Do You Send Your Quilts Out?
Of course, I am a rank amateur. I had a quilt top (king size) Flower Garden which my grandmother had pieced several years before she passed away in '93. Having not done a quilt at all at that time, I sent to my aunt by marriage in Oklahoma. Aunt Ella hand-quilted it and I paid her handsomely for doing so.
I did a 45 X 60 baby quilt for my niece several years ago -- all Sunbonnet Sue applique. I hand-quilted it (the very first quilt I had ever made) but it took me several months I have to say it turned out very well. It was rather special, because there was fabric from three generations in it, and one of the fabrics from my grandma matched perfectly the one I purchased (that was purely coincidental), some from my mom's scraps, and what I purchased. My next quilt (and I've only done two) was a wedding gift. The center section was white on which was embroidered an Arkansas Razorback (my nephew's bride was a graduate of the Univ. of Arkansas). That was kind of a big deal -- I started off with about a 3 x 5" image I pulled from the University website, enlarged, drew, enlarged some more, drew some more until I had a 2' X 3' razorback within an embroidered outline map of the State of Arkansas. I then embroidered their two names and the date of their wedding. The razorback was all satin-stitch embroidery and it took me about five months to finish it. I sent that top to my cousin in Oklahoma (who has a quilt shop in Cleo Springs, Oklahoma) and she quilted it for me by machine. I don't know if I would send out a quilt to someone I didn't know. In fact, after putting that much effort in it, unless I knew the quilter very well, I doubt I would! Then, again, it might not get done, either!
Jeanette Frantz