I have noticed that machine quilting examples all tend toward the extremely heavily quilted. Why is that?

Every once in a while, my hand quilted pieces get away from me, and they are as heavily quilted as the machined examples I see, but for the most part, my hand quilted pieces have plenty of quilting, but not so much as to weigh them down.

The reason I am trying to learn this new skill is not to replace my hand quilted quilts, but to be able to accomplish more. That, and my raw edge fusing ideas.

So why do most people machine quilt with more, rather than less?

I think because it is so beautiful. I feel that heavily quilted quilts should be for show to show off the beautiful handiwork be it hand quilted or machine quilted. Less quilting lets the quilt drape and cuddle. There are folks here who do stupendous work, both machine and hand quilting and I would be hard pressed to slug around with such beautiful handiwork dragging the floor, cat/dog fur getting all over it, etc. They should be hung for all to admire! This is just my opinion.

I think we are in the phase of more is better. It may not last, who knows...

It depends on the use of the quilt for me. I have been practicing my free motion quilting on the longarm, so they are pretty heavily quilted. I can't afford to make a bunch of quilts just to practice on, so I use what I have. If it is a quilt that is going to be used a lot as in a hospital, they prefer it to be fairly closely quilted because they are washed and dried so often. Show quilts have a lot because they are judged on the quilting also.

There was a topic on this awhile back and the majority of people who responded didn't want their quilts heavily quilted.

i think quilt that are going into shows are heavily quilted because that's very popular with the judges and the people attending.

if its a quilt that will be used then they aren't heavily quilted by machine.

dense machine quilting makes a quilt stiff which would render it useless as something to sleep or snuggle with.

The one machine quilted quilt I had done that was heavily quilted cannot be slept under; way too stiff, not enough give or drape.
I don't think you'd get the same problem though with hand quilting, which is a gentler stitch.

As a longarm quilter, I quilt both styles. Wallhangings I tend to quilt more so they don't sag as the years go by. Utility quilts get medium quilting, leaving them soft and snuggly. Show quilts are the most quilted often because I feel the judges are looking for something unique and I tend to get carried away with the thread. However, having said that, I always try to make the quilting fit the quilt,( not too much nor too little) and the customer.

Great explanation :D:D:D

And I will third that.