IceLeopard

That was my MIL. She made a few very basic tied comforters of 6" squares, so she knew everything about quilting and I knew nothing.

bearisgray

It seems like the people that know the most about any subject, know that there is more to know about that subject.

jokir44

How about saying "Well those are your opinions to use on your quilts. I have my own ideas and I like mine better."

SusieQOH

Quilt police aren't even on my radar. I don't give a hoot what anyone else thinks.

granky

The quilt police nearly dropped their uppers when they found out that all of my quilts are fleece-backed with no batting. It's more economical, quilts up beautifully and is cuddly and warm...Grandma would have loved it..the quilt police hate it.....

givio

Don't sew together battings of different weights and types to make a piece big enough for your bed sized quilt top (like leftover pieces of 100% cotton, 80/20 cotton/polyester, 100% polyester, bamboo, etc.). It will make your quilt too lumpy. What!!? You filled this one with old pantyhose??

You must nest your seams. Iron the pieces this way. Always iron to the dark. The seams must meet at intersections.

Why did you sew together all different size blocks? What are these blocks here? (This was asked of my creative efforts with using up strips, crumbs, and orphan blocks all in one top.) Why don't you ever use coordinated designer fabric? You can buy them in bundles with the colors and prints already all looking nice together. This looks like it has no rhyme or reason. It looks like a hodgepodge of your leftovers.

This sheet is too closely woven to be able to quilt it.

These men's shirts and dresses from Goodwill are not going to wear at the same rate. Don't mix washed and unwashed fabrics, or new and old fabrics.

Only use 100% cotton, don't use polyester/cotton blends, seersucker, cordoroy, etc. These are the police that compliment antique crazy quilts made of velvets and silks.

gillyo

When I started quilting as a young teen in the early seventies quilting by machine was a sacrilege. I can't tell you how many times I was told I was doing everything wrong. Of course, they had some valid points. My stitching wasn't perfect and my fabric choices were questionable, (there was no such thing as "quilting fabric" in those days), and I pieced by machine! The worst!I

My grandmother was a traditional quilter but when she saw the log cabin quilt I made by quilting and piecing on my machine she was a convert. She went home and made two of them for her guest room.

I took a lot of heat for machine quilting but I didn't care. I was selling my jackets and pillows in shops as a teenager and doing pretty well. However, when I went off to college i didn't take my machine with me and started hand piecing and quilting. I fell in love with it and found it very satisfying. I also saw a lot of creative options and began adding embroidery and beads. Yikes! I had become the quilting pariah of the 80s....an art quilter!

Now I do both machine and handwork, depending on what I want to make. I was taught tailoring and can make my own patterns, so I don't follow trends. I just do what I want. I didn't listen to the quilt police when I was 13 and I don't listen to them now. Everyone should quilt the way they want to!

If you put your work out there in a show or at your guild you are asking for attention. Most of the time people are encouraging but there are always those insecure know-it-alls who can't resist "helping." If you are going to compete you have to develop a thick skin. I actually won a first prize once and was shocked when I saw the judges' notes. One of them hated everything about my quilt, but the rest loved it. There's always going to be someone who finds fault with something. Don't let them get to you!

mac

Gillyo reminded me that I also started quilting in the early 70's and machine top quilted a small quilt and a pillow. It was an experiment at the time, as there really weren't any patterns or books out with any with directions on how to do it. I just had an idea that there had to be a faster way of quilting than hand quilting the top or tying it, as I thought that tying the quilt took away from the beauty of it.

I still have the pillow. Not really knowing what I was doing, I quilted it 'free-style'. Every once in a while I come across my pillow (it is kind of deflated now) and wonder where I would be in the quilting world if I had kept on experimenting with my quilting. The quilt is a rag by now, but the pillow is actually quilted quite nicely. You know how it is, you see your work from a long time ago and you usually cringe because you have really learned so much and you see so many mistakes.

This was back when I was in my 20's and I was doing a lot of experimenting with different crafts. It was also a time when I was told that if I couldn't do something, I would do it just to prove them wrong. But, as I said, I was experimenting with a lot of different crafts, and after making 2 king-size quilts (both tied), 2 small quilts (one tied and the other machine top quilted) and a few other quilted things I went on to another type of craft. Later in the 70's I would get back to quilting, but by that time I had forgotten about machine top quilting my quilts and went old school on them.

You know how it is, life happens and sooner or later and all of the 'spirited' part of your personality gets worn down and you start doing what you are suppose to do. I think I have spent most of my life living like a salmon, swimming up stream, against the current, and after a while, it does get tiring. Now I am in my late 60's and I am really tired, my body and my brain, and I am just too tired to think of anything new. Like they say, "When I work, I work hard; when I sit, I fall asleep."

marcycn

Here are two real good YouTube tutes that I found real easy depending on how you want to miter them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmPamKC5e8s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6fnAvuUBHA

I use the second one - made finishing the quilt so much easier. :-)

diamondee

​I love it! LOL