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#11
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Local quilt show: observations
Sometimes quilt shows don't get as many entries as they would like. Then
they start begging quilters to bring in quilts, any quilt, to fill the space. I've seen that at some quilt shows in our area. That's one reason you'll see quilts with the type of quilting you're talking about. They are there to fill space and weren't even intended to be a quilt show entry! Donna in SW idaho The exceptions, as stated by others was for utility quilts, or pet bed quilts, or some other such use, but, hardly, for entry into a quilt show. John |
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#12
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Local quilt show: observations
When you get a quilt professionally quilted, it's usually at least twice
as much to get custom quilting, i.e. the type that respects the design of the quilt, than it is to get edge to edge quilting. Some quilts suit edge to edge quilting, some don't! I've only once sent a quilt out to a quilter, I don't think I have a picture to hand unfortunately, but it is a quilt with pretty much all medium value fabrics, with no large areas of plain fabric. As it was queen size and I wasn't sure ditch quilting would quite make it quilted enough to hold it together, an allover design seemed to make sense. I browsed designs that my friend had available and found a wonderful grape design, which totally fitted in with the patterned fabric of the quilt, which was grapes too. We chose a thread that would neither stand out too much, or vanish completely and I'm thrilled with the result. I now I have a problem as I've got two queen sized quilts that would be ruined by the kind of quilting you describe and ditch quilting would not be sufficient either, one I haven't even finished the borders, it's a large 64 point mariners compass, but once I realised the issues I would have quilting it, I stopped working on it. I suspect a similar dilema is faced by the makers of the quilts you saw, whether they are consious of it or not. Cheers Anne |
#13
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Local quilt show: observations
Howdy!
You like what you like, John, and that's just fine. ;-) Often in my quilts, which are quilted carefully & professionally by one Sandy Ellison, I quilt over the seam lines. I like the quilt to be one big piece, side to side, edge to edge, top to bottom. I esp. like to quilt circles or triangles that entwine & over-lap, definitely not sticking w/in the perimeter of the block(s). My books of historic &/ or antiques quilts show this to be a traditional & acceptable (look at the winners' ribbons!) way of doing things in the big wide quilting world. Some of the smaller quilt shows have some of the most exquisite quilts. That's where the quilter was comfortable showing it; cool. And some of the big shows I've been to, including The Really Big Quilt Show in Houston, have displayed some "winners" that made me wonder, "What the h#ll were they drinking when they judged this category?!?" I'm always amused (I've chosen "amused" rather than "perplexed" or "disappointed") when I go to one of the mid-size local shows and note that "all these gals had their quilts quilted by the same business quilters w/ their limited imagination". Also note who all took the same class & made nearly identical products. g I don't like sloppy quilting. Also don't like that so much chocolate is fattening. I've learned to live with it. ;-D As a handquilter and quilting artist, I do believe that "quilting makes the quilt". Cheers! R/Sandy - on a borrowed laptop (Linux Ubuntu) that I'm pretty sure I don't really care for... On Aug 15, 5:20*pm, John wrote: On Aug 15, 5:36*pm, "heidi (was rabbit2b)" wrote: Hi, John! I'm neither offended nor hackle-raised nor anything of the sort. And it might be nonsense to comment on something you've seen and I haven't. That said... * friendly snipping of original brilliant post where John Started It! That stated, herein follows a brief recounting of todays visit to the And once again, I hope that I have not stepped on any toes here. Or otherwise raised any hackles. John What I was commenting on was the line of stitching in the quilting passing over the joining of the piecing of the pattern on the quilt top without any regard to the direction or any element of the design of the pattern. Much like if you placed a large template of random stitching over a traditional patterned quilt top and then followed the template to sew together the three pieces of the top, batting, and backing. The stitching was not done with any regard to the pattern of the joined pieces, of the top. As if two different people had a hand in the completion of the quilt, but neither one of them had any idea what the other one was doing, as far as esthetics are concerned. It just seemed so mindless as to design. I don't care about not having enough money to hire a professional quilter who would look at the design and decide where to put the stitching so as to not degrade the whole *piece of work with careless placement of stitching across the design lines of the pieced top. If the professional quilter was the sort of person who would do that, that person is hardly a professional. People have asked me to make furniture pieces that used shortcuts, so as to produce a cheaper cost of the item. I declined to do that sort of thing, and suggested they look elsewhere. It would be better for me not to do the quilt at all, if that was the choice I was given. I would rather do one or two quilts a year that I could afford to have done the "right" way, than a whole closet full of this malarkey, that I saw. Sorry for the strong statements, and I know others might not have the same opinions as myself, but there you have it. I am just saying what I would do, not what anybody else must or should do. The exceptions, as stated by others was for utility quilts, or pet bed quilts, or some other such use, but, hardly, for entry into a quilt show. John |
#14
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Local quilt show: observations
I've had two quilts professionally quilted. The first was a queen-sized
(to the floor) quilt that I just didn't want to tackle -- that was about 7-8 years ago. The pattern of the piecing was so busy that an all-over made sense -- still does. The second was a quilt I hated by the time I'd finished it (*bad* instructions, much more complicated than they should have been), and a long-armer who is a friend of mine asked if she could use it to practice for when she did her own in the same pattern. She did a custom job for a very low (unreasonably so!) price, and I'm very happy with it. These days I tend to do smaller quilts, and I quilt them myself as my confidence increases. I think some quilts are great with all-over patterns, but others demand something more special. I used to think that the only way to quilt was to do each block individually, and I still think some quilts are best done that way. However, others lend themselves to other ways. There's room for all of them in "quilt-land", just as there's room for appliqué, piecing, art quilts and all of the variations of each. -- Sandy in Henderson, near Las Vegas sw.foster1 (at) gmail (dot) com (remove/change the obvious) http://www.sandymike.net |
#15
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Linus computer, was Local quilt show: observations
In article
, Ragmop Sandy wrote: R/Sandy - on a borrowed laptop (Linux Ubuntu) that I'm pretty sure I don't really care for... Why are you suddenly on a borrowed Linux machine, Sandy???? -- Sandy in Henderson, near Las Vegas sw.foster1 (at) gmail (dot) com (remove/change the obvious) http://www.sandymike.net |
#16
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Local quilt show: observations
In article
, Mary wrote: Stupid question, though -- if Person A makes a quilt top and then has it machine quilted by Person B, how can Person A put that quilt into a show or a competition? Does the quilt go in as by Person A and Person B? And is there a difference if the machine quilting is done by a professional or some sort of commercial enterprise? As I said before, I've only had two quilts professionally quilted. The first one never saw the inside of a show. G The second one did -- at the request of the quilter, a friend of mine. I had, of *course* credited her as quilter on the label, and I entered it in a category for two-person quilts. She and I were both completely delighted when it won a judge's choice ribbon. I offered to give her the ribbon, but she insisted I keep it. -- Sandy in Henderson, near Las Vegas sw.foster1 (at) gmail (dot) com (remove/change the obvious) http://www.sandymike.net |
#17
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Local quilt show: observations
John wrote:
Let me start off with a disclaimer. If any of you are offended by my observations, then I am sorry. If you derive pleasure from the things I am commenting on, then go ahead and continue to enjoy them. My opinions are my own, and "might" coincide with others, or maybe not. That stated, herein follows a brief recounting of todays visit to the local yearly quilt show. Lois and I showed up at the local show and started viewing the offerings from large bed sized quilts to small wall hangings and items of apparel. The one thing that struck me, and Lois, was the fact that the degree of overall quilting by machine was of a singular nature. This observation applied to about 75% of the quilts. The other 25% were hand quilted, and this observation does not apply to them. They were very nicely done. As to the 75%; I have never seen as large a group of quilts, in my life, that were done in such a random manner that defied the sewn seams of the pattern, of the quilt. It is as if the person doing the quilting, and some of them were "professionally" machine quilted, and they used that word "professionally", loosely, in my opinion, was insensitive to the fact that they were crossing over the seams of the pattern of the quilt on autopilot in an effort to confuse attempted artistic random loops and squiggles, in the guise of art, and not respecting the pattern seams as defining elements of the quilt. Now if this is the new norm and I am completely out of step with State of the Art Free motion quilting, then so be it, I am out of step. If you look at the other 25% of the quilts that were hand stitched. they used overall quilting in the appropriate seam bordered elements of the pattern and stayed within the confines of the seams and produced a quilt that respected the pattern design and complimented that with area quilting which enhanced the overall appearance. Out of probably 35 Machine quilts, I think there were probably 2 or 3 that met the the above criteria of respecting the seams, and not going over them randomey, in an attempt to achieve, I don't know what. It is almost as if people take a class on free motion quilting and then throw away all the time honored traditions of using quilting and stippling within area elements that respect the seam lines of the sewn pattern, and throw themselves into the process of random placement of the needle on autopilot. Thank you very much,but I think I will get on the other bus, on this show. So there you have it. My personal take on the recent, and not so happy viewing of the state of the art of Machine quilting, as it pertains to Knox County, Ohio. And once again, I hope that I have not stepped on any toes here. Or otherwise raised any hackles. John LOL John! I could have predicted your take on the type of FMQ you are describing. Why? Because all of your beautiful creations are so perfectly engineered, the totally random version of FMQ is just at odds with your personality. :-) No hackles raised here. I love our RTCQ diversity. I'll admit I admire a wonderfully randomly stippled quilt, however, my first love is more traditional quilting. Best regards, Michelle in Nevada |
#18
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Local quilt show: observations
Thank you so much, John and all who've joined in. This discussion certainly
opens my eyes and heart to quilting situations that hadn't crossed my little mind. Of course there are quilters who FM or have it done that are doing the best they can, or maybe not, or maybe just all they can afford, or have access to. ( That may be the worst sentence I ever wrote.) So some quilting could be better executed at a mattress pad factory. So what? We can still salute their courage to enter a quilt show. We can still enjoy their choices or at least learn from them. Do we really need all of the quilts in a show or in our linen closet to be exquisite? I find myself guilty of seeing some and imagining I could have done so much better. Even some where I thought the quilter should take up bean counting or raise worms. Years ago, when I saw quilt after quilt that were nearly identical, I didn't groan but I did wonder why anyone would do that. Never crossed my uppity mind that some are truly not able to choose colors, fabrics, patterns. Even so, they enjoy quilting. Good for them. So. I've grown by this and our other quilt show discussions. Let's enjoy the next quilt show and be happy for every quilter. Even if we have to don dark glasses and ear plugs. Polly "Michelle C." wrote LOL John! I could have predicted your take on the type of FMQ you are describing. Why? Because all of your beautiful creations are so perfectly engineered, the totally random version of FMQ is just at odds with your personality. :-) No hackles raised here. I love our RTCQ diversity. I'll admit I admire a wonderfully randomly stippled quilt, however, my first love is more traditional quilting. |
#19
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Local quilt show: observations
I'm very familiar with the eternal battle between traditionalists &
purists and innovators & radicals. That said, 1. I had no idea something like this would be such a big deal, but then I hadn't really thought about it because I hadn't been aware of it. 2. I now have something else to look for/at/critique at the local show coming up. 3. I think I now better understand the concept of "quilt police". My own observation (probably a "duh" to most folks here...) is that there are two aspects to quilting; an artistic aspect and a (oh, crap I can't find the right word...) the skill and accuracy of physically crafting the quilt. IOW, one might have an imaginative and artistically brilliant design with regard to shapes and colors, yet the quilter can't seam to sew a straight line, get corners to meet, or quilt it without skips, loops, and other catastrophes. OTOH, one might be a master sewer, quilt with perfection, but have no sense of color or proportion. (Am I making sense?) This is just one other reason I can think of that one might have someone else do the machine quilting. Should it bar that particular artist/crafter from entering a piece in a show? I don't know, but it falls under #2 above. I don't think there is a cut & dry answer. YMMV. Doc |
#20
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Local quilt show: observations
Love this discussion.
First of all, I do all of my own machine quilting. Sometimes, for a scrap quilt, I will purposely use an allover meander design, so that the quilting will not have it's own pattern and will let the pattern of the piecing be the only thing your "eye" sees. On quilts where I want your eye to "go" somewhere, I will leave certain small areas unquilted and only stitch in the ditch around them, and vary the meander patterns that I use in certain patches. I group the patches in my mind's eye into visual "blocks" (which usually have nothing to do with how the actual blocks were pieced) and quilt them separately. One might have a true random meander, the other spirals, etc. I never enter anything into a show, so it's all just up to me. You have to love that about quilting. I love the way that a discussion like this will make me *think* about what I am doing, though, and maybe try something different. |
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