But why? What makes it an heirloom and not the machine sewn one? (all things being equal as to quality) Is it tradition?

I remember the comment someone made not long ago about hand pieced tops. They said the stitches were far enough apart you could put a toe trough them. That would not be heirloom in my book.

I have done and like to do both. I like the portability and the "successful" feeling of a hand pieced block (top), but I like the fact that I actually get something done to use or share when I piece and quilt on a machine.

My first quilt was machine pieced and hand quilted. I keep it on my king size bed because that is what it was made for. There are 12 cross stitched wild flowers in blocks with sashing and then hand quilting. Took me 2 winters to hand quilt but I love it. My second quilt is a pinwheel which took forever to piece and get those points and machine quilted and I also love it but it took much less time to quilt. Both are mine and mine alone and love them both.

I see why you said "USED to belong to".

Why do we machine quilt - because we can. If our ancestors had access to sewing machines, they would have machine quilted too. Clothes used to be hand sewn, but how many are today?

When I machine quilt, I like sewing over seams to secure them because I consider them the weak spots in a quilt.

I love all types of quilting - people expressing themselves with their quilting - it's awesome. Hand quilting can be beautiful or not as well as machine quilting can be beautiful or not. How about tying? That's what we did when I was a kid - we tied all of our quilts!

You will get snobs no matter what craft you do.

Are we cheating if we drive a car instead of riding a horse or walking? Am I cheating by driving a car so computerized that it tells me which tire is low on air? No, it's called progress. And I love just looking at all the old cars especially the ones that still run.

I can appreciate the old ways as well as the new.

Last fall I finally made it to Lancaster PA. Went to a great Amish quilt store. Was talking to the lady who owned the store and said I do machine quilting. Oh, she said, that is not quilting it is sewing. Well, I thought putting the three layers of a quilt together is what we call quilting, not how it is done. I explained this to her, and oh, to her suprise, it made a lot of scents. I don't think I changed her mine, and she did nothing to mine. I do machine quilting and love doing it. By the way, her husband machine pieces quilt tops on a featherweight machine powered by propane. Maybe that is not piecing either??????? Just remember some people are not nice, but we can all keep trying to be. Have a great day.

A person can make a quilt,but a quilt can't make a person.

It could very well have been tradition - I have an old Singer book on machine made lace. The laces were done using the first electric Singers. Most laces and thread painting were done with a hoop of some kind, so the technique could not have been far off from FMQ. The electrified machines might have had a steadier stitch.

It could have been the lack of space, the fabrics available, the threads, but I'm thinking some must have done machine quilting back then, even if just straight stitch geometric. It also lacked the sociability of a get-together.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longarm_quilting

http://hartcottagequilts.com/his9.htm

I think it's like comparing apples and oranges, watercolors and oils, running and swimming...two different forms of the same thing. I personally LOVE to hand quilt, so it is unlikely you will ever find me machine quilting a quilt. (Maybe a potholder.) Why give up my favorite form of therapy?!?!?!? On the flip side, I would never expect everyone to finish their quilts in this way. It is a skill that takes time to master. Some don't have that time. It also takes a long time to finish a quilt by hand quilting. Some don't have that time either. I've seen beautiful (and sloppy) machine quilting and I've seen beautiful (and sloppy) hand quilting. But, if the maker got fulfillment and joy out of their work, done the best way they could, sloppy or perfect, what is the big deal!?!?!? Life is too short to live up to others expectations. Do what you like the best way you know and have fun with it!!!!!

Have you ever been to the Houston Quilt show...........a lot of the prize winners are machine done!