darlings7

I'm new at quilting and have made 2 for my daughters so far and a pillow. I have 3 sons and 4 grandchildren which I hope to make each one for. Also my husband asked me to make one for him. We just had our guest bedroom walls (lavendar)and trim (white) painted and I wanted to make quilts for the beds but if I did that first, I'd never get to the rest of the family. Sooooooo last week I bought twin quilts and matching shams at Macy's. They were Martha Stewart's collection and I hate to say "made in China". Must admit they are gorgeous, reversable, and beautifully quilted. They were $200 each but on sale for 50% off. The color lavendar with lovely flowers on a cream background was just what I was looking for so I bought them. Sometimes necessity is the reason for doing something and I guess this was a necessity in my case. I guess I put my family first this time even tho I would have loved to make them for my room.
Sincerely, Jackie

ruthrec

My kids and grandchildren want a quilt made with my own two hands...something made with love, blood (most have at least one drop of my blood from a pricked finger hidden somewhere in the quilt), and my time. It may not be as pretty, or quite as perfect in construction, but it's made by me and won't fall apart any time soon! I use the best fabric and threads I can possibly afford. One of my daughters said it's the "glitches" that give the quilts character. She loves the ones I've made so far. They all do. And the glitches are noticeable only by me.

joym

I would never buy one as purchasing one supports slave labor. I think it also diminishes the work that we as quilters do. For those of us who sell....people are alarmed at the prices we charge not understanding the quality of the work as compared to the foreign made, mass produced ones.

SparkMonkey

There's a huge difference between "handmade" and "handcrafted." Technically, anyone with fabric, thread, and two able hands can make a quilt. Not everyone can craft one--that takes skill, experience, and time.

For that simple reason, I don't compare my handcrafted items to "handmade" commercially-available things. They churn 'em out faster, but I churn 'em out better. ;)

WMUTeach

My sister-in-law always told me to never buy one of those store bought hand made quilts because they likely were made by women in China who had to sell their skills far too cheaply. I suspect it now goes far beyond China to other Asian or third world countries.

With her it was a matter of principle and ethics between the world's community of quilters. I guess I just inherited my opinion from her. I would not think of buying a hand made quilt from a large commercial store like a Kohl's or Walmart for their very low prices. I (we) know the true value of the work.

laalaaquilter

I have a number of mass market quilts and they don't hold up well. Only the ones that are whole cloth have stood up to repeated use. All the pieced ones are falling apart at the seams.

debcavan

I gave my girlfriend a hand quilted one from Lands End a very reputable company. It fell apart.

Wonnie

Personally, I make quilts for the fun of it. It's my hobby. I put everything I have into them but the joy is in the doing. But, you have to be realistic as well. I have purchased "Bed-in-a-Bag's" for $39.95, the quilts have been washed a gozillion times and they still look brand new. If I want to redo a bedroom, in addition to the cost of the paint, wallpaper, curtains, etc., etc., I now have the addition of $100 or so for the top including borders, binding not to mention cost of the batting plus the backing plus a month or better to hand quilt. At that point if I can find a quilt on sale from Eddie Bauer for $69.00 for a queen I'm going to go for it. I absolutely love quilting but have realized that I don't want my gifts stuffed in a drawer to be passed down through the ages as heirlooms....I want them to be used. So, since the cost of cotton has skyrocketed I'll probably just be doing smaller quilting projects.

redvette54

A few years ago I bought one of "those". After the first washing it started falling apart. I would fix it every time I washed it. I still use it because of our dogs do get on our bed. Now everytime I wash it, I spend some time practicing FMQ on it. It looks bad, but I'm getting better with FMQ.

bakermom

My MIL gave us a beautiful commercially made quilt a long time ago. Don't know where she got it but it was well made and still looks great.