I have a young person (he's 5) who comes to visit me every now and then, the son of one of my employees. Evan. He's such a character, and his grandma does machine embroidery for a living. She does all of our company shirts, hats, etc.

He was looking at my quilting frame yesterday, and said, "what is this???"

I explained that it was a quilting frame, that I was making a quilt for my son, blah, blah.

He said, "How are you sewing it? I mean, where is the machine???"

I held up my needle and thread. His eyes got BIG! He said, "Isn't that, like, the OLD FASHIONED WAY??? Why would you want to do it like THAT?"

Bad part is, I couldn't think of an answer. Cause I like it, and really find it relaxing? Because if no one keeps up the old skills, pretty soon no one will know how to do it? Because my Mama did it?

He just looked at me like I was some sort of lunatic, and left.

Ah yes, the generation gap. Or the total comprehension gap. When I did my avatar quilt for my grandpa, after he died and I got it back, I lent it to a quilt show in his home town. Before I sent it I had it appraised, and was blown away when the appraisal was in the thousands of dollars. Well!!! When I told my colleagues at work, one of the younger girls said, "It would have been a lot easier and cheaper just to buy him a quilt. Why go to all that trouble and expense?" There just isn't an answer they will understand.

My grandkids kind of look at me like that sometimes too -- they just don't know what needle and thread are for, unless it's attached to the sewing machine :lol: :lol:

LOL!!

Hey Momtomom - because if there's a power cut, YOUR 'sewing machine' still works! And it's completely portable! And it doesn't annoy anyone else if you do it watching TV! LOL!

Exactly. How can I explain that when I sit down to hand quilt, the house is quiet, the others have all gone to bed, and I can feel my grandmother's and great-grandmother's blood running through my veins? How can I explain that calming feeling that floods over me, that slows the world down to a pace that I can really enjoy?

Of course you can buy a quilt. Of course you could make it faster on the machine. But the PROCESS, the sitting and watching a thing being created under your fingers with only a scrap of fabric, a needle and a thread, and your imagination, cannot be equaled. Some will always find it slow and frustrating. But I find it ties me to my ancestral heritage in ways that no other effort does.

Beautifully put Momtomom! You're absolutely spot on - it's that link with previous generations and the art of creating something with your own two hands that makes hand sewing so special! It's the 'thread' that binds us to our fore-mothers!

motomom, I know just how you feel, it isn't always about the result, it's about the journey. I would rather be sitting at my frame quilting, than anything else I can think of.
I told my grandson, that it is the same feeling he gets when he goes fishing, you could buy fish an lot easier and faster and cheaper, but it's the journey he enjoys! Most of the time he throws the fish back and yet he can't wait to go fishing again! LOL He said awe , I get it , you do it because you enjoy it! LOL I said yes, son, that's why.

The satifaction of making something by hand cannot be understood by some people both old and young... more often the feeling of accomplishment comes from a good day of shopping for ready-mades :? We also have a generation now, that checks out the box checkers come in, looking for the electrical plug :shock: :roll:

When we were in England recently, we rented a holiday cottage and the first day, Lily came into the kitchen with her dirty cup. 'where's the dishwasher?' she asked (she's well trained, even aged 4 LOL!) There isn't one, said I. Her face fell 'then how do we wash the dishes?' DUH! :oops: :lol: