Though I work by hand as I have said previously, that is a personal preference. I love the quilts which are machine made also, I patch and quilt for the pleasure it gives me and all my quilts are made with a particular person in mind, I don't think you would work by hand otherwise as it takes so long. Some of the pleasure is because I know the person I am making it for will be thrilled with it, as they are all close friends or family they don't care how perfect it is though I try to make it so,of course.

I watched a documentary about women embroiderers adn sewers in Afghanistan the other night. One of the Americans over there was showing one of the workshops. It was full of industrial Juki machines - a whole row......and there was no electricity. SO the women sat on the floor and sewed on their hand-cranks, doing just fine.

From my perspective, I think it is wonderful to have and use a modern machine but I also need to be able to use a needle and thread. The trick is in balancing the appeal of the hobby with the sense of accomplishment. Cranking out projects for the sake of finishing without appreciating the craft is not my goal.

.....and every time I sit with my trusty ripper, I feel very humbled - despite my fabulous modern gadgets.

I dont see how it matters which way you do it. What ever fits into your lifestyle and helps you to enjoy what you are doing, works for me. People make beautiful quilts both ways and whatever helps you to finish a quilt is best. Finished is better than perfect.

The first quilt I ever made was done entirely by hand. Made cardboard templates, marked fabric, and cut with scissors... Hand pieced... Hand quilted. It's nice to know how to do it, especially when I get to blocks that are easier to piece by hand, but I'd never give up my machine.

In my first quilt class, we hand pieced, hand quilted and hand appliqued. It gave me a deep appreciation for the old way of doing things. I still hand quilt (sometimes)and hand applique, but as with any other art or craft, things evolve. There's a place for old and new techniques. And both old and new techniques result in beautiful things.

How well said! I agree with you 100%

David, I will not live long enough to hand piece and hand quilt anything larger than a pot holder!!! :lol:

I love my rotary cutter, rulers, templates, Janome, and especially my Innova longarm! I started a wall hanging almost three years ago with fabric I bought on my trip to Australia...I've almost got the 4 center triangles hand quilted and it will probably take me 10 years to hand quilt the whole thing!!

I just got a baby quilt back from Charismah -- she did a wonderful job on her long arm. and I love what she did. Some Machine quilters can ruin a beautiful quilt design because the stitching doesn't enhance and add to the artistic value.

I am a hand quilter and would not send out a quilt that I really thought was special. (and the recipient). I don't give my quilts to anyone just because they are a relative either.

Just my opinion -- I do think that the shows should separate the two.

That said -- I have hand sewed one quilt in my life -- never again!!! I was living on the road in motels for my job. Now I only machine sew but still hand quilt.

You do the old way.I'll do the new way.Mary

Haven't read all the thread,so this is just off the top of my head.I started quilting way back when,using a pic in a BH&G mag...King size no less.Didn't know what a rotary cutter/mat was,knew nothing about buying fabric.basically knew nothing at all about making a quilt.Why did that pic grab me?
I drew that small shape on cardboard,held it against fabric & cut out well over 3000 pieces 2x3".Sewed them together on a Singer FW & to make my 1st quilt called "Pioneer Braid"it was put away with 3 more made the same way.Had no clue about finishing them. The so called beginning to end quilting book said "finish as desired".
A good friend said her sis in law would do them on her LA machine (?), so off they went.A few wks later,she brought them home while we had company.There I stood, in front of friends with tears in my eyes.They were & are so beautiful. Not perfect by a country mile,wonky even.What did bias mean? How do you square up a block or a quilt?
That was my start in quilting.Today I have a great machine, own all the notions & have a stash in my quilting room.Still learning & loving quilts.
No,I wouldn't trade my 1st quilts but neither would I take anything for what I have/use today. JMO

I wouldn't fit in either section, but that's ok.I quilt for myself & other opinions are not important.

I quilt mine by hand, but that is a personal preference. I also sew a lot of it together by hand, sometimes using the machine. So much is personal preference, my quilts are far from perfect, but I enjoy doing them and I think that is what it is about. I couldnt imagine paying someone to longarm quilt my quilt, I am much too cheap lol. I use my mat and rotary cutter, but when that is not available I will make up a template out of paper and cut with my scissors. I dont buy too many gadgets, once again the cheapness factor working. I also have 1 sewing machine, and I use an old one of my sisters when I am staying at my mothers.

When I first started quilting in 1975, I did it all by ha nd, the piecing and quilting, made my own templates, everything. Then about 8 years ago I decided if I wanted to make all the quilts, I want to make, I better get busy!! So I learned how to use a rotary cutter, bought me a featherweight and I was off.Im loving it. There's no way I would have gotten all the quilts made I have made in the last 8 years, and Im still going strong. If I live to be 100 I still won't get all the quilts made that I want to, b ut thats ok, I've come alot closer.

I love the quilts my MIL did--sewn on her treadle and hand quilted, but if that was the way I had to quilt, I would not be quilting. I like the "Modern" and have no problem with using whatever is available to me.
I saw the hand cranked sewing machines while visiting in Zimbabwe, but I am puzzled as to how you manage your fabric pieces with just one hand?

I don't know if it is better or not. We are certainly improved. I remember having a party line telephone, and even a time when we were out in the country without a telephone. The State Police had to come to get my mother and me when my grandfather had a heart attack. Having a telephone and all the other things we now enjoy to improve our lines of communication have made our lives better. We have become spoiled with having everything "instant" or immediate. So quilting would just follow that line. We have done it to ourselves. It certainly is easier to be able to run to the store and get a template for a particular quilt block, or print it out off the internet. Many older (old) people resist change, I for one try to embrace it as much as I can. But I still hang onto those old fashioned memories I have and cherish them.

i'm a hand quilter - machine piecer if at all possible and probably always will be.

But, i just finished piecing a quilt that my grandmother cut out(she died in 1945) - diamond shapes and i just "knew" i was going to have to square up those diamonds!

I didn't! And they were just as square as the others i cut out using my rotary cutter! It was also neat to see the pencil lines on the pieces.

BTW - I also feel quilt shows need to have separate categories. I am saddened that i don't see more hand quilted quilts. Hmmm - maybe i'll enter one???

Quilting in the long arm is no different in creativity than quilting with a domestic machine unless you are talking about the computarized ones that do it for you. I don't see creativity there either. They argue that is hard to load, etc but the machine does the rest.

I think that modern tools don't really speed up the process because many quilters still take months/years to get their quilts done. It will always be dependent on how much time you put into it. I am sure if our grandmothers had the technology we now have, they would have used it. Using a treadle machine was high technology back then.

Like everything, as technology advances, so it the way we do things. Quilts will last for years depending on how well constructed they are no matter if they were made in a treadle, a modern machine, or by hand. It will also depend on the quality of the materials used and the abuse it receives, again, no matter which way it was constructed.

Everything changes. I wouldn't want my Dr to go back to the way they did things 100 years ago; we enjoy having medications that solve our health problems, televisions for entertainment, etc. Society always embrace the new technology, the only difference is that back then it was simpler, but nevertheless, it was the most modern they had at the time.

yes i love the new in everything modern. heck with that old way of doing anything. if we had to go back to the old way of quilting, then we'd have to also milk the cows every morning, cut our wood to stay warm in woodburning stove, haul our water up out of the well outside, heat our water on that wood burning stove, do our laundry outside on a wash board, hang it all from a rope tied to 2 trees, hitch up the horse & buggy to go to town, go outside in the dead of winter to use the outhouse, but have a chamber pot beside the bed for just liquids, dig a new hole and move the outhouse every couple years. no thanks - i'll take everything computerized and modern, bet some of you younger ladies don't even know about some of the above things. nice to look back and remember - but even nicer to have all the modern stuff. so i'll now go take my nice warm shower at a flick of the faucet handle, have a nice day yall.

If it weren't for the new, some of us would never have discovered the wonderful world of quilting. You can't put a value on the wonderful feeling that this art provides--whether our points meet or they don't. The new allows us to accomplish the old.

I AGREEE WITH iZAQUILTER. i DO NOT LIKE THE LONG ARM QUILTING. I prefer to hand quilt and do it all the time. I have three albums of quilts that I quilted for other people. I always take pictures of each quilt I quilt for others and quilts I make for myself or to give away.
Bea

I agree with you. The old way was inventive, creative, loved, and included hours of prep. sewing/finishing. Can you imagine how the then quilters put quilts together while today we have books, patterns, templates, elec mach, pre-cut bindings, etc. I do enjoy seeing the new-way and the very artistic quilts as they are beautiful. I love to look at the past way of quilting and imagine the hours and love a quilter placed in each quilt.

I agree with you. The old way was inventive, creative, loved, and included hours of prep. sewing/finishing. Can you imagine how the then quilters put quilts together while today we have books, patterns, templates, elec mach, pre-cut bindings, etc. I do enjoy seeing the new-way and the very artistic quilts as they are beautiful. I love to look at the past way of quilting and imagine the hours and love a quilter placed in each quilt.

OPPS, sorry either my computer or I hiccuped. REPRINT is in error.

Just think David you probably wouldnt be a quilter due to lack of time since you would be out working from dawn till dusk| and we would all miss you on this new fangled computer.

I learned to quilt the Old fashioned way. I still enjoy it every once in a while. I would like to teach a class in it just to pass the knowledge along to the younger generation and not let the way it was done to die out. I do use the newer methods ,Elna machine,rotary cutters,strip piecing or acrylic templates because I am 78 and there are so many more quilts that I want to make. LOL

I think it is a matter of choice, some quilters work and just don't have the time to go back to grandma's way..... Grandma used to have to cook on a wood stove, go to the outhouse, no air conditioning,no refrigeration, she had to sew by the light of a kerosene lamp, and had to make her quilts from old discarded clothes. I love the old traditional quilts but I also like all of the modern conveniences even all of the gadgets... Just my opinion... everyone has one

I think it is a matter of choice, some quilters work and just don't have the time to go back to grandma's way..... Grandma used to have to cook on a wood stove, go to the outhouse, no air conditioning,no refrigeration, she had to sew by the light of a kerosene lamp, and had to make her quilts from old discarded clothes. I love the old traditional quilts but I also like all of the modern conveniences even all of the gadgets... Just my opinion... everyone has one

I am with you. I would never quilt if I had to go back to scissors and templates.
I am concerned though being a quilt teacher that there is too much emphasis put on 'how many quilts can I get done this year' versus the quality and creative design of the quilt. While I love some of the new modern quilts made with just strips and squares are we (especially new quilters) losing something by not learning to piece curves, get good points, work with different angles, etc.
The same goes with hand quilting. I would hate to see it become a dieing art due to machine quilting. Don't get me wrong there is some beautiful machine quilting out there, but there is also some that is prettty bad and in my opinion has greatly taken away from an otherwise very pretty quilt. JMHO

I went through a period where I just HAD TO HAVE the latest gadget. I finally said DUHHH---they need to sell, I need to sew. Lots have made the life of the quilter easier, but many of the old ways bring me such pleasure that I don't NEED, but may now sometimes WANT. When that feeling hits, I weigh everything carefully, then make my decision.

In my case I don't think I would ever have starting quilting without all the modern help. I only do QAYG or machine quilting.

I don't have the patience or the talent to hand quilt.

Doing QAYG has made me use my brain more! It took me 4 days to figure out how to do a log cabin QAYG without seeing joiner strips! That's my next undertaking.

I think the old way is better, because, it was something that was handed down, what is left to our kids, nothing, because my daughter has no desire to learn how to sew or quilt. Back when I was growing up if you wanted to learn that was fine and if you didn't that was fine also, I like memories and this is part of that. I know how to hand quilt and machine but no one to pass it down to. I have quilts from my step mother, all she did was hand quilt, she never owned a machine.

I hope no one takes this post personally---just my opinion and not meant to be a slam to anyone.
Certainly this is a very personal issue. For me the true art of quilting remains in the hand pieced, hand quilted ones. The modern computerized designed and made quilts are always beautiful and sometimes even more artistic than the hand done ones. But in my mind, a quilt should be done the old fashioned way to be considered authentic. These are the quilts that are worth more than money can buy! To me it is not about how many I can make, but rather the amt of love pieced into the quilt that matters. After saying that----quilting is not a business for me so I am not in a hurry to produce.In the words of one of my son-in-law's whose mother teaches quilting and only does machine...."Isn't that cheating"? I left that up to his mom to answer and I am sure she did a great job explaining to him how modern quilting has it's own merits.

I don't think old is better. I think that if people had the tools that we have they would have used them. Yes they made beautiful quilts but I've seen some pretty spectacular quilts made with the modern tools. I for one would probably not do quilting if I had to do everything by hand.

We all have to change with the times. Look at the different types of quilts now. I am now heading in the more art quilt direction. Just what do you think those ladies of the past would think of those.
Modern technology has a way of creaping into every aspect of our lives. Why not go with it and enjoy the journey...I sure wouldn't want to have to cut pieces out with a pair of scissors and then - Hand Quilt?!?!? That would NOT be for me.
My Aunt who is in her late 80's, who used to do a beautiful hand quilting stitch, had a hard time going with machine quilting. Now that macular degeneration has taken most of her eyesite, she now quilts anyway she can.
I say, so with the flow, and I can't wait to see where the next 20 - 30 years takes us in the quilting world.

I hate to see anyone make a blanket statement like that. Please just look at greenfairy's work before you say you do not like LA quilting. every single quilt she does is a masterpiece!
http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-89362-1.htm
http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-90639-1.htm
http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-57974-1.htm
I realize, of course, that we all have different opinions of what is beautiful but so many LA quilts can be true works of art.

BTW I do both! Hand quilting and have just started LAing.

I have a treadle and a featherweight and modern machines. I still like the tools: rulers, rotary cutters, templates. But you can't beat the look of a hand-quilted quilt.

I remember 50 years ago watching my grandmothers quilt. They both had electric sewing machines. Yes, they used scissors and a cloth tape measure. So do I sometimes. My grandmothers were born before 1900. They were "modern" women. One of my DGMs bragged about voting in Arizona's first federal election. They knew that the only thing you can take with you is knowledge, and they learned all they could as fast as science gave it to them. They both would LOVE to have the conveniences we have, and would think we are nuts for not at least learning to use them.

To me that is like asking if we shouldn't still be skinning and curing animal hides for clothing or spinning our own thread from spinning wheels. Our ancestors were THRILLED when they were able to get sewing machines, because it made their lives so much easier. If the object is to make a quilt, then in my (never to be humble) opinion, it doesn't matter how you get the finished product. If you enjoy the hand work, both piecing and quilting, good for you!! If you don't enjoy hand-work, but still enjoy having a finished product, then good too. I am strictly a piecer. I HATE quilting, but don't mind piecing. I don't particularly like it, there are other hobbies that I find much more enjoyable than sewing (such as genealogy), but I sure do like the finished product! So I piece the tops, then quilt by check to a LAQ'r.

Our world today is on the "fast track" - we have so much more going on in ours lives than they did back then. We are too much out and about whereas they were mostly at home and we were to hand quilt, etc. in their "spare" time off and on during the day and evening. We didn't have TV, the internet, cell phones, etc. Life was so much simpler then. We have lost so much, but gained as well. In order to accomplish the quilts we desire to make, we kinda need those tools today. As you know, there are many, many beautiful quilts out there much more sophisticated today. Life goes on and we simply adapt.

I started quilting in the old days (pre-rotary cutters) and I much prefer what I'm doing now. But nothing is stopping anyone from making quilts the old way or any other way they wish. I know someone who makes one small needle-turn appliqued item a year. I like to create things a little faster and bigger. But that's just me!