With you on this!!! I always tell everyone all you need to machine piece and or quilt is a machine with a straight stitch. If you like hand work just a needle and thread. I have gone to groups before that are a little snobish - I usually just try to steer away from those people and/or don't go back for seconds.

Very well put. Having the best tools in the world does not make the best quilter, it still takes some basic knowledge of quilting/sewing a lot of practice & willingness to want to continue to learn & grow as a quilter.

Having great tools does make it much easier, but it is certainly possible to make beautiful quilts with some basic tools.
This forum has some amazing examples of beginning quilters who do not own high end sewing machines & have made jaw dropping quilts.

I agree with all of your comments. I'm a new quilter and don't want to belong to a guild. This board has helped me so much already. It has answered questions that I have had. Also, if I run into a problem, I look on the internet. Thanks fellow quilters. :)

I can't have the best out there either. I don't mind at all. I am proud of the fact that I make very nice, pretty quilts. I use a Brother machine that I bought from a friend for $25. I cut and sew my quilts on my coffee table in my living room. It is a wonder that they turn out as good as they do, but that makes me happy. :) You don't have to have the best, just do the best job you can with what you do have.

I had made a comment on a different post here. A lady who has quilted forever saw my quilt. (One that I was very proud of). She said "Oh I can tell you are a newbie." She just crushed me. I'm sure she has all the most expensive tools and probably many of them. I still can't get past that comment. I would like to see what her first quilts looked like. Just because you have the most expensive top of the line tools doesn't make you the best and top of the line quilter. Thanks for letting me vent.

I do have a Bernina, but believe me it isn't a newer one. I bought it second hand at that. It's a Bernina 830 record.
Bernina makes a great machine, but it's not the only one that does a great job. One of the old Singers like the 15-91, etc, still make the prettiest straight stitch. So it really isn't about Bernina's. It should be about quilting. Money isn't the point, whether one has plenty of it, or very little of it. Cheers to all of you who have machines you love whatever make they are. And, cheers to everyone who loves quilting!

thank you for this topic. I too fell pry to the negative quilters comments. I have quilt for a year and used the word "cheat" for a question I had asked. Wow that was a horrible experience. So much so that I am VERY hesitant to post another question for help again. I will go to another board. It has ruined my experience with this board which I had used daily for tips etc. Its very sad. We have all had questions when we start and to take a question and twist it to a negative was a awful experience for me.

Thanks for the post and comments Micha. I guess I will never understand people who are so self righteous and arrogant.

We each have our own style and tools and budget. I quilt on my old singer 1951, that my dear husband bought my 38 yrs ago for $20. I have a nice computerized machine also that i rarely use. So I don't care what others think or say, we need to be happy where we are, be supported and appreciative of each other!