Originally Posted by Jan in VA

To those who believe only handmade quilts are first class:
Do you card your own batts, too?
Do you only dye your own fabrics?
Do you only hand piece?
At what date do you believe quilts became second rate in their making? 1890? 1910? 1930? 1950? 1970?

Well, I'm here to tell you that I have seen a quilt in a major museum in a major city which was dated 1870 and it was -- OMG <gasp> MACHINE QUILTED!!! Yes! For real!! And everyone around me who saw this quilt was much more fascinated by the fact that there were sewing machines available then, than by the fact that it had, indeed, been machine quilted. It was a lovely red/green/gold/white applique quilt, full sized, typical of the mid-century period, and the quilting was an echo type like that often seen on Hawaiian quilts.

It was fascinating. Amazing. Incredibly informative. And made me realize that women of that era who had sewing machines were NOT stupid; they were "put upon" with the amount of labor they had on a day to day basis, but they were NOT stupid. They used the best tools available to them for daily tasks as well as their creative tasks....just like we do today, by the way!

The women you ran into are so misinformed as to be sadly laughable. Bless their poor little hearts!

Jan in VA</gasp>