiful machine quilting out there, but there is also some that is prettty bad and in my opinion has greatly taken away from an otherwise very pretty quilt. JMHO