IceLeopard

I don't mind that EB throws her scraps on the floor. Heck, *I* throw my scraps on the floor when they don't make it to the wastebasket or "big enough to save" box. I watch about half of her videos, though, and the soupy kindergarten teacher voice starts to grate.

luvstoquilt

I basically make quilts for my friends and family and for my own pleasure. I love going to quilt shows but will never enter one. I try to do my best and I really think I am improving as I go along. Quilting is my hobby and it keeps me busy and happy. I know I have way to much fabric but it has been nice since we have been shut down.

juliasb

I remind myself that so much is edited out and is on the "cutting floor" when these tv shows are made. I have taught myself to look beyond the not seen tear outs and the cut off threads and not to mention it is not just one person doing the work that the host/hostess is showing. I can also say for the most part the machines being used are to promote the sale of these machines and not the property of the sewer. Even the back ground quilt props are not done by the person in the show but a collaboration of many people. Maybe early episodes of some of the more familiar tv shows or videos on You Tube were done by the individuals on the screen but again there is always the edited portions that we do not see.
Over all I do learn a great deal from these shows and videos. I have never taken a quilting class in my 30+ years of quilting and considerate myself a moderately skilled quilter. I have learned so much here it is unbelievable! I remind myself everyday there is no such thing as a perfect quilter. Oh yeah the ping pong table is most likely in the basement and not in her sewing room and no longer used for ping pong.

Onebyone

It drives me nuts to watch Eleanor Burns vidéos where she throws her scraps on the floor. Somebody had to clean that up.

One of her show crew was asked about this and she said, the people who get a paycheck from her doesn't mind how much fabric is thrown on the floor so they all hoped more fabric will be tossed for many more years. Did you know the fabric tossed are saved and sold in a bag ( I paid a $1) labeled Eleanor's scraps that were tossed? LOL I have a bag.

Railroadersbrat

Most of the time, the quilting shows (even on YouTube) are put on because of sponsorship, someone has to pay the bills to get the show onto our TVs, laptops, computers, smart phones, etc. My biggest gripe has always been that they push the products as much as they can.

I watched Shar Jorgenson do a series on her Double Wedding Ring not too long ago and she was ranting and raving about the machine she was using, the table that she was using, the insert that kept her machine in the table she was using, so I got a little curious to see how much everything would actually cost me. I just about fell out of my chair because just the machine alone was almost $3,000, the table was almost $2,000 and I can't remember how much the insert was. Five grand would fix the rest of my roof and still give me enough to buy more fabric and some other things I'd like to have, with money left over to have a pizza night while I contemplate all the quilts I'll be making.

Needless to say, I've been playing around with the DWR trying to get the kinks worked out of it before I start my little sister's quilt. I'm doing just fine on my machine that cost me $1.00 at a garage sale and $25 for a cleaning and tune-up and I'm not using her templates, they were just a little too far out of my budget range. My sewing cabinet needs some work and a new stain, that was free and I don't need an insert because my machine is quite happy where she's at and so am I. My quilt will be just as beautiful as hers and I didn't need the fancy table, machine, or insert.

I'm not knocking Shar, she's a wonderful teacher and an incredible quilter and she's also in my playlist when I'm quilting, along with Jenny Doan. I just wish the sponsors wouldn't force someone to do something that takes time away from the quilt itself.

Onebyone

The promotion is necessary for the video/show to get financed for us to watch for free. Apparently the majority of viewers don't mind and are buying and creating profit for the show to go on. I'm thankful for them for doing so. I keep in mind all piecing is done with a straight stitch. All my machines will do a straight stitch.

Teen

LOL....tho she is brilliant, I agree. A little bit of her goes a long way...

Lurcherlady

This idea of perfection put me off quilting for years. I've recently restarted and gone back to the basics and more importantly I don't stress if something doesn't line up perfectly, unless it's miles out. Makes for a much more enjoyable experience, plus I'm actually finishing quilts as opposed to having them laying about trying to make them "perfect".

My local village quilt group is obsessed with perfection and you get a negative comment for anything that doesn't match precisely, needless to say I don't go anymore which is a shame because they are all excellent baker's, but my waistline appreciates it more.

tropit

That's cool! Did you go to a taping of her show? Have you used any of her scraps in your quilts?

~ C

tropit

Yeah...many of the quilters around my area are like that. I will say, their quilts are amazing though.

One time, early in my quilting days, I took a quilt to a long-armer for quilting. It was about an hour and a half drive for me each way. She never showed up. I rescheduled with her and went out there again and she was about 45 minutes late. As we started talking and she realized that I was just a beginner, an attitude set in. She became very arrogant and critical of my quilt. I'll never forget the sneer on her face as she folded it in quarters and found that it was not perfectly square. (Honestly, it was only about a 1/4 inch off.) She reluctantly took the quilt in to be quilted and said it would be 2 weeks. After 5 weeks had passed, I called her, but no reply. After 8 weeks, I finally go a hold of her and told her that this quilt was a birthday gift and I needed it right away. She finally sent it to me. The quilting on it was very nice, but I'm not sure it was worth the effort of dealing with that woman.

~ C