Originally Posted by
DogHouseMom
I've heard/seen this sentiment before and I'm curious.
Why it important to see quilts that can be used on beds win at (big) shows?
I'm curious because I see "show quilts" and "useable" quilts as two completely different animals.
Quilts were originally every-day useable objects. Like many other every-day useable objects, some people have taken the art form (or science) to a higher level to create something extraordinary and the end result is that the object now has a special or even different purpose.
I liken it to wall papering a house with original Van Gogh's, using the Cray XT5-HE super-computer to play solitaire, or partitioning off the Taj Mahal into condos.
So I am often curious why people wish to see a quilt win at Paducah (for example) then go to the makers home to be used on the makers bed.
Well I havent won at Paducah yet
(yet!) But if I did and the piece matched my bedroom, I would slap that quilt on my bed and call it good!
Would not matter to me that it won or not, to me it would be the matching or not matching! I have a piece planned for the MQX for next year, am trying to figure out who to give it to cause it will not match my house at all. So it will have a home before it ever gets entered and will go to said home whether it wins a ribbon or not.
Originally Posted by
TeresaA
In my personal experience the heavily quilted quilts are stiffer and require more washing to get soft. It is logical that the more quilting makes the batting more rigid.
And I'm with you. Why do people do it? Because they can. In the age of longarm quilters it is very easy to go mad with the quilting.
But I'm also like you. I don't like it.
The quilts will last. And likely, many of them won't go on beds, possibly won't EVER be washed.
And judging? Personally, I'm not fond of that either. It's sort of silly. As far as I'm concerned, they are the height of introducing inaccessibility into quilting.
The quilting world has lots of room for everyone's niches. If we're not keen on the ones that exist, we make our own.
Quilt shows are similar to art shows.....it is a personal choice. Not every quilter enters a show and not every artist enters shows. I personally want to enter shows to specifically be judged by a trained judge. I want the challenge of meeting a set of criteria and then exceeding it enough to win. That is a great incentive to me. I understand not everyone is that way,
and have no issue with those who do not want the challenges.
But dont knock those of us who do! We give ya'll something to look at when you go to the shows!
Originally Posted by
Candace
I completely agree. One person competing against a longarming team is quite an uneven challenge. Personally, I enjoy all kinds of quilting and quilts. I like the artistry of heavily quilted quilts, but do agree that sometimes it overpowers the piecing. It really does depend on the context, like another posted.
Most team pieces are long armed by one person and pieced by another person. I have not seen a piece that was long armed by more than one person (will note I have not seen everything there is to see, so it is possible that I havent seen it happen) The reason I see for this is that not everyone wants to do the longarming and not everyone wants to do the piecing. I personally dont find piecing anything more than a means to an end....it is the quilting that I enjoy
I piece cause I need something to quilt!