Do you wash your quilts after doing SITD? My SITD was not very good, and a friend told me to wash it. That made all the difference in the world.

The lady that owns a quilt shop here says that she has discovered over the years that most people are toppers rather than quilters. lol So it seems that more people like the quilting part less than the piecing part.

I don't enjoy the quilting part at all. I'll make your tops if you will do my quilting!!!

I would like to get a frame someday. I did do some baby quilts all by hand, assembling the top and quilting. That I really enjoyed.

I am a total toss up on this. I so enjoy piecing and seeing how all those little bits of fabric come together into a beautiful quilt top. But to me, quilting makes the quilt!. I enjoy having a quilt all sandwiched together for me to do hand work while I sit with DH and watch TV. And like Ninnie, I love to see how it progresses and really comes to life as I progress. I use a lap hoop. I don't mind binding at all. I do hate the sandwiching/basting part though! And I dearly love my cats but hate picking all the cat hair off of my projects before each session. It seems a quilt in progress is the preferred sleeping spot of all cats. I can have a complete one on the couch but they much prefer the WIP. :roll: Also it takes me a really long time to handquilt a quilt. Guess I am really slow but on average it takes me a couple of years of sporadic off again on again quilting. I will usually work on it a couple of hours a night but not every night of the week. And often I will put it aside when life gets to hectic and not work on it for several weeks. So that may be why it takes me a couple of years to hand quilt a bedsize quilt. I have done smaller ones on my Bernina and want to expand try that fun and done method or another quilt as you go thing.
I would give my eyeteeth to have a long arm set up but that is a good 5 to 6 years of saving down the road.

That is why when you finish a top you hand it over to a long-arm quilter to finish it for you...you love the piecing part, she loves the quilting part...match made in heaven :D

So glad to know I'm not alone :lol: While piecing, I'm happy, the closer I get to being finished, the slower I sew, like that makes the inevitable slow down.

I am so glad someone finally admitted that. I am in the process of quilting one of mine and HATE it! I could piece 24/7 but dread the quilting part. I am still new to this so maybe I will develop a system that works for me, but I am not going to hold my breath! LOL

I do tend to knot my very large quilts. I know that hand quilting those would take too long! The fabric may go bad before I got it all quilted. lol

I wish I had the quilting love as well...but I get so frusterated that even if I have a million pins there's always a pucker or two...I did get the lqs to longarm one for me and i love it however am not in love with the cost...and wait time!! I love to do the tops...my machine has the free motion piece to it as well and I have not learned to use it yet...so maybe that would help...but for now blah!!!