Have you ever heard: It's not really a quilt unless it is all hand done? Well, let's think about it! How many "true" statements can we come up with that tell us ONLY the way it used to be, is valid.

It really isn't dinner if you used a range top.
You didn't really go to the store if you drove.
If it's not in the paper it's not news.
If you didn't birth the child it's not yours.
It's not really a letter if you used email.
If you are not facing each other while you talk it's not really a conversation.
If you are skyping (?) and looking at the other person on your computer as you talk, it also is not a conversation.

I bet there are a million ideas out there, all not valid because not done the way they used to be.

Think, if no one did anything "their" way, instead of the "right" way, we'd all be doing the same ol' same ol', and there would be very little point to QB.

I don't believe there is a "Quilt Police"; I think there are "Quilt Snobs". It matters very little to me if someone thinks that using cheaper thread, fabric and batting makes my quilts less then theirs. What does bother me is when someone new to quilting asks for opinions about fabric, thread, machines, etc and the more economical items are poo-pooed and the more expensive products are touted. Quilting can be very expensive and for a newbie, they should test the waters before they jump into the deep end. I have a friend who wanted to learn how to quilt. He took lessons from a LQS and his first (and only!) quilt cost him over $3000! That was over a year ago and his brand new higher end Janome hasn't been used since!

Thank you for posting what is a great testament to what quilting is really about!

What a great story and good to hear for this newbie!

You said it...that's precisely why my 'starter' sewing machine was a low-end Brother with 60 stitches. It was less than $100, 6 years ago. It was either dropped or something fell on it during our summer 2012 travels, so it doesn't work anymore. But that wasn't a fault of the machine.

I have some good memories from using that machine. My great niece and nephew made their first quilts on it, their first pillow cases and a quilt for their younger brother. (All their projects used walmart fabric, too.) Simple stuff, for sure, but fun and creative. My nephew even went out and spent $4 on a little sewing machine at a flea market! He also designed and made me a shopping bag on his own, with no pattern - just used what he'd learned and worked some magic using my scraps. That little machine was worth its' weight in gold to me when he presented that bag to me!

My grandson (then 10) made a quilt for his new baby nephew and marveled at the 'new fabric' that the piecing made.

I would have missed a lot of fun, great memories, missed meeting some wonderful friends at quilt guilds and been bored out of my mind if I was afraid of the 'quilt police'. And If I only used 'quality' fabric, well, most of the quilts I make wouldn't have been made! As many before me have said, I've seen many of the Walmart fabrics in LQS for more $$, but paying extra for them didn't make them any better.

I have met the quilt police - in my very own home - and she looks just like ME! I have no idea how she gets in, but I sure wish she'd leave me to sew in peace. Maybe I wouldn't have to rip out so many seams then.

Luckily, she never follows me to guild meetings. At least, she hasn't yet!

Exactly. I contend that if our great great grandmothers had had machines, they would have used them too. Making quilts is a personal experience and it should be done as it works for us. I also think that machine pieced and quilted hold up better.

the best "rule" for me.....
if you want it made according to Hoyle...
Hoyle isn't here working on it.....

I too, quilt for the pleasure of the process. If a point doesn't match, so what. My quilts are machine pieced and quilted to be used, not put away for later. That's also one reason I always wash my quilts before giving them away, so the recipient knows it is washable. (Washing also hides some issues, as well.) :o

A nice quilt I to have quilted with poly cotton and they do last and do not lose the color like 100 per cent cotton I do not use the scant quarter inch seam every one talks about as I believe the quarter inch is scant enough but I learned to quilt the Mary Ellen Hopkins way called PPM personal private measurement and I never had any problem with anything going together no quilt police in this house by the way poly cotton is still the best for pillow cases

I had the same experience with my first quilts. I used all the "wrong" supplies and they held together just fine.