Quilting Funny
 

My husband, after being married to me for 26 years, knows there are certain pet peeves regarding quilting. One I can't help but cringe at is when someone calls a quilt a "blanket".

Today we received a thank you note from one of his siblings to whom I gifted a quilt for Christmas. She wrote, "Thank for the blanket!..." My husband got a hearty laugh out of that. It's a good thing we love our family. :thumbup:

What funny little quirks do you have in regards to our craft?

Lol, my dad called them blankets too. I started calling them blankets too when I was around him (with a smile, of course).

When I tell people that I am a quilter and they repy with "Oh you do crafts!" - I reply "No, I'm a textile/fabric artist"
:thumbup:

Why do we cut big pieces of fabric into little pieces of fabric only to sew them together to make a large piece of fabric.......

My mother was a quilter and my dad was the typical man when it came to quilting. When I would go home to visit, mother and I would do the quilting bonding thing. Dad saw us cutting pieces one day and shaking his head he said, "Now she's got you cutting up fabric and sewing it back together."

We are a peculiar breed in other people's eyes I guess! I once bought the book "Help! I'm Married To A Quilter" for my husband. It was a humorous and enjoyable read.

I also visibly cringe when someone refers to a quilt as a blanket. Sometimes I correct them and other times I just let it go. But my reaction is the same as when I hear fingernails on a chalkboard.

Mine is when someone says material instead of fabric. I don't correct them but I say ugh to myself.

I too say "ugh" when I hear material versus fabric, or blanket versus quilt. Besides quilting, I crochet a lot of afghans. I have the "ugh" factor when I hear afghans refereed to as blankets!

Some of us grew up calling it material so it tends to come out at unexpected moments.

I think the reference to 'material' comes from growing up with a seamstress. I never heard my mother say that she was going shopping for 'fabric' for a dress--it was always material. But I did here her talk about 'curtain fabric'. Don't know what the difference was in her eyes.

Every time my DH says something about the amount of stash I have, I want to march him out to the woodshed (yes we have one and it is filled with oak and maple and walnut and goodness knows what other pieces that will someday become lovely furniture) and point out the amount of 'firewood' he is storing.

My brother texted me that he loved that "thing" I made him :D
He's adorable- clueless about quilts!

Ginger K- your woodshed story is hilarious!!!!!!!!!!

It's a minor cringe really but my inner spell checker wants to scream when someone puts "boarders" on their quilt. I always picture the guy you rent a room to climbing onto your quilt center. Now if you want to create a "border" for your quilt to separate it from other segments or the edge I'm fine with that.

I use to irritate my sister-in-law when I kept calling it a bobber instead of bobbin.. Innocent mistake at first...now I do it on purpose.... Hehehe..

Don't know why but I cringe when people talk about 'setting' pieces instead of 'set-in', which is a seamstress' term. It probably started due to a teacher not pronouncing the words correctly or the student not listening.

Also I used to think quilts as I know them now were 'glorified' blankets, as quilts in my younger days were the poorer persons' doonas, filled with shredded cotton threads - and boy they were heavy when washed and wet.

As the saying goes, " A rose by any other name...."
I grew up going to "House of Fabrics" so saying fabric is not a concern. My grandmother always said she thought I was crazy to cut up fabric only to sew it back together. Her mother was a seamstress but my grandmother was not big on the domestic scene.
I don't care if people call my quilts a blanket - I would be thrilled just to get a thank you note.

Words are interesting and so are the perceptions of them. That is so true of material vs. fabric. I prefer to use 'fabric' for quilting but understand the use of 'materia'l. My husband calls my quilts 'blankets' but I can live with that because he thinks they are' pretty blankets'. He grew up with that concept-grew up in a family of quilters-there was friendly competition among those ladies as they made their' pretty blankets'. I just smile and enjoy his comments.

That's true. I catch myself doing the same thing.

My pet peeve is when people assume all I quilt is heirlooms. No, no and NO! My quilts are to be used, loved and functional. I will never be a heirloom quilter.

Funny quirks? Hmmm...

I find it amusing when my friends have seen my new sewing studio and ask why do I need three sewing machines? Obviously, they don’t sew. LOL

As with a lot of words, they change in meaning as time moves along. Fabric/material. I remember when a quilt was covered by a bedspread. Quilts were strictly a utilitarian thing and made use of scraps of fabric (material?). Now it's the bedspread! And remember when chenille bedspreads went out of vogue? Nowadays it's "cool" to actually make it!

Now, what's the difference between a quilt and a comforter? We don't hear the word comforter much any more. My idea is that a comforter has a thicker batt and is tied, not quilted. What do you say?

YES!!!

My late FIL called them blankets and sometimes even rugs. But the worst was when I had a brown wool quilt top laid out on the floor and someone actually walked on it like it WAS a rug!! no damage done though.

What's wrong with calling fabric "material"? I see it in several definitions on an internet search. What am I missing?

ma·te·ri·al: a textile fabric: material for a dress.

• Textiles, sometimes referred to as "material"

• cloth or other fabric

Since this came up many times in this thread, I have to ask. When did "material" become "fabric" actually? It was "material" when I took home ec in 6th grade. I didn't get extremely involved in sewing again until about 5 years ago and was surprised that it's now called "fabric". Can someone explain the difference and why the terminology changed?

To me, there is no difference between fabric and material. It may be how and where we were raised. Tomato, tomatoe, potato, potatoe. it's all the same. Nothing to get my panties in a bunch!!

I do the same. Didn't realize it bothered people so I will try and be more careful. What is wrong with material?

The director of the facility where my mom resides commented on a lovely afghan I sent her for Christmas. It was a QUILT ! LOL Obviously these individuals are not surrounded by fiber artists.

:D I used that one on my Dad recently when he said something similar about the "arts and crafts" (quilting) I do as a hobby. Good one!

When referring to "Setting" pieces (usually a triangle) the term Setting is correct because they are used specifically for an on point quilt setting or a specific block setting like square in a square. There are no Y seams (aka set in seams) used when attaching the setting triangles to the rows of quilt for making it on point or attaching the triangles to a square to make a square in a square block.

But when making a Lemoyne star that has Y seams then the term "set in" is used because the seams for attaching the corner squares and side triangles involves a Y seam (set in seam).

So Setting is the correct term depending on what procedure one is doing just as much as Set in is. They are two different techniques.

I hear you on the thank you note! I know we give quilts away because we are artists and love what we do, but really! No thank you note? I am guesstimating that maybe out of 10 quilts I have given out recently I have recieved maybe 3 thank you's. One in the form of a note, and two a quick text or PM on Facebook. I'm really old school on this. I don't care for the "thank you" sent via email or Facebook. After all, the quilt wasn't an electronic version of itself. I always learned if someone does something for you in real life, then you send them a real thank you card. But, again... I'm old school on that.

Sorry about the soap box!

Honestly, I never thought about this. I was sewing garments for my kids long before I started quilting, so "material" and "fabric" at first were interchangeable to me. I do say "Fabric" all the time now because I don't sew garments hardly anymore, but quilt all the time. Good point!

A friend of mine could never understand why I would cut up perfectly good fabric into small pieces and sew it back together to make a large piece. She could never do that. Well she is now a quilter and makes beautiful quilts and I often remind her of that statement and we get a good laugh from it.

I have that book too! I don't think I want my husband to read it, lol!!!

I'm some parts of the world, like where I grew up, it was called material. We never called it fabric.

I don't get the material versus fabric thing either, since the words used to be used fairly interchangeably. I say fabric so that people won't tell me that I'm wrong.

On the other hand, I would think it was wrong to say, "The material of space time," or "Fabric data safety sheets." LOL

I cringe at this one as well. How can you be a quilter without learning the terminology? I also grew up when it was called material, but when I began sewing and later quilting, it became fabric.

Pet peeves
 

Fabric/material ? nope, doesnt bother me...fingernails on that chalkboard for me is the use of "salvages" vs selvages.....grrrrr

I have spent 59 years as seamstress, now they call it sewist! Quilter is an inclusive term, hopefully it will remain untouched. Quiltist just doesn't have the right ring to it.

when someone says "oh you sew? can you fix my dress? or make curtains or.....

The first vignette in this thread reminded me of a funny happening from my past. Many years ago, I cross-stitched on a regular basis. I got a wedding invitation, the young lady has chosen china etc. at a local jeweler's shop. I made a trip to the shop, checked out the colors on her china, made some notes and headed out. I chose a floral pattern and did a bread cloth that matched her china. I placed the cloth in a silverplate bread basket . . . sent it to the shower as I was unable to attend. A few weeks later, I received a thank you note for the basket and the pretty NAPKIN! I got a kick out of that! Couldn't help but wonder if she ever figured out what it was for. We live in a small community, though, so I didn't share this story widely as I liked this gal and her family a LOT!