My grandmother went to work when she was 14 y.o. to be a live-in caretaker to the children of a man (who became my grandfather) and his eight children.
They married and had 14 children. Yes, he fathered 22 children and all but three of them lived to adulthood.
My GM made quilts by hand and eventually did some piecing on her tredle machine. Her hand quilting was amazing. My mom and my aunt used to sleep under the quilting frame (it was hung above their bed on pullies). To hear my aunt's tell the story if the stitches were larger than 12 to the inch or not straight, her daughters had to take them out and redo them.
A few years ago when I worked as a national educator for Pfaff Sewing Machine Co. men used to make comments about how the embroidery was cheating, etc. I finally started responding, "My grandmother raised 19 children, if she could have done this automatically, I assure you she would have." That usually shut them up!
I have no problem with modern technology. I am employed outside the home and have little spare time. I took a hand piecing class once at the urging of my quilt guru. By the 3rd class she said, "You were right. You're not a 'hand' person. You're more of an instant grafitication type of quilter."
I have severe authritis in my hands and fibromyalgia. Last week I made yo-yo's for the first time because I was able to buy the yo-yo makers to 'hold' the fabric for me. I had great fun, but I won't be making a yo-yo quilt! I'll be embelishing purses and wearable art that are machine made!
Peggy