Ethical question about quilt shows

See??? See??? I knew you all looked down on we'uns without the coordinating
color gene. I wasn't born with it. I can't dance either.

Cindy


"Polly Esther" wrote in message
...
While Sunny is being snitty, I'll just be uppity. (Ha. My mind zigzags
off here to the How the Fight Started and 'which one are you then?').
I simply can not imagine making a quilt where someone else chose the
fabric prints and colors and orchestrated the blending thereof. I can't
even take a cheater panel for a crib quilt and leave it alone; I always
have to make it mine.
Even out here in the Swamp where all they sell is barbed wire and hawg
feed, it would be impossible for me to accept what someone else put
together.
So. I reject the notion that a kit would be an unfair advantage. We
'uppity' quilters would think of it as a handicap.
Which one are you then? Polly


"Pat in Virginia" wrote in message
...
What I think: the rules of each show will vary, so some may permit kit
quilts, others not. If you prefer another set of rules, volunteer for the
next show committee. Of course the rest of the committee may out vote
your suggestions, but at least you would have tried. (BTDT!!) If a
committee is required to hang those quilts, perhaps that should be a
separate committee. You are not rude, nor snitty ... unless you've
blabbed it all over the show and guild, which of course I doubt. I'd have
your reaction too!!
PAT in VA/USA

Sunny wrote:

I was admiring the gorgeous quilt that won the top prizes at this
year's local guild quilt show a few weeks back today. It was made by
one of the owners of the LQS here. I opined that picking the fabrics
must have been really a hoot when she said that she hadn't picked any,
it was a kit.

OK, I understand somebody entering a kitted quilt if they are just
getting started, but ...... this struck me as just a bit unethical.
The show is viewer's choice and the quilt is stunning. It's paper
pieced and the design just seems to glow. But she didn't really make
those fabric choices.

What do you folks think? Am I just being rude and snitty, as my DH
suggests?

Sunny

As a grade schooler I used to go "downtown" almost every Saturday and buy a
skein of yarn to use on my loom or my "Kenner Little Red Spinning Wheel"
(gohs, I lusted after that until I got one for Christmas! Those commercials
were speaking just to ME). It used to really frustrate my mother and
grandmother that I would buy what I liked, but nothing that would coordinate
with the skein I'd previously purchased so they could be sewn together into
an afghan. I still pretty much buy fabric that way. But if you buy enough
fabric, eventually some of it will look good together! Just keep buying
Cindy!!! :-)

--
Kathyl (KJ)
remove "nospam" before mchsi
http://community.webshots.com/user/kathylquiltz
"teleflora" wrote in message
news

"Debra" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 23 Oct 2007 20:56:47 -0500, "teleflora"
wrote:

Wow! I didn't know that. Guess I'm back to being "not a real quilter"
again.
snip
Cindy

Oh, no you don't! There is no such thing as an unreal quilter. You've
been here longer than I have and I have plenty of tips saved that you
wrote. Face it--you're a quilter and it's too late to change your
mind.
Debra in VA

And I've got all the mis-matched fabric to prove it. I have tons
(literally) of beautiful fabric, to die for expensive fabric. And not one
single piece goes with any other.

Cindy

You know what I think you need, Cindy?
I think you need permission to screw up.
Pick out 3 things from your stash that you think just might play
nice together.
Make a block. Maybe two.
Put them on your design wall for 2 or 3 days and consider them now
and then.
Then, toss them in the trash, stomp them on the floor or keep
them filed away for reconsideration.
Think of it sort of like doing homework in 9th grade algebra. You don't
have to succeed. You are only learning. I remember one time putting yellow
and purple together and they rudely threw up on each other. Mother Nature
does that combination gloriously but not so with me.
C'mon. Just stick you toes in the water. If it's too cold, try again
another day. The largest trash can in our home is in the sewing room. For
good reason. Polly

"teleflora" wrote, in part I'm fine with solids, it's prints that I have
such a terrible time with.

And I wasn't whining about not being a quilter. I'm whining because I
can't pick fabrics.

teleflora wrote:
"Debra" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 23 Oct 2007 20:56:47 -0500, "teleflora"
wrote:

Wow! I didn't know that. Guess I'm back to being "not a real quilter"
again.
snip
Cindy
Oh, no you don't! There is no such thing as an unreal quilter. You've
been here longer than I have and I have plenty of tips saved that you
wrote. Face it--you're a quilter and it's too late to change your
mind.
Debra in VA

And I've got all the mis-matched fabric to prove it. I have tons
(literally) of beautiful fabric, to die for expensive fabric. And not one
single piece goes with any other.
Maybe you have to mix enough different fabrics together. Try cutting a
few 4" squares (for example) from each of a whole bunch of different
fabrics, put them all in a bag or box, pull them out 2 at a time and sew
them together. The only time you can throw one back in is if you pull
out 2 alike. When you get them all sewn together in pairs, repeat the
process, sewing two random pairs together. You now have a bunch of
scrappy 4 patches to play with. I bet it will look great (or at least
okay). Sometimes I find that it is harder to get 3 fabrics to play
nicely together than to get 10 or 12 to play nicely.

Julia in MN

--
This message has been scanned for viruses by Norton Anti-Virus

http://webpages.charter.net/jaccola/

On Oct 24, 4:52 pm, "Kathy Applebaum"
wrote:
But then she had help, and it's not a real quilt. ;-)

--
Kathy A. (Woodland, CA)
Queen of Fabric Tramps
/fabric_tramping/
remove the obvious to reply

"Meandering" wrote in message

oups.com...

No, Kathy, I am going to grow it for her. Do you want to comb it
out? Who would like to spin it???

We are the group.

Piece,

Marsha

Oh, that's right Kathy................how silly of me!!! :-)

So there are no real quilters, are there?

BTW, Good Morning Everyone!!!

Marsha in beautiful nw, Ohio

To Cindy, The REAL Quilter- There are some wonderful books on color for
quilters. See if you can find one (or three!) and read it. Then read it
again a few days later. And then read it again. The ideas will start
falling into place for you. I promise!

--

Leslie, Missy & The Furbabies in MO.
leslie AT spunkyladycreations DOT com
www.spunkyladycreations.com


"teleflora" wrote in message
news

"Debra" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 23 Oct 2007 20:56:47 -0500, "teleflora"
wrote:

Wow! I didn't know that. Guess I'm back to being "not a real quilter"
again.
snip
Cindy

Oh, no you don't! There is no such thing as an unreal quilter. You've
been here longer than I have and I have plenty of tips saved that you
wrote. Face it--you're a quilter and it's too late to change your
mind.
Debra in VA

And I've got all the mis-matched fabric to prove it. I have tons
(literally) of beautiful fabric, to die for expensive fabric. And not one
single piece goes with any other.

Cindy

I wonder if it would help if we start posting our ugliest quilts?
Of course those are the ones we keep hidden in the bottom of the
dark closet. Mine is lap sized and really ugly! Take a look at
some of the really ugly quilt tops on Ebay. MAny tops are not
finished because they are so poorly made or they are just plain
old ugly. If I put something on the design wall for a couple of
days I get comments from the peanut gallery here. They have fairly
good taste so sometimes I even listen.
There are lots of books and classes on color. It is tough for lots
of us but it hasn't stopped some of us yet!
TAria

Polly Esther wrote:

You know what I think you need, Cindy?
I think you need permission to screw up.
Pick out 3 things from your stash that you think just might play
nice together.
Make a block. Maybe two.
Put them on your design wall for 2 or 3 days and consider them now
and then.
Then, toss them in the trash, stomp them on the floor or keep
them filed away for reconsideration.
Think of it sort of like doing homework in 9th grade algebra. You don't
have to succeed. You are only learning. I remember one time putting yellow
and purple together and they rudely threw up on each other. Mother Nature
does that combination gloriously but not so with me.
C'mon. Just stick you toes in the water. If it's too cold, try again
another day. The largest trash can in our home is in the sewing room. For
good reason. Polly

"teleflora" wrote, in part I'm fine with solids, it's prints that I have
such a terrible time with.

And I wasn't whining about not being a quilter. I'm whining because I
can't pick fabrics.

Cindy, a couple of suggestions about picking fabrics.... you can
practice these anytime you are in a fabric/quilt shop, even if you don't
buy a lot of it. G
First, on the selvedge of many prints is a series of dots or squares
with a single color in each dot. These are all the colors used in that
print. IF you like the colors together in the print, then that is a good
indication that you like those particular colors together. Start a
"collection" of these selvedge strips. You can pick fabrics in those
color combinations for a quilt and be pretty sure they "go together". G
Second, find a print you like. Lots of colors is good. Just pull that
bolt out. then start pulling fabrics that are the same as the colors in
that print. Not necessarily exactly the same, but ones that look the
same, or help accentuate certain colors in the print.
Pull some "almost solids", some geometrics, some large prints some tiny
prints. Stack those bolts together and stand back and look at the sides,
the narrow parts, against each other. Some will jump out and be 'not
exactly right' some will help the others sing. Just practice, no need to
have anything in particular in mind. Offer to help replace the bolts if
you have them at the cutting table. (I offend do this by standing the
bolts against the shelving, offsetting them a bit, then just put them
back. G)
Find, buy, or make a set of Value Filters. These are pieces of clear
plastic, a red one and a green one. (Colored clear plastic report
folders work well. I have a set I bought that I carry in my purse.)You
look through the value filters to see the relative values of the
fabrics, without "seeing" the color. It is amazing to see the
differences. Great designs in patchwork can be lost because the fabric
values are too close to each other. You need value contrast to have the
design stand out. Another way to check value is to take a picture/scan
the fabrics and print in black and white so that all you have is shades
of grey. Really helps to show what is happening with value. G

These are a few things that can help you "train" yourself to choose
fabrics. Remember: contrast in value and size of print are probably more
important than color, but not always as much fun. VBG
You can do it. It just takes practice. OF course you might not *want* to
do it.... and that is very much okay. G There are times one must
say..."I don't want to spend the time/energy/brain power to do it." And
for each of us what it is is going to be different. VBG

Pati, in Phx
http://community.webshots.com/user/PatiCooks


teleflora wrote:
Polly, I'm in my room right now trying to re-arrange all my fabric and find
room to store it. It all looks the same. It's pretty, but if I want to
make something, I have to go buy coordinating fabric.

I'm not color blind or anything, I just don't know what looks good
together. There are quilts that I just adore, but to make one myself, I'd
either have to copy it exactly or someone else gets to choose the fabric.

I'm fine with solids, it's prints that I have such a terrible time with.

And I wasn't whining about not being a quilter. I'm whining because I can't
pick fabrics.

Cindy

"Polly Esther" wrote in message
...
Golly, Cindy. This question just became a whole lot more complicated than
I realized. For sure, I should have stayed out of it.
It seems to me that you are missing a lot of the joy of quilting if you
can not choose your colors and fabrics . . . but what do I know?
If someone said to me 'you can be a quilter only if you use these
colors and fabrics' there's just no telling how I would react. I 'd
probably get in a real huff. I might take their colors and fabrics and
poke them up their nose.
With that said, it just never crossed my dim old mind that there were
quilters who were color/fabric challenged meaning choosing was impossible
or difficult. Oh my, how I would love to take you shopping. I'll just
bet that I could move you from "I can't choose" to "How many can we get
in your car?". Polly (my car will hold at least a bathtub full)



"teleflora" wrote in message
...
Wow! I didn't know that. Guess I'm back to being "not a real quilter"
again.

I am paralyzed by fabric choices. I am color-challenged when it comes to
more than 3 fabrics. If I had to wait till I made a decision, I'd never
sew a stitch. And the sewing is the favorite part for me. But I do make
sure people know that my little quilt sometimes come from kits. I also
use coordinated charm squares for many of my mini's. Would that be
considered cheating as well? What about the kits that are made up of
particular fabric lines. I see lots of quilts made from only Moda or RJR
collections.

I just don't get when I will be considered a real quilter. Maybe if I
hand dye the fabric I've woven on a loom, made up a brand new pattern,
hand pieced and hand quilted the thing, that will be good enough.

Cindy

Great.... I am working on my piecing skills every time I make a quilt. G
Sometimes I get in too much of a hurry and don't do some of the little
things that make a difference.VBG

Pati, in Phx
http://community.webshots.com/user/PatiCooks



teleflora wrote:
"Pati C." wrote in message
...
That does not make them less a quilter, just a quilter who concentrates on
other skills. G

I'm known as a "really good piecer".

Cindy

Pati,

Great suggestions. I would NEVER have thought about using
the colo dots on the selvages as a tool.

Karen

Pati C. wrote:
Cindy, a couple of suggestions about picking fabrics.... you can
practice these anytime you are in a fabric/quilt shop, even if you don't
buy a lot of it. G
First, on the selvedge of many prints is a series of dots or squares
with a single color in each dot. These are all the colors used in that
print. IF you like the colors together in the print, then that is a good
indication that you like those particular colors together. Start a
"collection" of these selvedge strips. You can pick fabrics in those
color combinations for a quilt and be pretty sure they "go together". G
Second, find a print you like. Lots of colors is good. Just pull that
bolt out. then start pulling fabrics that are the same as the colors in
that print. Not necessarily exactly the same, but ones that look the
same, or help accentuate certain colors in the print.
Pull some "almost solids", some geometrics, some large prints some tiny
prints. Stack those bolts together and stand back and look at the sides,
the narrow parts, against each other. Some will jump out and be 'not
exactly right' some will help the others sing. Just practice, no need to
have anything in particular in mind. Offer to help replace the bolts if
you have them at the cutting table. (I offend do this by standing the
bolts against the shelving, offsetting them a bit, then just put them
back. G)
Find, buy, or make a set of Value Filters. These are pieces of clear
plastic, a red one and a green one. (Colored clear plastic report
folders work well. I have a set I bought that I carry in my purse.)You
look through the value filters to see the relative values of the
fabrics, without "seeing" the color. It is amazing to see the
differences. Great designs in patchwork can be lost because the fabric
values are too close to each other. You need value contrast to have the
design stand out. Another way to check value is to take a picture/scan
the fabrics and print in black and white so that all you have is shades
of grey. Really helps to show what is happening with value. G

These are a few things that can help you "train" yourself to choose
fabrics. Remember: contrast in value and size of print are probably more
important than color, but not always as much fun. VBG
You can do it. It just takes practice. OF course you might not *want* to
do it.... and that is very much okay. G There are times one must
say..."I don't want to spend the time/energy/brain power to do it." And
for each of us what it is is going to be different. VBG

Pati, in Phx
http://community.webshots.com/user/PatiCooks


teleflora wrote:
Polly, I'm in my room right now trying to re-arrange all my fabric and
find room to store it. It all looks the same. It's pretty, but if I
want to make something, I have to go buy coordinating fabric.

I'm not color blind or anything, I just don't know what looks good
together. There are quilts that I just adore, but to make one myself,
I'd either have to copy it exactly or someone else gets to choose the
fabric.

I'm fine with solids, it's prints that I have such a terrible time with.

And I wasn't whining about not being a quilter. I'm whining because I
can't pick fabrics.

Cindy

"Polly Esther" wrote in message
...
Golly, Cindy. This question just became a whole lot more complicated
than I realized. For sure, I should have stayed out of it.
It seems to me that you are missing a lot of the joy of quilting
if you can not choose your colors and fabrics . . . but what do I know?
If someone said to me 'you can be a quilter only if you use these
colors and fabrics' there's just no telling how I would react. I 'd
probably get in a real huff. I might take their colors and fabrics
and poke them up their nose.
With that said, it just never crossed my dim old mind that there
were quilters who were color/fabric challenged meaning choosing was
impossible or difficult. Oh my, how I would love to take you
shopping. I'll just bet that I could move you from "I can't choose"
to "How many can we get in your car?". Polly (my car will hold at
least a bathtub full)



"teleflora" wrote in message
...
Wow! I didn't know that. Guess I'm back to being "not a real
quilter" again.

I am paralyzed by fabric choices. I am color-challenged when it
comes to more than 3 fabrics. If I had to wait till I made a
decision, I'd never sew a stitch. And the sewing is the favorite
part for me. But I do make sure people know that my little quilt
sometimes come from kits. I also use coordinated charm squares for
many of my mini's. Would that be considered cheating as well? What
about the kits that are made up of particular fabric lines. I see
lots of quilts made from only Moda or RJR collections.

I just don't get when I will be considered a real quilter. Maybe if
I hand dye the fabric I've woven on a loom, made up a brand new
pattern, hand pieced and hand quilted the thing, that will be good
enough.

Cindy