ptquilts

I only do hand quilting. When I started out I met a quilter (a man!) who did everything by hand - even piecing. So no matter what you do there is someone who may look down on you for it, don't let it bother you.

I have seen some really beautiful machine quilting, very artistic. However I have to say when I see a regular quilt with ordinary machine quilting on it, sometimes it makes me think of a bedspread from Sears.

Of course now that all the cr*p from China is coming in handquilted, someone could say the same thing about my handquilted quilts.

I think the main thing is, does your quilt make you happy? And if you are giving it to someone does it make them happy.

The people who want to criticize it, I would say "You may be right about that - I would love to see the quilts you have made, I bet they are fantastic." Chances are they have never made any.

And one of the previous posters hit it right on the head - when sewing machines first came out, women got down on their knees in gratitude that they would finally be spared the long tedious hours of hand sewing.

Buckeye Rose

I look at it this way - if I had to hand sew each piece to get a top done, or hand quilt, I would never make quilts ever. I simply do not have the patience or desire to hand sew.

pocoellie

Definitely NOT in my opinion. The next time these "people" say something to that effect, then tell them, let's see you make a quilt, ALL by hand, and give them a time limit, say a year, and let's see what they say after that.

I admire anyone who strictly does the whole quilting process by hand, but I simply would never get it done, but kudos to those who have the patience.

SparkMonkey

Personally, I enjoy handwork, so that's what I do. But I am blown away by some of the amazing machine quilting I've seen on here. I'm not interested in participating in it, but I don't view it as any less of an art form. It requires a different kind of skill, and just because it's different doesn't mean it's wrong.

I do piece by machine. The quilting is my favorite part anyway, so the piecing is a step I have to get out of the way. ;)

cjtinkle

Hmmm... I tend to think just the opposite. Machine quilted and stitched quilts are just as beautiful, and more durable, so I personally believe them to be the superior product. :)~~~

rdorminy

I began quilting in 1999. I made a log cabin quilt (full size). Cut each strip 2 inches wide with a rotary cutter, my favorite part of the quilting process. Took forever to machine sew the blocks. Then hand basted the top, batting and backing. My husband made me a quilting frame from two saw horses, grin. Put it up in my dining room where it then took me almost two years to hand quilt it a 1/4 inch from each and every seam. I have a back problem which didn't allow me to sit very long at a time. Took me a couple of days to bind it. Presented it to my mother in 2001 and she loved it. She passed away in 2003 and I have the quilt back. This quilt has been washed and machine dried so many times and it still looks great. Every time I see it I think of Mom. I now do all my quilting, from start to finish, with my DSM and can do a quilt in just a couple of weeks and those that receive them can't believe that I "did the whole thing", grin. Working on a queen size for a niece right now. I LOVE QUILTING.

feline fanatic

The topic of machine vs hand has been discussed on the QB so many times since I have been a member and I am sure before and will be a hot topic of debate always.

Both have their merits and I feel neither is superior to the other. Handwork deserves its own special ranking of respect due to the time, dedication, patience and skill that must be devoted to it. I have never hand pieced a quilt but I have done hand applique and have hand quilted 2 queen size bed quilts, 1 king size bed and quilt and I am currently on my 4th queen. Every single one of these quilts took me several years to complete. I feel that sort of dedication deserves special recognition.

This said I also LA. I took delivery of my LA last year and I have completed 11 quilts in that time and I have my 12th on the rack right now. Beautiful, artistic free hand LAing requires dedication, skill and talent as well. I am not talking meander, pantos and most definitely not computer guided. The computet guided stuff, while very pretty is not in the same ranking as that produced by a person. Yes a human may have digitized the design but a machine did the output and the operator requires no talent, simply a learned skill of placement.

I am talking about the free hand LAing you see put out by people like Rhonda Beyer, Sharon Schambers and Karen McTavish and our very own Green Fairy. I am no where near to producing the works of art these artists produce nor what I have seen at major shows. I do strive to be that good some day and if I keep practicing and pushing myself to do the hardest thing I can I am sure I can achieve that.

Hand piecing in todays time is not done out of necessity but done out of pleasure. And there are still hand piecing artists as well, Jinny Beyer comes to mind. This does not make the technique superior to machine piecing but again, due to the dedication and time involved and the results produced by artists like Jinny, I think it deserves special recognition and admiration.

So neither technique is better than the other. Each is unique and requires a talent in it's own right. The purists who say only handwork is the real way to make a quilt need to try both ways themselves and see if they still think the same. Perhaps the term "hand made" is not the right term, maybe hand crafted would be better.

the casual quilter

I love the look of hand quilting and genuinely appreciate the talent, skill and time it takes to accomplish it, BUT ---
I had the same discussion with a quilting purist when I first started quilting. Her opinion was that unless a quilt was cut with templates with scissors, hand pieced, hand quilted, and hand bound -- it wasn't really a quilt. I knew nothing at the time, so I faithfully did what she said. That quilt is still unfinished, and I started it 20 years ago. I've only hand quilted half of it. But I've made maybe 150 since then with modern technology (sewing machine, rotary cutter, ruler,etc). There is room for everyone in the quilting world.

Another way of looking at this is: do tomatoes taste better if the field is plowed by hand with a stick instead of a tractor?

EagarBeez

The definition of a quilt is 2 pieces of fabric with some batting between. Hand quilt it, machine quilt it, or tie it. It's a quilt in my standard

EagarBeez

this is certainly is a good point, it also made me get a good chuckle