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I think most longarm quilting is too much. I guess if I could do that freemotion I would want to just keep on quilting. But too much does make the quilt stift. Even though the quilting is beautifully done, sometimes I think the machine quilting takes away from the patchwork and obscures the pattern.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaciqltznok

I saw quilts at a show this weekend that were so heavily quilted that you could no longer tell what fabric was used..nor that it had batting in it...it was horrid...not to mention that all the quilting compromises the fabrics longevity. Used to be that we all understood that if you use poly or rayon thread on cotton fabric it WILL cut through the cotton in time..the quilts I saw this weekend would never live through a washing machine cycle..not once...the original fabric would just shred! ANY friction on those quilts, folding, creasing, etc...will ruin them in a short period of time...so what is the point?

I just don't see why they feel the need to quilt to death....McTavish if you must but NOT on any of my quilts....

and you are right, not one of those quilts hung well, they were stiff, see thru, full of needle holes, just horrid I tell you!

OH, and these were the quilts from the OK longarmers assoc. competition!

I also agree with the too much quilting. In fact I always tied my quilts up untill the last 8 years or so. I like a softer quilt. I try to do large meandering on mine. I also agree that too much quilting takes away from the design of it just like if you use too busy a print.

While the long-arm quilting machines with owner attached, do a great job of quilting, I sometimes think they distract from the piecing and overall design of the quilt.

i'm a traditionalist....i like the patchwork type quilts and i hand quilt the tops. I want the quilting to be the jewelry on the quilt...I want it to make the quilt look its best. I will also admit that i like more than less quilting..

Depending on the design I sometimes think too much quilting takes away from the beauty of the quilt.

I think some quilts are over the top with quilting. You don't know the pattern and it no longer looks warm and cozy.

Quote:

Originally Posted by spinnergs

I have seen some very big award winning quilts and my first thought was WOW, who pays for their thread! Some of them have no space unquilted. I just quilted a king top this week and it took two large spools with simple line quilting. My last hand quilted top I did quilt very close patterns with several colors of thread. But, are we getting carried away with all the quilting that ends up making the quilt top stiff? Just thinking.

I feel like those heavily quilted quilts are probably done like that because they were made for the soul intention of trying to win a ribbon. I am with you, quilts that are to be used and loved by people are made too stiff with massive amounts of quilting.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Borntohandquilt

For me it is a big difference if the quilt is quilted by machine or by hand. I have never seen a hand quilted item that is "overdone" in some way. For one of my quilts I used about 10 spools of thread each with 250 yards on it.
Unfortunately I don't have the possibility to see many long arm quilted quilts here in Germany. But on several quilts I saw it was a little too much quilting.

Before modern batting, when batting was just carded cotton laid on the backing it was not unusual for quilting to be a quarter of an inch apart. Compared to those antiques a lot of modern quilts are barely quilted.

My quilts are made to be used and I like them soft. To me the quilting is just to hold it all together, the design is in the pattern and fabrics.

I have seen some quilts that are quilted to death on a Long Arm. I think some of us have got lazy and don't want to even try to hand quilt. I have hand quilted 1 king size, 2
full size, and about a dozen or so wall hangings. All this was done in the last 8 years. I have also quilted about a dozen or so on my sewing machine.