Originally Posted by davidwent
I'm just beginning this topic to see what you all think.
As a child I remember watching my grandmother make me a quilt, that I still have some 50 years later. She had a treadle sew matching a pair of scissors and a fabric tape measure. Her quilts were/are amazing.
Are we now depending on gidgets and gadgets and modern machines too much?
I know we can whip out amazing quilts in days instead of weeks/months, I am just wondering if new is always better?
David
I think that the market has a lot to do with tempting quilters into buying more and more gadgets that are frivolous in my opinion or luxuries that are really not necessary.
When I first started out with making quilt blocks, I used a plastic cover casing for compact discs and traced that onto fabric using a pen and cutting out with scissors to make a simple nine patch. From there I wanted to expand my skills and I spent many hours at the local library doing research on primary blocks and patterns. When I felt confident to expand, I then graduated to tracing patterns by hand onto cardboard or stock paper. Applique was the easiest for me, from there I gradually got a rotary cutter, rotary mats, a few simple 4.5" rulers.
For sewing machines, I have owned at least 14 different machines and my favorites have been Singer. Just my opinion.