Things that have changed in quilting
 

I started quilting in the early 90's. Sometimes I'm reminded of some of the early things I learned about quilting. I have some quilting books and magazines from the late 80's and early 90's. To me it's interesting to see how quilting has changed.

When I first started there were still plenty of "hand piecing is the only way" crowd. Rotary cutters and mats were just becoming popular. Many of the quilt magazines from the 90's were only about cutting out templates. Some didn't even include full quilts, just "here is the pattern for the block".

Of course most quilting of the sandwich was done by hand. I remember the machine quilting class I took - the goal was to use a stitch that looked like hand quilting.

Fabrics -- An early book I had said this about choosing fabric colors "choose a print fabric and then choose solids that match". ONE print fabric. Luckily I saw a quilt trunk show a few years later where the woman explained you really can put different prints together in a quilt. The way she put it was you can put together prints and colors you would never wear together. In the late 90's it was hard to even find quality solid fabrics.

What things have you seen change since you started quilting?

I have seen the same things you talk about, plus there are a gazillion books about those very ideas that are no longer in print.

One of those out of print books was about regular pieced patterns and the quilters or guilds that produced the pretty featured quilts. IF ANYONE finds a book about a quilting group that met near *Lelia Lake, Texas,* please let me know about it. There was a building they met in that I had grown up with--saw it every day near my school. I first remember the lady who owned the house making "head cheese" while I looked on--maybe just after WW2.

Here I am telling my age! Hmmmmmph!

Some quilting friends and I were talking about this very thing yesterday. Days of templates and hand sewing plus some of the early books looked like they were done on a typewriter and the illustrations were very primitive and in black and white.

I started quilting in 1992, so the same as you. I have all my magazines from back then. I haven't looked at them in years. I think I will do that today. Thanks for the idea!

The biggest change during my quilting 'life' has been the demise of templates, as was mentioned. When I first was interested in quilting, probably in the late 80s, everything was marked on the fabric and then cut out with scissors. You were urged to make templates out of plastic, save lids etc. to use to make templates! Pieces were machine sewn but then mostly hand quilted. I made one big quilt that way and the whole process was so cumbersome that I really gave up on making any more. Then, ten years or so later, there were mats and rulers and machine quilting... and the whole process became FUN!

When I first started looking at quilt patterns I could never get started because I would read "cut out 450 of template A, 450 of template B, 300 of template C............" Ackkk! I'm not going to draw and cut out thousands of pieces!

I think the internet has been a huge game changer. All sorts of free patterns. Youtube to learn just about any technique. The ability to connect with quilters all over the globe.

Recently, (somewhat anyway) the biggest change in my ability to get information about how to do certain tasks has improved with the internet. There are so many wonderful visual sites to teach and get inspiration from. All about color, design, application, and pattern or technique execution. It is wonderful to see a video, or get a color combination aha moment. The rules have been blasted out of the water on many things I used to think were concrete. How liberating and fun the internet has been to my quilting life. Including this board, thank you ladies. So much helpful information.

We were posting at the same time loves to quilt. How funny.

I've been quilting since the early '70's. You want to see CHANGE???