Originally Posted by
feline fanatic
Less time than hand quilting but the time spent quilting by DSM and LA is comparable. I have quilted many quilts on my longarm that took well in excess of 60 hours and that is
just quilting time. The quilt linked here had well over 100 hours in just quilting time:
Agave Garden, the big reveal
How much time would you say this would have taken using a DSM as compared to a long arm? Would you have attempted this same quilting on a DSM? I mentally separate DSM quilting from longarm quilting because I understand it is more physically difficult to do a comparable amount of quilting by shoving a quilt around under a needle and through a harp than it is to move a needle over a stationery quilt. If this were not the case, why would so many people be switching from DSMs to long arms?
Having said that, my comments are not meant in any way to slight the skill required to do long arm quilting; it is certainly an awe-inspiring art form! The mind boggles when looking at intricate long arm quilting.
It was the observation that the goalposts had been moved that prompted my post. I think this was an apt observation. I don't like the idea that all quilts are now being measured against what is possible/practical only with a long arm, and that quilters without long arms might be trying to 'keep up' with what is happening in the long arm quilting world. I want a traditional, pre-long arm quilting aesthetic to survive, and (to strain the football analogy a bit), I want the old distance field goals to still count in the score.