The quilt police, when making for yourself and family the quilt only has to please them or yourself. When making for a charity any design that has to do with what they are representing.

I went to college and got a degree in Clothing and Textiles. I knew how to sew before I got there, they just honed it for me! I have sewn since I was a child, learning to use my mother's treadle machine at 5 years old, making doll clothes. Quilting is a newer area for me and I have yet to make a bedquilt. (I hope to soon, that is why I joined the Board!) But I learned through personal experience and much clothing construction to always pre-treat the fabric as you would intend it to be cleaned later. This includes dry cleaning, but because of health, I avoid all chemicals now. I have pre-washed dry-cleanable fabric to see if I could convert them to the LIGHT-SIDE! LOL If it is going to be washed and dried by machine, I do so before I lay a hand to it. Thinking my fabric could not shrink more than an inch, I made a pair of child's pants that shrank 4 inches, making them unwearable. Other fabrics become wider and shorter, depending on how they are made. You lose length through direct fiber shrinkage and/or relaxation. On a loom the long warp threads are pulled taut during the weaving process and then when water is applied, they relax, regardless of fiber content. Some fibers outright shrink.

Did you ever have a T-shirt that got shorter and wider after washing? It is due to relaxation or shrinkage. Some circular knits twist when they are relaxed by water. Does this bring to mind Tees that once washed have side seams that run at angles instead of straight up and down? I want both to happen to the fabric before I pin the pattern to it. The fiber has not necessarily shrunk, but has relaxed in water.

I am not the quilt police, but I personally don't want to put all my effort into a project and have it ruined the first time it is washed. I have had it happen. Additionally, I have purchased fabric that looked great when it was on the bolt and then found out when it was washed it didn't look so great! If I knew it when it was on the bolt, it would have stayed there and I would not have wasted my money! I don't want to waste my time too! The only time I don't pre-wash a fabric is when it will become so soft that it is not able to be sewn afterward. You see there are ALWAYS exceptions to rules! No quilt police here! Just a little experience. Quilting is an art form, and it is up to the artists to choose their methods. Lets face it, no matter how carefully the artist has worked, how beautifully the art work turn out, or how awful it looks after it is washed, it is not a life and death situation. It will look beautiful to somebody because everybody has different taste!

That's because your humble Kenmore is made by Janome.
I think that when people ask honest questions they should get answers and not get slammed. I know people out there that would be happy to have any sewing machine and are happy to learn whatever techniques someone is willing to teach them. I do have preference in fabric and thread, based on how they feel to me and how they work in my machines, but I'm not going to tell any one else what they should use.

One topic I've seen here that people seem to think is controversial, or they don't think is quilting, is when it comes to finishing older quilt tops, they ignore the idea of tying, when the pictures of the tops they want to finish are almost the same as old ones that I have that were finished that way. Lots of older quilts were pieced and then tied. They were meant to be used, they weren't all finished by hand quilting. I know a lot were done that way, but there were many that were not.

I think the most controversial subject in quilting is were to buy your fabric LQS or Wallmart

Dangit!! I missed an argument over vintage vs new? ~sigh~ I simply HAVE to pay more attention!

I know there are those that simply don't understand why there are those of us that prefer these old machines....and that's ok! I don't understand why they prefer the bells and whistles machines. ;)

Walmart/Joanne's vs LQS? If it's a choice between making a quilt with Walmart fabric, or not making one at all, I think most would choose the Walmart fabric, no matter what their preferences are.

There are always going to be those that don't understand copyright laws. Believe it or not, they're not as stringent as many think, but won't go into that right now.

I press with steam. Know what's said about that, and I simply don't care. Same thing with pre-wash. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. My choice to make and chance to take.

I will admit, sometimes some of the snarky comments make me want to reach thru the computer and slap someone. There's no reason to hurt someone's feelings...and if I ever have myself, please accept my apology!! It certainly wasn't intended!!!!!

For me it's not as much of hand quilting vs. machine quilting as it is how someone can pay someone to quilt their quilt and still claim they "made" it themselves. HUH?

Personally I try to avoid controversy. I pre-wash because of allergies. I press because I like to have the fabric ready when I want to use it.

I purchase a pattern, make the quilt, then put the designer's name on the label. (I don't sell quilts or make them for the public.)

I machine quilt some of my work. I hand quilt some of my work. I send some out to a long-arm quilter. It is MY work!

I just laugh and do what I like, because I know there are no "Quilt Police" coming to arrest me for not doing what someone else believes I should do!

Thought of another one - are you a 'quilter' if you only piece and send your tops out to be long armed?

I am learning to quilt again with the new methods. I do what I like, design as I go.
I stopped going to the local because my machine was too noisy-mechanical Singer (why in this economy buy expensive computer driven until I figure out I like it?? Going machine shopping with my BFF in October) They did not like my colour choices and were upset I had bought most of my fabric in NM.(When visiting my BFF)
I like this board as mostly the members seem to have a good sense of humour and believe in doing your own thing. Very few negative comments.
And most important, I have learned much just reading the comments here.
I don't pre-wash, I iron, I try to machine quilt as my hands don't always work, I agree that most husbands are good, generous people, use cotton thread (King Tut), no steam, spray bottle of water, press to the dark side, and hope and pray my seams are 1/4 and the cuts are equal.
And when I am done-give the finished quilt to someone who will use it.

Where you buy your fabric - HL, Joann's, Hancocks, etc. vs LQS. I buy fabric from whoever has what I LIKE and can AFFORD. Most of the time it is not at my LQS but I feel that I still support them because I take all my classes from them.We do get a discount coupon when we take a class and I usually do buy somethings with it - usually gadgets or attachments to my machine.

Personally, I could care less if my quilts last 100+years or more. I enjoy making them, enjoy giving them away, and especially enjoy the people I meet who love making quilts too. Life is too short NOT to enjoy what I do.