I thoroughly enjoy this board and seeing all the wonderful quilts that you display and have so cleverly and expertly pieced, BUT then see that some have been so closely quilted within an inch of their life, surely this defeats the object of making a quilt as all this close stitching [usually maching ] makes the quilt so flat and any loft that it did have is gone and the thing feels much harder and not as comforting ?.
I did put the title as above and do so hope that I have not offended but would like to know the reason please.

I guess I haven't seen any quilts posted lately that your posting describes? It's all about preference. Your favorite color may be blue, mine is isn't.

Oh this is funny!! Once my young son said to me "Mom, quilts are cold" !!!
I almost fell over laughing. I explained to him that you usually need more than one to get all snuggly and I gave hime a couple of others.
Most of my quilts are cotton batted, not quilted to death, but not as warm, so we use lots of them :D
I also think if your post offends anyone, they need to get a sense of humor :D:D

I have used very close stitching from time to time to accent areas of my quilt. I makes the unquilted areas stand out more. I also like it on wall or art quilts, gives them character. I would not like it on a quilt for cuddling up under on the couch, though.

I like a comfy quilt too.

However, everything artsitsic is subject to trends and quilting is the same. The current trend in JUDGED SHOWS is densely quilted work.

When I want to quilt the dickens out of something, I use a wool batting. It has a high loft and it weighs nothing!

This is where good quality thin thread and excellent batting comes into the mix. Very thin thread like silk, and wool or silk batting will give you a very soft drapable quilt even if it's quilted 1/16" apart. Most National Quilt show winners are heavily quilted and machine quilting is very popular now.

When I first started quilting I thought all quilts needed to be 4 or 5 inches high and all puffy looking. Well it was the 70's and that was the still when poly batting was all in the rage.

Now we seem to be in a fashion of flatter, 100% cotton closely quilted, as you stated.

But I say, make whatever makes you happy and there are many great quilts made both ways!

Jan

I agree with sue. You are just asking a question. Nothing wrong with that.

Some quilts are more for a certain look, some are more utilitarian. I don't quilt mine that closely, but some do. It's just preference.

We have discussed this before. Some people do not want densely quilted quilts. Some people really like the fancy dense quilting. SID seems to be really popular on this forum, and I really don't enjoy doing that type of quilting. It really is a matter of personal preference and sometimes the use of a quilt. If it is a show quilt, the tendency will be for very dense quilting to show off the quilting. Just depends... I put quite a bit of quilting on mine, because I am practicing the free motion quilting. If not I would have to make a zillion quilts to practice on.

My thoughts exactly.

I haven't yet quilted anything bigger than a wall hanging, but when I do I want it to be soft and fluffy and warm. :)