My aunt has made many many beautiful quilts over the years all hand quilted.

She recently sent me a package of panels that she has hand embroidered as a gift saying that she just cannot quilt anymore so she was giving them to me. Enough to make a king size quilt!!!! She also requested that I hand quilt the project.

I am waiting for my new Long Arm to arrive and have absolutely no desire to hand quilt anything anymore. How do I tell her? It would take me the rest of my life to hand quilt and I could quilt it so beautifully on the Long Arm? I am afraid these blocks will just sit in my sewing basket for years and years. What would you do?

Go to Eddies post on his long arm quilting of the cross stitch blocks. Show your aunt what a lovely job these machine can do.

These may have to sit in your UFO pile for a while. Some die-hard hand quilters just don't understand that machine quilting can be just as beautiful. Time will give you the opportunity to grow and eventually show her what you can do.

Excellent suggestion. To further argue your cause... search for ANY picture post by Green Fairy and recent picture posts by Charismah to show her that LA quilting can be just as pretty as hand.

Thank her for the blocks and then have an open and honest discussion about your plan to long arm quilt them. If she doesn't want this then offer them back to her if no compromise can be reached. You don't want hard feelings on either side to mar the enjoyment of this beautiful work.

Perhaps she can realize that you will do beautiful long arm work that will enhance her beautiful handwork.

As a hand-quilter, I understand her request. I have seen some beautiful machine quilting here that takes into account the design of the block and the quilt.

Personally, I don't like the free-motion quilting or feathers that goes all over w/ what seems to be no thought to the blocks/squares/quilt. Maybe that is what she thinks machine quilting is and showing her machine quilting that mimicks hand quilting will give her something else to think about.

Her hand quilting is so perfect that you would think it was done on a long arm!

if she is set on it being hand quilted, hang on to them til the day comes and you can finish it as you want.

Send them to me!! I'll hand quilt them, LOL!

Jan in VA

I would hand quilt them for you also, but I would just thank her and put them away for now. Someday you may want to hand quilt...they are such beautiful blocks, so dainty you really wouldn't want a lot of fill in quilting on them, at least that is what I think from someone who has been quilting for almost a full year...LOL

I would hand them back telling her that you cannot hand quilt them. When people give you things with strings attached, you should not feel obligated to take them. Sure, you want those pieces, but not at that price. OR you might find someone willing to hand quilt them for you for $$ - then you need to determine if you are willing to pay that much.

My 82 yr old mother does nothing but hand quilting and can't understand why the 'modern' women don't do it instead of using the 'tens of thousand dollar' machines. Your aunt probably feels the same way.

But I'll always remember that she wanted them hand quilted! I think the main problem is that I have alot of respect for her and I could never quilt them by hand as beautifully as she would have.

Don't feel guilted into hand quilting them. I would be honest with her, telling her that while you truly admire hand quilting, you have a different passion, which is machine quilting. Ask her if you would like for you to return the blocks so that she can give them to someone who will hand quilt them as she desires. Tell her that you would be honored to quilt them with your machine, and that you believe that you can make a wonderful heirloom quality quilt from them with that machine, but you will understand if she wants them back. What else can you do?

My aunt said that she gets great joy out of looking at something that she & I did together - I hope someday that you can look at those and think about something you did together (even if down the road you machine quilt it ;))

I agree, honesty is the best policy :D:D:D

The embrodery is Beautiful.