Jingle

A meander is fine for my quilts. I donate most of them and have no idea how they will be taken care of. I donate most of my quilts to kids caught in the foster care program.

I like looking at the fancy quilted quilts but not for me. In the last two years or so I have finished about 80 quilts. I have no desire to learn more than what I do. I do FMQ/meander on my quilts too. My quilts are to be used.

momsbusy

Years ago I purchased a book that was called Quilting Makes the Quilt ( I think that’s correct). It had pictures of identical quilts quilted in different ways. It does make a difference. You might want to check eBay for a copy.

patricej

the quilting pattern is always important to me.
but whether i do something "fancy shmancy" (within the limited scope of my pitiful abilities) or something simple depends on my mood and the amount of time i want to spend.

if you are guiding the machine (or the sandwich under the needle) then meandering is definitely not a cop out.
my attempts to stipple usually turn into a meander.
and my meander usually stinks from here to Calcutta.
it's usually "good enough" but i am never proud of it. lol

Kwiltr

I personally find a meander the hardest thing to do well. For that reason I tend to custom quilt whenever it’s appropriate, which is all of my quilts, as I build them that way. . I need a plan and a smaller space to work with, I guess that’s how my brain works. I practice free form edge to edge designs on the charity quilts I do where it’s called for. Perhaps you might find that approach works better for you too? Meandering stresses me out

givio

With the advent of computers, and now longarms sold to home quilters, the hobby of quilting has changed a lot. One can argue that piecing stays the same, that prints of fabrics are designed in colors and patterns from time to time in the same way, or that hand crank or foot operated sewing machines were used in the same way as modern machines (that is, with great skill to produce amazing quilting)-- but! one cannot say there were always computers and longarms, or that the quilting hobby hasn't changed because of them.

For me, joe'smom has a valid point. I agree with her apt observation, and I understand what she is saying.

When I walk into the LQS, with it's plethora of quilting tools and paraphernalia, there isn't any way my grandmother's quilting hobby fits there. Her way of quilting-- scissors, cardboard template, thimble, needle-- seem to be so underappreciated in the modern quilting hobby. I know there are plenty who carry their English Paper piecing projects around with them, and those who work wonderful Sashiko stitches, but by-and-large in the majority of Quiltland, if a person thinks they appreciate my grandmother's hobby, then why don't they aspire to it? The truth is, they don't. A rotary cutter and mat are wonderful tools, and using a scissors to cut pieces is outmoded for a reason! It seems there is a sense in which in this day and age quilters don't want to go back to a simple way, to a pre-longarm way. For example, look here, why else would there be a lively discussion about "how important is your quilting design," which seems to be basically asking about desires of the use vs lack of machine quilting design?

quiltingshorttimer

Feline Fanatic speaks well for me as a long armer (although I'm still trying to work at her artistic skills!). I hated the basting process for quilting at my domestic, but did several larger quilts on it anyway, not all of them meanders (like someone else said I sometimes find meandering difficult because my spacing/size starts to "wander").
While computers on LA (or on our domestic machines as many now use their embroidery machines to quilt)certainly do change things, I would suggest that anyone that ever gets a chance to visit the International Quilt Study Center at the U. of Nebraska do so--what you will see is art quilts, modern quilts, special exhibits and their own exhibit--and some of those quilts date back to the 1700's--what I saw was LOTS of quilting! So, thankfully there is room in this art of quilting to welcome everyone's abilities and tastes. I do prefer shows that separate out the type of quilting and the type of piecing (applique, pieced, etc) for judging though.

liking quilting

Quilting can be simple and fulfill minimum requirements of holding the 3 layers together.
Quilting can elevate the quilt to a new art form. One's imagination, patience, and practice are our only limitations. The longer I dabble with this quilting hobby, the more I appreciate the various quilting styles. I have been blown away by many examples on this board comparing the unquilted to the finished quilt. The right treatment of quilting desig can give that "wow" factor that stops you in your tracks.

TAMARATJO

I focus much more on the quilt pattern and fabric, and then figure out how I can quilt it to complement the pattern. I have tried FMQ, and not a big fan. I am a little too much of a perfectionist to be satisfied with the uneven, imperfect results of my FMQ skills. I have a walking foot, and plan to try to straight line quilting to see how I like that. My current go to quilting process is to use my machine's embroidery capabilities to quilt. It was a lot easier when I was doing quilt as you go, but I got tired of that process. I have quilted a queen size quilt via embroidery. I am curious as to how many other people quilt this way. The down side is that the biggest pattern I can quilt is 8". There is also a fairly limited number of quilting patterns available, and of course are usually priced individually by size. But this method has allowed me to finish all of my quilts myself, start to finish. I don't feel that I am skilled enough in completing a quilt top to justify the cost of sending it to a long armed quilter.

tropit

I'm terrible at machine quiting. I don't have a LA and I've had some bad experiences sending my quilts out. I usually end up doing wavy lines on my DSM. It works, looks OK on most designs and goes quickly.

~ C

joyce888

I love my robotics and preuse many designs before I decide what the quilt needs. But I’m also OCD!