I am 67 years old (I'm taking every single one of the 14 more days til 68 that I have left!), have been quilting 32 years and teaching, designing, writing for about 29 of those years. I learned from a forerunner of the 'new' quilting craze who eschewed scissors, templates, and hand piecing and I still teach "modern", fast, speed piecing, trick and techniques at my guild where the workshops are always well received and even asked for.

Go to your local library and read thru as many quilting books that have been printed after, say, 1995 as you can find. Look especially through Quilters Newsletter Magazine and American Quilter magazine for 'on trend' news and skills. A subscription to American Quilter is a benefit of membership in the American Quilters Society.

Please realize that the internet, while a truly wonderful resource, is not the only source for the information you are requesting. You seem so eager, I think you'll have a great time going thru these things.:)

Jan in VA

Always pay attention to what Jan in VA has to say.

Quick and new techniques are always of interest to me, and I often get online and grab my rotary cutter and piece away on my machine. However, at night you will find me working on my GFG and cutting hexies out of scrap paper with scissors. I have books old and new and dip in and out and adapt as I go. I think many of us do this.

SuperJan!!! :thumbup:

I recently picked up a book published in 1992 called something like "Joy of Quilting" (and I am a retired librarian!). I was horrified to see that the instructions for a scrap quilt told you to cut each square out with scissors and then piece. Even though there were some nice designs I decided that book should go to the recycling bin rather than the charity shop, in case a new quilter was led astray and quit in frustration.
At our quilting group I sometimes show some of the newer methods I have learned from this board like the easy pinwheels and disappearing 9 patch, and I can tell that some of the older members are just polite -- not really interested in the changes -- but that's OK -- they are much better quilters than I will ever be -- I'm a bit slapdash.

Greenheron, Peckish,
You two gotta quit this, now, LOL!:o You're going to have me too embarrassed to post pretty soon.:o

But it's really nice to know there are others who appreciate what one has to say; thank you.:)

Jan in VA (blushing)

Altho I lean toward traditional patterns, I also look for the quickest way to get there........so if I read a pattern that seems to be the old fashioned way to me, I look for the more up-to-date way...nowadays I am trying to translate as many as I can into GO die cutting............

I have been quilting about 40 years and quickly got tired of driving myself crazy trying to accurately piece etc. Fabric is not a finate medium, it stretches, shrinks and has a grain. The part I like best is the handquilting. I love the advent of preprinted "cheaters cloth" I purchase some yardage of it, slap on some borders and start quilting. When I get finished only a real quilter with a sharp eye can tell it wasn't carefully pieced before being quilted. The quilting process is also a lot easier without those many seams to traverse. The original idea about "patchwork" was to use up the fabric no woman could afford to discard. It is truly an American idea. If you look at quilted items made before there was an American country it was "wholecloth" and made into wallhangings, coverlets and even padding to be worn under armour etc. Thrifty American homemakers came up with the idea of using their leftover scraps from garment and home sewing to make attractive yet practical bedding. Developing patterns was their way of expressing themselves and also being practical.

Eleanor Burns is always first in line with simple and easier ways to do quilting.
I have adapted her ways to patterns like Dear Jane.
The 8 at a time way to do HSTs I use all the time. I have all of her flying geese rulers. No more problems with both of these basic patterns.

I'm really sorry, Jan, I don't mean to keep embarrassing you. But quite honestly you deserve the respect and admiration. You are always helpful, complimentary, and instructive, and you're never mean or snarky. You're the opposite of Quilt Police; you explain very succinctly why it's best to do some things a certain way, but you always do it in a kind manner. In my opinion, Greenheron is doing newbies and beginners a favor by telling them to pay attention to what you say. :thumbup: