Are machine quilted quilts really second class?
04-22-2013, 07:14 AM
#141
Super Member
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: S. W. Indiana
Posts: 7,484
Last fall I finally made it to Lancaster PA. Went to a great Amish quilt store. Was talking to the lady who owned the store and said I do machine quilting. Oh, she said, that is not quilting it is sewing. Well, I thought putting the three layers of a quilt together is what we call quilting, not how it is done. I explained this to her, and oh, to her suprise, it made a lot of scents. I don't think I changed her mine, and she did nothing to mine. I do machine quilting and love doing it. By the way, her husband machine pieces quilt tops on a featherweight machine powered by propane. Maybe that is not piecing either??????? Just remember some people are not nice, but we can all keep trying to be. Have a great day.
You did walk out without buying didn't you? After you told her she was all wet?
04-22-2013, 07:25 AM
#142
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: NM
Posts: 989
Could it be that THEY are the only ones in the group that think that way? We had a few in our group but over the years they have learned how to appreciate machine quilting. They have a small bee that only does hand quilting and the rest of us use our machines.
04-22-2013, 07:32 AM
#143
Super Member
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: GREAT STATE OF TEXAS
Posts: 1,415
Wow, how funny that in 2013, some quilters STILL have those "attitudes" toward machine quilting. Time to LOOSEN UP, ladies !!
Have they been to many quilt shows recently ?? Do they read current quilt magazines and books ?? Doesn't sound like it ...
I remember hearing the uproar and critiques when machine quilting was first admitted to the big quilt shows. Separate categories, "doesn't belong here, shame on them" etc ...ad nauseum
Well, machine quilting has progressed by leaps and bounds in the last 20 yrs and it HAS eclipsed hand quilting. I guess they still can't handle that ! You see far more machine quilted quilts today than by hand. I don't want to see the art of hand quilting lost either, but quilters today do what they enjoy, and what they have time for ! Both are beautiful, neither is "right or wrong".
Have they been to many quilt shows recently ?? Do they read current quilt magazines and books ?? Doesn't sound like it ...
I remember hearing the uproar and critiques when machine quilting was first admitted to the big quilt shows. Separate categories, "doesn't belong here, shame on them" etc ...ad nauseum
Well, machine quilting has progressed by leaps and bounds in the last 20 yrs and it HAS eclipsed hand quilting. I guess they still can't handle that ! You see far more machine quilted quilts today than by hand. I don't want to see the art of hand quilting lost either, but quilters today do what they enjoy, and what they have time for ! Both are beautiful, neither is "right or wrong".
Last edited by TexasGurl; 04-22-2013 at 07:52 AM.
04-22-2013, 07:49 AM
#144
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Paradise, Texas
Posts: 916
I do both and appreciate the work and love that goes into both. If I only did hand quilting I would
not get nearly as many projects finished. Learn to let the negativism roll off your back. There are always
naysayers. I remember when I started quilting in 1972 there were woman horrified at using rotary cutters.
Now just imagine not using rotary cutters.
not get nearly as many projects finished. Learn to let the negativism roll off your back. There are always
naysayers. I remember when I started quilting in 1972 there were woman horrified at using rotary cutters.
Now just imagine not using rotary cutters.
04-22-2013, 07:57 AM
#145
Super Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Oklahoma City, OK
Posts: 3,025
I think some of the hand quilted quilts are lovely, some are not. I think machine quilted quilts are lovely, some are not. BUT I think ANYONE who thinks machine quilted quilts are second class are SECOND CLASS!
04-22-2013, 08:01 AM
#146
Member
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Montana
Posts: 62
I think it is all a matter of opinion. Personally I love a nicely done hand quilted quilt. I don't hand quilt but wish I could. I think a nicely hand quilted quit is special because of all the extra time put into it.There are beautiful machine quilted quilts also but if I could have it my way I would choose a beautiful hand quilted over a machine quilted quilt. A person does have to consider the time involved and many people today just don't have the time to hand quilt and still have beautiful quilts to love and admire. I have occasionally had a quilt finished by long arm but most of my quilts are done on a Juki with FMQ because that is what I can afford and can do. Total matter of choice and circumstances when it comes to which is done.
04-22-2013, 08:34 AM
#147
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Connecticut
Posts: 727
I hear ya, I don't join these groups for the same reasons. I am a cross stitcher and needlepointer and went to quilting to give my hands a rest from the hand sewing, why on earth would I want to hand quilt my quilts. If I wanted to keep using a needle I'd have kept cross stitching instead. I send my quilts out to be quilted and they put the binding on for me and I just hand sew it to the back. That's about as much hand sewing I will do on a quilt.
04-22-2013, 09:19 AM
#148
Junior Member
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: South Carolina
Posts: 213
That's like saying using a scrub board and lava soap is the only way to get your clothes clean, as opposed to using a machine.
Hundreds of years ago, there were no sewing machines and everything was done by hand. Does that make it any better?
I'd find some new quilters to associate with. JMHO
Hundreds of years ago, there were no sewing machines and everything was done by hand. Does that make it any better?
I'd find some new quilters to associate with. JMHO
04-22-2013, 10:10 AM
#149
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Anchorage, Alaska
Posts: 554
Sell a more of these and you could pay cash for a LA and lessons too. Happy quilting!
I don't hand quilt but hire LAQ's to complete my quilts. I sold a 42x59" wallhanging for $1K that was custom machine quilted. I was pleased and affirmed that the quilt artistry in it's entirety is appreciated and valued. I can't afford a LA machine nor are my hands up for handquilting. But neither limitation kept this wallhanging from being loved and selected by the buyer. Women of my guild were encouraged similarly. HQ vs LAQ is not a deal breaker.
04-22-2013, 11:07 AM
#150
Super Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Portage, Michigan
Posts: 7,506
Hand quilted work is special and a skill set that is different than machine quilted work. It is not better. It is simply a different technique. As far as keeping true to tradition, my grandmother made many a quilt in the 20's and 30's on her treadle machine and then tied them. I cherish them because they had her hands on them from cutting feed sacks to tying the knots. Some may prefer on style of quilting over the other but.... it is not better or less prestigious.
Smile and enjoy your time with your quilt work.
Smile and enjoy your time with your quilt work.
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