quilting-what's it take?

I smell a Green Giant and it needs a long cold shower.

Butterfly

"teleflora" wrote in message
...
I have one of those really nice machines. I never for a moment thought it
would make me an instant artist. It's made me a better sewer because I
don't get frustrated with it like I have with all my other machines. There
are features that it has that I use every single day. There are also
wonderful features that I will never use.

I worked really hard for a lot of years to be able to afford this really
nice machine and I'll make no apologies for having it. I also still buy
tons of patterns, magazines, fabric and tools just because I'm still so
excited about it all.

I will apologize for having brought up a subject that has touched such a
nerve. I'm a little flummoxed at the emails I've gotten because people
think I'm bragging about being able to afford a long-arm when I apparently
haven't "paid my dues" long enough to deserve one.

I don't think that owning a long arm machine will magically make me into
an artist who can do the work that I saw at the show last week. I will
never be able to do that kind of work because I don't consider myself an
artist. I'm a decent enough craftsman, but no way an artist.

I should have divided the two topics into two seperate posts: the exciting
show that I saw and I am looking at maybe buying a long arm. That way no
one would have gotten confused thinking I thought that a long arm would
instantly transform me.

OK, I'll shut up now.

Cindy

"Butterflywings" wrote in message
...
I smell a Green Giant and it needs a long cold shower.

Butterfly


Flutterby, what the heck is a Green Giant?

Cindy



"teleflora" wrote in message
...
I have one of those really nice machines. I never for a moment thought it
would make me an instant artist. It's made me a better sewer because I
don't get frustrated with it like I have with all my other machines.
There are features that it has that I use every single day. There are also
wonderful features that I will never use.

I worked really hard for a lot of years to be able to afford this really
nice machine and I'll make no apologies for having it. I also still buy
tons of patterns, magazines, fabric and tools just because I'm still so
excited about it all.

I will apologize for having brought up a subject that has touched such a
nerve. I'm a little flummoxed at the emails I've gotten because people
think I'm bragging about being able to afford a long-arm when I
apparently haven't "paid my dues" long enough to deserve one.

I don't think that owning a long arm machine will magically make me into
an artist who can do the work that I saw at the show last week. I will
never be able to do that kind of work because I don't consider myself an
artist. I'm a decent enough craftsman, but no way an artist.

I should have divided the two topics into two seperate posts: the
exciting show that I saw and I am looking at maybe buying a long arm.
That way no one would have gotten confused thinking I thought that a
long arm would instantly transform me.

OK, I'll shut up now.

Cindy

I'm more in the dark than Sunny. I have no idea what prompted this
discussion but am enjoying the thoughts shared so much.
I am an artist. I am talented. So? Many times, however, I've thought
when someone has said, "Oh you are so talented," I wanted to just kick 'em.
Talent my foot. If they only knew how hard I was struggling, making
mistakes, trying and then trying again and again. Talent? Naaaaah,
methinks, a whole lot more tenacity and hard work than talent.
When I finally got off of my high horse on that attitude, I realized
that talent doesn't hurt. My favorite Harry Potter quote goes something
like this - It's not the abilities we are given but the choices we make.
Yes. Yes.
There are people with no talent whatsoever and no matter how many times
they try, how nice their SM is or how many classes they take, their quilts
are going to be dreadful. I saw two of those last week. I was visiting my
sister's friend who had some sort of disc surgery. I took her some comfort
food and visited very briefly. She proudly showed me the two quilts she
had. Oh my. They are awful; hand-quilted with 3 or 4 stitches per inch,
colors that would make you cringe and fabrics of poly and cotton that will
forever bicker with each other. Those poor quilts have nothing going for
them but love, the most wonderful quality of all. Polly


"Sunny" wrote in message
oups.com...
I'm not sure I understand the original thoughts behind Taria's
comments. But I am enjoying reading the follow-ups. I took a quilting
class six years ago now because it seemed like a fun thing to do. Then
when I became too ill to work and realized I would never work again, I
knew I had to do something. At first, I worked at quilting for my
sanity. Now, I do it for my soul. I love fabric. I have always loved
color and motion and lines. I just never let myself play with it
before. Now, I have a fabric collection that I love. Some if it will
never, ever, ever see a needle. That's ok. It enriches my life by
being with me. On those days when I can't do anything else, when pain
becomes my entire world, I can go to my stash and hold my fabric and
put pieces next to each other and the beauty and flow and the
potential of that fabric gives me joy. I am not an artist. I have a
goal of one day producing one quilt that I can enter in a quilt show
and feel it deserves to be there. It likely won't be this year. But
it's a goal and I work towards it. And in the meantime, I give
everything I make to someone else and it makes their eyes light up and
they hug me. What more payment could I ever ask for?

Were I to be transported back in time, I don't know if I would quilt.
I have lost sensation in my fingertips and can't really feel a needle
when I hold it most of the time. Sometimes I "forget" how to move my
fingers. It would be a great loss in my life. I don't know how I would
fill the void. I'm glad I live now, when I do. I, like Polly, have a
lot of fancy rulers I bought early on and never use them. I have a
nice machine. I drool over the Janome 6600, but that's as "big" as I
want. Someday I will make a quilt that I think is "good" enough to
deserve quilting on a longarm. That's not likely to be this year,
either.

In the meantime, I play with fabric, cut out pictuers for myself (you
guys would laugh yourselves silly if I showed you what I spend a lot
of my time making. I love cutting out funny "folks" and making scenes.
Just for me). It's grown up paper dolls. I make a few good things. I
come through in a pinch most of the time. And when all else fails, I
wrap myself in 3 yards of handpainted silk that I got for $2 at an
estate sale and pretend I'm a silent film star.

Why ever we do this thing we do, we are all sisters and brothers of
the fabric and we belong together in the long line of people that
started when Eve or Adam put two fig leaves together and then realized
it could use a little embellishment.

I love you all.
Sunny

Dear Cindy, I want to apologize on behalf of any and all of the folks
who said
unkind t hings to you in emails. How rude! and how unnecessary. I
would go out
and buy a long arm in a heartbeat if I could, dues or no dues. And who
is to say
what is "right" time for one to "deserve" a better machine. For
heaven's sake, why
can't people just be happy for others and stop using the wonderful
gift of email to
ruin somebody's day. I for one am enjoying this thread. We are
discussing and
thinking and it's all about quilting. This is one of those wonderful
threads that gives us
a chance to see each other's "real" selves and understand a bit of the
motivations
of the others. I appreciate your questions. And I'm happy for you with
your new machine.
Wish I had one. And I bet so do all the others who gave you grief.
Just forget about them and don't
let them cause you any distress. You're one of "us" -- quilters.
That's all that
matters, cuz with family it's all good.

Hugs,
Sunny

On Jun 12, 7:20 pm, "teleflora" wrote:
I have one of those really nice machines. I never for a moment thought it
would make me an instant artist. It's made me a better sewer because I
don't get frustrated with it like I have with all my other machines. There
are features that it has that I use every single day. There are also
wonderful features that I will never use.

I worked really hard for a lot of years to be able to afford this really
nice machine and I'll make no apologies for having it. I also still buy
tons of patterns, magazines, fabric and tools just because I'm still so
excited about it all.

I will apologize for having brought up a subject that has touched such a
nerve. I'm a little flummoxed at the emails I've gotten because people
think I'm bragging about being able to afford a long-arm when I apparently
haven't "paid my dues" long enough to deserve one.

I don't think that owning a long arm machine will magically make me into an
artist who can do the work that I saw at the show last week. I will never
be able to do that kind of work because I don't consider myself an artist.
I'm a decent enough craftsman, but no way an artist.

I should have divided the two topics into two seperate posts: the exciting
show that I saw and I am looking at maybe buying a long arm. That way no
one would have gotten confused thinking I thought that a long arm would
instantly transform me.

OK, I'll shut up now.

Cindy

tis the 'green(not lime, hrmph, that would be sacré bleu) envy' some folks
hold i do believe is what Ms B meant to say.
i dont know what gets into folks.
you take no mind of those who have nothing better to do than give ya grief.
get what you want, when you want and enjoy every minute of it.
oh and do let me know when the next quilt'n party is, eh.
perhaps you could have a big old quilt retreat for those of us who envy you
but sure aint being mean about it. we could put up our tents in the yard if
need be, lol. works for me if its not too hot or too cold that is.
now dont forget pix of your newly quilted beautys as well.
cheers,
jeanne
--
Vote B'fly for President '08
san-fran at ihug dot co dot nz
nzlstar on webshots

"teleflora" wrote in message
...

"Butterflywings" wrote in message
...
I smell a Green Giant and it needs a long cold shower.

Butterfly


Flutterby, what the heck is a Green Giant?

Cindy



"teleflora" wrote in message
...
I have one of those really nice machines. I never for a moment thought
it would make me an instant artist. It's made me a better sewer because
I don't get frustrated with it like I have with all my other machines.
There are features that it has that I use every single day. There are
also wonderful features that I will never use.

I worked really hard for a lot of years to be able to afford this really
nice machine and I'll make no apologies for having it. I also still buy
tons of patterns, magazines, fabric and tools just because I'm still so
excited about it all.

I will apologize for having brought up a subject that has touched such a
nerve. I'm a little flummoxed at the emails I've gotten because people
think I'm bragging about being able to afford a long-arm when I
apparently haven't "paid my dues" long enough to deserve one.

I don't think that owning a long arm machine will magically make me into
an artist who can do the work that I saw at the show last week. I will
never be able to do that kind of work because I don't consider myself an
artist. I'm a decent enough craftsman, but no way an artist.

I should have divided the two topics into two seperate posts: the
exciting show that I saw and I am looking at maybe buying a long arm.
That way no one would have gotten confused thinking I thought that a
long arm would instantly transform me.

OK, I'll shut up now.

Cindy

Thank you, Sunny and god, I don't want anyone to think I was whining. I
guess it sounded like it, but I wasn't. And it was only 3 emails, it wasn't
like it was 20. And I don't even think it was people being jealous, more
like people saying I shouldn't brag (which I didn't feel like I was).

I don't want to make this worse, because it's not a big deal. My feelings
weren't hurt or anything. I'm touchier than normal because it's one of
those anniversary's of a bad day for me. But it's almost tomorrow and then
I'll be fine.

I shouldn't have said anything. I always start the engine before I engage
the brain.

Cindy

"Sunny" wrote in message
oups.com...
Dear Cindy, I want to apologize on behalf of any and all of the folks
who said
unkind t hings to you in emails. How rude! and how unnecessary. I
would go out
and buy a long arm in a heartbeat if I could, dues or no dues. And who
is to say
what is "right" time for one to "deserve" a better machine. For
heaven's sake, why
can't people just be happy for others and stop using the wonderful
gift of email to
ruin somebody's day. I for one am enjoying this thread. We are
discussing and
thinking and it's all about quilting. This is one of those wonderful
threads that gives us
a chance to see each other's "real" selves and understand a bit of the
motivations
of the others. I appreciate your questions. And I'm happy for you with
your new machine.
Wish I had one. And I bet so do all the others who gave you grief.
Just forget about them and don't
let them cause you any distress. You're one of "us" -- quilters.
That's all that
matters, cuz with family it's all good.

Hugs,
Sunny

On Jun 12, 7:20 pm, "teleflora" wrote:
I have one of those really nice machines. I never for a moment thought
it
would make me an instant artist. It's made me a better sewer because I
don't get frustrated with it like I have with all my other machines.
There
are features that it has that I use every single day. There are also
wonderful features that I will never use.

I worked really hard for a lot of years to be able to afford this really
nice machine and I'll make no apologies for having it. I also still buy
tons of patterns, magazines, fabric and tools just because I'm still so
excited about it all.

I will apologize for having brought up a subject that has touched such a
nerve. I'm a little flummoxed at the emails I've gotten because people
think I'm bragging about being able to afford a long-arm when I
apparently
haven't "paid my dues" long enough to deserve one.

I don't think that owning a long arm machine will magically make me into
an
artist who can do the work that I saw at the show last week. I will
never
be able to do that kind of work because I don't consider myself an
artist.
I'm a decent enough craftsman, but no way an artist.

I should have divided the two topics into two seperate posts: the
exciting
show that I saw and I am looking at maybe buying a long arm. That way no
one would have gotten confused thinking I thought that a long arm would
instantly transform me.

OK, I'll shut up now.

Cindy

On Jun 12, 9:41 pm, "teleflora" wrote:
Thank you, Sunny and god, I don't want anyone to think I was whining. I
guess it sounded like it, but I wasn't. And it was only 3 emails, it wasn't
like it was 20. And I don't even think it was people being jealous, more
like people saying I shouldn't brag (which I didn't feel like I was).

I don't want to make this worse, because it's not a big deal. My feelings
weren't hurt or anything. I'm touchier than normal because it's one of
those anniversary's of a bad day for me. But it's almost tomorrow and then
I'll be fine.

I shouldn't have said anything. I always start the engine before I engage
the brain.

Cindy

"Sunny" wrote in message

oups.com...



Dear Cindy, I want to apologize on behalf of any and all of the folks
who said
unkind t hings to you in emails. How rude! and how unnecessary. I
would go out
and buy a long arm in a heartbeat if I could, dues or no dues. And who
is to say
what is "right" time for one to "deserve" a better machine. For
heaven's sake, why
can't people just be happy for others and stop using the wonderful
gift of email to
ruin somebody's day. I for one am enjoying this thread. We are
discussing and
thinking and it's all about quilting. This is one of those wonderful
threads that gives us
a chance to see each other's "real" selves and understand a bit of the
motivations
of the others. I appreciate your questions. And I'm happy for you with
your new machine.
Wish I had one. And I bet so do all the others who gave you grief.
Just forget about them and don't
let them cause you any distress. You're one of "us" -- quilters.
That's all that
matters, cuz with family it's all good.

Hugs,
Sunny

On Jun 12, 7:20 pm, "teleflora" wrote:
I have one of those really nice machines. I never for a moment thought
it
would make me an instant artist. It's made me a better sewer because I
don't get frustrated with it like I have with all my other machines.
There
are features that it has that I use every single day. There are also
wonderful features that I will never use.

I worked really hard for a lot of years to be able to afford this really
nice machine and I'll make no apologies for having it. I also still buy
tons of patterns, magazines, fabric and tools just because I'm still so
excited about it all.

I will apologize for having brought up a subject that has touched such a
nerve. I'm a little flummoxed at the emails I've gotten because people
think I'm bragging about being able to afford a long-arm when I
apparently
haven't "paid my dues" long enough to deserve one.

I don't think that owning a long arm machine will magically make me into
an
artist who can do the work that I saw at the show last week. I will
never
be able to do that kind of work because I don't consider myself an
artist.
ACK!! I meant that to go to you as an email Cindy. I didn't mean it to
be on this thread. ACK. Speaking of putting engine in gear before
opening mouth.... or something like that. Ok, sorry if I offended
anybody. Cindy, I understand about those anniversary days. And I'm
still having fun reading the responses to this thread.

Hugs to all,
Sunny

it's not bragging it's sharing! I'd buy a long arm with all the bells and
whistles if I could (do they have one with a computer you can set and walk
away from yet? hehehe) for now I will just have to plot how I can get my
grubby hands on some long arm time instead as I have given up on being able
to quilt a large quilt all on my own on my tiddly janome (which I *do* love
most dearly but it "only"has 6 inches of usable throat)

that said here's the answers:
I started with a borrowed n-th hand sewing machine, cardboard, all purpose
scissors and a ballpoint pen - yep I marked my quilts with a ballpoint pen
and fortunately I never got any ink bleeding through! those first quilts
were a disaster as I sewed on the lines only and well.. cardboard tends to
scrunch up a tad as you use is so the first squares may have been perfect
but the last ones were definitively crooked. I also tended to quilt about 12
inches apart at most or tie every 18 inches

nowadays I am glad I discovered rotary cutters, quilting rulers and strip
sewing! my sewing machine was bought new 3 years ago and though it's a
cheapie janome I'm happy with it despite coveting a larger machine (= more
throat) as all I really care about it the straight stitch and throat space
not the rest. I still design quilts on paper despite having EQ as I don't
only think up stuff when I'm at the computer g though I do usually draw
out my paper designs into the computer next time it's on.

--
Jessamy
Queen of Chocolate Squishies (and Occasional Liquorice Ones)
In The Netherlands
Take out: _I love the colour_ to reply.
www.geocities.com/jessamy_thompson
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/jes...pson/my_photos
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I have one of those really nice machines. I never for a moment thought it
would make me an instant artist. It's made me a better sewer because I
don't get frustrated with it like I have with all my other machines. There
are features that it has that I use every single day. There are also
wonderful features that I will never use.

I worked really hard for a lot of years to be able to afford this really
nice machine and I'll make no apologies for having it. I also still buy
tons of patterns, magazines, fabric and tools just because I'm still so
excited about it all.

I will apologize for having brought up a subject that has touched such a
nerve. I'm a little flummoxed at the emails I've gotten because people
think I'm bragging about being able to afford a long-arm when I apparently
haven't "paid my dues" long enough to deserve one.

I don't think that owning a long arm machine will magically make me into an
artist who can do the work that I saw at the show last week. I will never
be able to do that kind of work because I don't consider myself an artist.
I'm a decent enough craftsman, but no way an artist.

I should have divided the two topics into two seperate posts: the exciting
show that I saw and I am looking at maybe buying a long arm. That way no
one would have gotten confused thinking I thought that a long arm would
instantly transform me.

OK, I'll shut up now.

Cindy

teleflora wrote:
"Butterflywings" wrote in message
...
I smell a Green Giant and it needs a long cold shower.
Butterfly

Flutterby, what the heck is a Green Giant?
Cindy

Could be Shrek... ;-)

--
Melinda
http://cust.idl.com.au/athol

How I agree with your words Taria!
--
Estelle UK
http://uk.photos.yahoo.com/ph//my_photos
"Taria" wrote in message
news:GrEbi.5596$3Q4.1244@trnddc05...
I have spent some time thinking about Cindy's note mentioning buying a
big machine to get all her tops done up. I am having a tough time trying
to figure out just what it takes for this hobby to feel right
for us. For folks in the old days they had almost nothing. A needle
and scraps got them going. Some of the work was really wonderful.
Small perfect stitches with great patterns and colors done like art.
Some just did slap-dash or just plain old functional work. Many
probably did both. Now we quilt as a form of creativity and a
pastime. SOme of us do it because we have sewn our whole life while
others are looking for something to keep them busy or social in
retirement. The equipment runs the gamut today. I don't guess there
is a right or wrong. Our budgets dictate some of our needs. Some of
our skill comes with us when we are born IMO. Most of us need lots of
practice and training to produce fine work. Most of us will not put out
blue ribbon show quality stuff. Mostly we use our quilts as hugs to
those we care about and a lot of mistakes are overlooked with all that
love we send. I just count myself lucky as someone who enjoys most
aspects of quilting. The shopping, the cutting, sewing, the many dear
friends quilting has brought me and the ability to share something
of me with other folks. I'm glad when others can find that same joy
not matter what it takes in their corner of the quilting world.
Taria