Is quilting becoming to modernized?
01-14-2011, 10:17 AM
#31
Super Member
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Emmitsburg, MD
Posts: 1,599
Instead of thinking of it as modernization I consider newfangled inventions to be opportunities to learn different skills. Hand quilting is a skill. Machine quilting is a different skill. LA is a third skill. The end goal of all three may be the same, but past that I don't think it's all that useful to compare them with each other - apples and oranges and all that.
I think the suggestion to separate the categories for judging is a great one. All of these skills require considerable investments of time and effort and should be judged not only for their artistry, but also against the standard for the skill in use.
I think the suggestion to separate the categories for judging is a great one. All of these skills require considerable investments of time and effort and should be judged not only for their artistry, but also against the standard for the skill in use.
01-14-2011, 10:54 AM
#32
Power Poster
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Out searching for some sunshine :-)
Posts: 58,856
Treadle machines, hand piecing, hand quilting, irons that needed to be heated on the wood/cook stove, poor lighting, and quilting out of necessity not just for enjoyment.
As much as I can appreciate all of that :D I am very grateful to have all that we do now :D:D:D
As much as I can appreciate all of that :D I am very grateful to have all that we do now :D:D:D
01-14-2011, 10:56 AM
#33
Super Member
Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 1,789
Our ancestors used what they had. If they had the tools we have today they would have used them.
Many years ago i was berated by a woman I knew because I said I was machine quilting a quilt for my DD."YOu should learn to hand quilt! IT's so much better" I told her I DO know how to hand quilt- I learned in my teens. I can machine quilt them and all(5) will have a quilt to enjoy. Or I can hand quilt and MAYBE 1 or 2 of them will get one .
Many years ago i was berated by a woman I knew because I said I was machine quilting a quilt for my DD."YOu should learn to hand quilt! IT's so much better" I told her I DO know how to hand quilt- I learned in my teens. I can machine quilt them and all(5) will have a quilt to enjoy. Or I can hand quilt and MAYBE 1 or 2 of them will get one .
01-14-2011, 11:41 AM
#36
Junior Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 284
Originally Posted by Izaquilter
I know I'm reallllly gonna ruffle some feathers here with this reply but I do think modernazation (is that a word) is taking alot out of quilting. Not so much the tools & the sewing machines because that is all I have ever known but the long arms. Sure I'd love to have one but will not allow myself to go to that extent. If you go to quilt shows now, almost 90% of the quilts are all done by long arms & it really really takes the creativity out of quilting. A really good piecer can put a top together & then send it off to a really good machine quilter but let me tell you, I have been going to quilt shows since 1992 & there is NO comparason to the quilts now & the quilts back in 1992. More of them were done by one persons creativity. Now it's who pays the most to their favorite long arm quilter. I know several long arm quilters & have only had 2 quilts done by them. It's just not the same as if you had done it all yourself. I feel like I'm cheating. I now see how my aunt felt going to the quilt shows. She hated it when machine pieced quilts were first allowed! So the old is the best for me!
I do it both it ways. I cut some of my quilt pieces by rotary cutter and some of them by hand. I sew them together by sewing machine.But I quilt them by hand. That's how I was taught and I will continue to do it that way. I'm not saying either way is better or worse,right or wrong. Everyone has their own way of making a quilt.Isn't that what making a quilt all about, bringing out your own creativity?
01-14-2011, 11:42 AM
#37
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Pennsylvania
Posts: 732
Originally Posted by BellaBoo
If I had to make a quilt just using scissors, cardboard, needle and thread even using a treadle, I have no doubt I wouldn't make one. To me that would be drudgery and not fun at all.
I agree with the other parts...
01-14-2011, 12:18 PM
#38
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 462
I have one foot firmly planted on both sides of this argument. I appreciate the older quilts and think they are beautiful. I'd rather have a 50 year old quilt than a modern one.
However, if I had to quilt the way my grandmother and auntie did, I'd never quilt. I don't have the patience or time to hand piece and quilt for the hours it would take to make one quilt. Now that arthritis has set in, I don't have the physical ability to do the hand work, either. So, those old quilts have given me a standard to appreciate, and the new quilts I turnout out show that I love to continue this wonderful craft.
However, if I had to quilt the way my grandmother and auntie did, I'd never quilt. I don't have the patience or time to hand piece and quilt for the hours it would take to make one quilt. Now that arthritis has set in, I don't have the physical ability to do the hand work, either. So, those old quilts have given me a standard to appreciate, and the new quilts I turnout out show that I love to continue this wonderful craft.
01-14-2011, 12:23 PM
#39
Junior Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: STAFFORDSHIRE
Posts: 223
Hi There,
Well i quilt the old fashion way i have always hand sewn every quilt i have made i do have a sewing machine but it stay gathering dust in the loft.
Personally i do feel i am cheating if i use the machine or gadget where as when i hand sew etc i feel the every single bit of the quilt is made by me ,,i even hand cut the fabric the only new thing i have bought recently is the Clover mini iron lol
But each to their own it is kinda temping to purchase all the new gadget for quilting i see in stores and online tho
Well i quilt the old fashion way i have always hand sewn every quilt i have made i do have a sewing machine but it stay gathering dust in the loft.
Personally i do feel i am cheating if i use the machine or gadget where as when i hand sew etc i feel the every single bit of the quilt is made by me ,,i even hand cut the fabric the only new thing i have bought recently is the Clover mini iron lol
But each to their own it is kinda temping to purchase all the new gadget for quilting i see in stores and online tho
01-14-2011, 12:27 PM
#40
Power Poster
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Front row
Posts: 14,646
Originally Posted by Happy Treadler
Originally Posted by BellaBoo
If I had to make a quilt just using scissors, cardboard, needle and thread even using a treadle, I have no doubt I wouldn't make one. To me that would be drudgery and not fun at all.
I agree with the other parts...
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
madamekelly
General Chit-Chat (non-quilting talk)
94
03-16-2011 07:09 PM
