Originally Posted by
soccertxi
Please don't use the word "cheat". Someone told me I was a CHEATER...loudly and often, because I'm a machine quilter and not a hand quilter. Its SUCH a strong word. I was so upset, I cried. Now I'm just angry that I let that man's words cheapen the nice work I do. Everyone has their own opinions I know, but this is QUILTING..not surgery or rocket science. There is a place for ALL that we do. By the way, next time I show off a quilt, and his JAW drops, he might hear that he will NEVER get one of my quilts. And I did not picket his cabinet shop with signs that said he was a cheater because he uses POWER TOOLS instead of hand tools. ....ok...sorry! Off my soap box now...I love it ALL..hand, machine, quilt for hire, do all your own... we need to back ourselves up, not knock ourselves down.
This hits a nerve also. What about all those quilts that were tied? Did they cheat? I never machine quilted until after I retired. I will never be a hand quilter for the simple reasons that 1: I want to finish a quilt, and 2: it would hurt my hands too much. But, I do admire the beautiful hand quilted quilts and all the hours spent on it.
When I was a kid, we "tied" the quilts.
Beth, I bet you wished you had thought of the power tools come back when that guy said that to you. I just told my DH about your post. He agreed with you about the power tools.
Also, our ancestors used what was available. If they had a sewing machine, they used it. If they would have had access to rotary cutters, they would have used them too.
I also never heard of binding a quilt until after I retired. When did binding become popular? We used to just hem quilts.
I imagine every quilt show has their rules. I have been to them and read the cards that tell who pieced them and who quilted them. Sometimes it was the same person but most of the time it was different people. The quilts were beautiful no matter who quilted them.
I think of quilting as an art and art is seldom perfect. It also falls into the category that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.
Even though I just wrote all that, I'm still my worse critic - but no one else had better criticize my work! Them's "fighten" words! LOL