Originally Posted by JCL in FL
I hand quilt and love it, I will always hand quilt. But I have done some machine quilting and anyone can do it but not everyone can do it well. It is very difficult to do. It takes a very creative eye and a steady hand. It isn't just sit and sew away. I admire those who machine quilt the beauties we see here, I doubt I could ever do what they do. They are artists and enjoy quilting as much as a hand quilter, it's just another example of different strokes for different folks. I'm so glad they are around, the fabric choices and tools have gotten so much better since machine quilting became popular.
Thank you. As a longarm quilter, I was beginning to feel like the red-headed step-child. I can hand quilt too, just don't like it, but I don't bash those who do enjoy hand quilting. Completely different skill set, just like those with computerized longarm systems...different skill then hand-guided longarm quilting. I can't quilt by moving my quilt in my DSM, but I admire the work done by those who can. We are lucky that there are so many ways for us to create the quilts we love, why can't all kinds of quilting be appreciated for the art that it is? The LQS that treated AshleyR so shabbily is no different from hand quilters saying a quilt that is machine quilted really isn't a quilt. I think there is room for all kinds of quilting. If we all liked and did the same thing, that would just be boring!
I just wish AshleyR could come by my LQS, she is an awesome hand quilter and happy to share her art. She has lots of thread, needles and other cool things that hand quilters use, but she doesn't have anything I can use for longarm quilting! Except, of course, the quilts she has me quilt for her and all the yummy fabric!