feline fanatic

I sent one quilt out to be pro LA'd by Green Fairy. I will ALWAYS treasure that quilt. It is extra special to me and I fully consider it MY quilt and even though GF quilted it most of the labor was mine. It is like having a work of art by someone before they got real famous. Getting back that quilt from Judi really cemented my goal to become a LA quilter myself. Prior to that I hand quilted and dabbled in FMQ on my domestic. Besides hating the sandwiching part with a white hot passion, I really sucked at DSM FMQ.

As a LA quilter, I for one am very thankful for the experience to help enhance other people's quilts and am very happy that many quilters prefer to do the piecing and allow me to try and make their quilts even prettier with LA quilting. At no time during the process of quilting for others do I even remotely consider the quilting as making the quilt somehow not all by the person who pieced it and sent it to me. Of course, if the quilt is shown it is only right to say quilted by ______ on the label but other than that the quilt was still made by you. I kind of don't get that mindset that if you don't quilt it, it wasn't made by you. Especially for people who have input on the quilting design process. I think of it as planting a garden. Mother Nature helps along the way but don't you consider the fruits of the garden yours? Those flowers would not bloom and crops would not ripen if you did not till the soil and plant the seeds. I think of sending out the same way. Of course the quilt was made by you and there is nothing wrong with sending out. I get to see so many beautiful quilts come across my rack. So many different fabric combinations and things I would never even consider doing but have greatly expanded my way of thinking about quilting, piecing and combining colors. So those of you that send out are also expanding and enhancing your LAQ experience in quilting and piecing as well.

mimi=17

I send mine out,,,,so many,, so little time.

jbj137

***
*** LA are our of the question for me (income)
*** So I hand quilt all of mine.
***

CRO

I only make 2 or 3 in a good year, usually bed size. I send all mine out and do consider them my quilts.
I don't have the time or patience to try to learn how to FMQ, and frankly I don't think I would enjoy it. I want them to look nice so out they go.

fangman

I have always quilted my own because I enjoy it, but then I have never made a huge quilt.

quiltingbuddy

I've never sent one to a LAer for quilting because of the expense. If it is larger than I can do on my machine myself I quilt it by hand. Yes it takes longer but I try to enjoy the journey. I love the feel of fabric in my hands so I sit with my DH and quilt while we listen to tv together. I don't get as much done as it seems like most of you do, but I am also not retired yet so I do what I can do (and that's all I can do). When I have my daytimes free I will have time to practice my FMQ and will hopefully will get good enough to try a larger quilt on my DSM. I'd love to master that challenge.

Kassaundra: are you willing to share your secret with us? Sounds interesting.

rosiewell

I always do my own quilting, I used to do hand quilting but now I do mostly machine quilting, I often make up the design as I go, but I am always satisfied with the end result!

wildyard

I agree here, I like the feeling of doing it all myself, as long as I possibly can. I only have a DSM and can't do anything fancy, but it suits me and no one has ever complained. Smiles and hugs!

swizzy

I have hand quilted my quilts but now take advantage of having my niece quilt them for me since she now has her own LA. The quilting is beautifully done and the price is right. I feel so fortunate. She has quilted 4 baby quilts and 7 bed size.
She also donates her quilting skills for the "passage quilts" for the local hospital. I have made 8 tops for them recently and she does the quilting.

madamekelly

I started out tying quilts, then started machine quilting on my DSM, quilted by check once, (not in my current budget) and now am experimenting with QAG. I like tying for some quilts, quilting on others and QAG for others. Depends on what the quilt or recipient asks for.