cheating is so horribly (NEGATIVE)...i would not call it cheating, i would call it a different technique than free motion...why should some techniques be considered cheating? because it didn't take as long as the way you did it? because it's different than the way you were taught? because it seems like cutting corners?
is there really a reason it's cheating?
my grandmother would probably (if she were alive) consider a rotary cutter cheating...because it's easier than scissors...is it cheating to use technology as it advances? maybe we should all just be using treadle machines and hand quilting...that way we aren't 'cheating'...
i do think their should be different catagories in shows so that the same techniques are judged together. i don't think a freemotion heirloom quilt should be judged with a quilt quilted with a statler stitcher; but it still takes time and skill to use those programs and have beautiful quilts, you have to program your design with careful measuring and planning in order to tell them machine where to put the design...it is n't as if you just load up the quilt sandwich,, push a button and walk away; it still takes planning, prep work and diligent attention.
for me, it doesn't matter if you are calling panals cheating or computer programs cheating...cheating is a bad word!
and what about machine embroidery? i have an embroidery unit for my machine, i also hand embroider...is using my machine cheating? i do not believe using your machines technological capabilities is cheating, i think that's what i bought it for.