How did you manage?! (before rotary cutters)
06-22-2014, 10:04 AM
#52
Member
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Europe
Posts: 50
I started quilting in 2006, and still, my first two baby quilts and my first kingsize quilt were made with cardboard template, pen and scissors. I was on a budget then, couldnt afford to immediately invest in a "quilting set" (rotary cutter, mat and ruler), when I was just testing the hobby. Sewn those quilts on my moms old sewing maschine.
Oh, how I enjoyed, when I bought my first rotary cutter!
Oh, how I enjoyed, when I bought my first rotary cutter!
06-22-2014, 12:02 PM
#55
Super Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Heart of Colorado's majestic mountains!
Posts: 6,026
I think patience and persistence were in great supply when it was necessary to make clothing and quilts. Nothing was wasted. Ladies just knew these things were a part of life and they made use of all their time. They used cardboard, pencils and scissors. Their artistry was wonderful. I will bet they had few UFO's because all fabric was precious. Even in the l940's and 1950's fabric was considered expensive. I remember fabric for 39 and 49 cents and having to save up to buy it. Women had a tendency to do whatever was necessary to provide for their families. Today, none of us have to sew; but, we do it as a pastime and hobby. We are creative and I do know we appreciate the new conveniences of tools, rulers and machines. Such a difference in approach.
06-22-2014, 12:42 PM
#56
Super Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Colorado Springs
Posts: 7,583
I had some of those electric scissors too. They didn't seem to work very long and the fabric always got caught. I also remember getting blisters on my thumbs from cutting so many pieces at a time. I still use the cardboard templates at times and pencil to mark it, but I'm sold on my rotary cutter.
06-22-2014, 01:13 PM
#57
Power Poster
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Reno, Nv
Posts: 16,524
Oh my goodness! I remember those meters to measure fabric! I had forgotten all about them too.
Before the rotary cutters and rulers it was a real work of love to make a quilt. We used the cardboard and draw around it method. I say god bless those inventive women who thought up using the rotary cutters and mat. And, the patternmakers who figured out all those great block shortcuts made with them today. Not to mention the computer to help plan out the quilts and the quilting with a long arm.
Could you imagine those women seeing the tools we have today? They would just flip!
Before the rotary cutters and rulers it was a real work of love to make a quilt. We used the cardboard and draw around it method. I say god bless those inventive women who thought up using the rotary cutters and mat. And, the patternmakers who figured out all those great block shortcuts made with them today. Not to mention the computer to help plan out the quilts and the quilting with a long arm.
Could you imagine those women seeing the tools we have today? They would just flip!
Last edited by RedGarnet222; 06-22-2014 at 01:17 PM.
06-22-2014, 01:19 PM
#58
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Pleasant Hill CA
Posts: 411
I didn't quilt before about 1985 so never tried. I would never have been interested in cutting and sewing by hand anyway for hand work doesn't appeal to me. Then I retired in 1984 and and went to a Quilt Guild as a guest and...that was my downfall!
06-22-2014, 01:28 PM
#59
Super Member
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Iowa
Posts: 1,308
OMG I remember those meters, now... I had forgotten about them. That brings back lots of memories.
When I worked in the fabric department in 1956 we used a meter for measuring yardage, you put in a corner and pull it through to the amount the customer wanted, ie 2 yards, and push the arm down and it would cut about an inch, them take it out of the meter and tear it. We used scissors for cutting out patterns.
back in those days, we also used our arms as measuring tools. We didn't have rulers like today, we had a wooden yard stick, and tape measure. I do remember using feed sacks for skirts for the kids. I still have a box of patterns from the 1950's which I will probably never use. lol People look at my sewing room and make remarks like (boy, you have a lot of stuff, must have cost you a fortune). I don't tell them that some of the things are 30 years old. I have serger thread that I bought in 1980. The moved my sewing room around and some of the cones were crumbling in my hand, but the thread was still strong.
back in those days, we also used our arms as measuring tools. We didn't have rulers like today, we had a wooden yard stick, and tape measure. I do remember using feed sacks for skirts for the kids. I still have a box of patterns from the 1950's which I will probably never use. lol People look at my sewing room and make remarks like (boy, you have a lot of stuff, must have cost you a fortune). I don't tell them that some of the things are 30 years old. I have serger thread that I bought in 1980. The moved my sewing room around and some of the cones were crumbling in my hand, but the thread was still strong.
06-22-2014, 01:29 PM
#60
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Pleasant Hill CA
Posts: 411
[QUOTE=linda faye;6769233]I have always been in awe about our fore-mothers of past eras and the beautiful quilts that they made with oh so limited tools! The patience and talent are remarkable.
My grandmother who I never knew as she died before I was born, had eleven children, lived in a log cabin in the Ozarks of Missouri and made quilt after quilt by hand. How I will never know. Her 9th child, my mother, absolutely never quilted and told me nothing about her. Later after my mother's death I went to that area, snooped with relatives and have written my grandmother's story and saved one of her quilts. That was along time ago but I sew on a quilt almost every day BUT not by hand. I will soon be a great grandmother of 7 and will have my 88th birthday. I love my Bernina and my cutters. Lucky are we who quilt today!
My grandmother who I never knew as she died before I was born, had eleven children, lived in a log cabin in the Ozarks of Missouri and made quilt after quilt by hand. How I will never know. Her 9th child, my mother, absolutely never quilted and told me nothing about her. Later after my mother's death I went to that area, snooped with relatives and have written my grandmother's story and saved one of her quilts. That was along time ago but I sew on a quilt almost every day BUT not by hand. I will soon be a great grandmother of 7 and will have my 88th birthday. I love my Bernina and my cutters. Lucky are we who quilt today!
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