Local quilt show: observations

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

John - no offense taken here! I went to a quilt show last year where I saw
much of the same as far as machine quilting. On the other hand, at another
show, I saw more examples of machine quilting being done in a manner than
enhanced and complemented the piecing, so that kind of work really is being
done.

One thing to keep in mind, though, is that it's not always the machine
quilter who chooses the quilting design (this applies to those quilts done
by a "professional"). Sometimes, for instance, the piecer tells the machine
quilter that she wants to spend no more than a certain amount of money. The
quilter then has to determine what kind of design she can use and still make
money. Many times that is an edge-to-edge design or a form of meander. The
piecer would get a more custom-designed quilting job if she wanted (or was
able) to spend more money, but budgets don't always allow for that. Other
times, the piecer specifically requests the kind of design you're
describing - they want something that will hold all three layers together
and nothing more. And, quite honestly, it appears there are piecers who just
don't know/understand that their quilt could be even more beautiful if an
appropriate quilting design were created for it.

In an ideal world, every piecer would have an unlimited budget for the
quilting portion of the project and the machine quilter would find the
perfect quilting design that would show off the piecing and make every
piecer the star of the quilt show!

I'm looking forward to our local show this fall - will be interested to see
if the trend is toward overall designs.
--
Louise in Iowa
nieland1390@mchsi dot com
http://community.webshots.com/user/louiseiniowa


"John" wrote in message
...
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

We have a local quilter that does a large meandering/mattress allover type
pattern. It is
really just plain old function. The work is a bargain in comparison to
really beautiful
artful machine quilting. Many of the guild members have their work done by
this fellow
and so lots of the work at their small show is his. For a dorm room, folks
with kids or
pets on the bed it works but it isn't the most creative choice. Some of my
quilts have an allover
pattern. I do lots of scrappy busy stuff that will be functional. There is
that all the way to
the hand quilting I do. I guess there is a place for all of it but I would
like to see special
work in shows. I am not sure that happens in small guild shows. Every time I
go to the
road to CA show I come away knowing just how inferior my MQ'ing is. Sure it
is improving
but on a regular machine there are limitations that just aren't around for
long arm quilters.
DH and I were talking about this last week. He has played guitar
professionally but he could
never in this life practice enough to be concert type guitar player.
Everyone has different
natural born capabilities. Of course hard work and determination go a long
way even so.
I know as folks have physical limitations there are reasons to have your
work done by others.
For myself, at this point, I could not call a quilt someone else quilted
mine because I can do it
myself. I do think there is room for it all though.
Hopefully we all have tough toes around here. : )
Taria

I agree. Also many machine quilters haven't acquired the skills
necessary to do the custom work that will enhance the pattern of the
top. It takes a lot of practice, a bit more thinking, and perhaps a bit
more imagination. I do all my own quilting, both hand and machine, in
part because I'm too cheap to pay someone to do a really great job of
longarm quilting. I use my regular machine (Elna 6003 Quilter's Dream).
I'm not great at it, but I do try to do something other than allover
stippling or meandering. I have meandered the center of a few small,
quick quilts, but always did something a little different in the
borders; I think those were Yellow Brick Road or similar patterns and
simple meandering seemed appropriate.

The heaviest quilting I've ever done was on the Julia's Lily quilt near
the bottom of http://webpages.charter.net/jaccola/Quilts2008.html. I
was also happy with the way the red & pink Warm Wishes turned out. The
other Warm Wishes quilt on that page was much simpler, all straight
line, quilting.

Julia in MN


Louise in Iowa wrote:
John - no offense taken here! I went to a quilt show last year where I saw
much of the same as far as machine quilting. On the other hand, at another
show, I saw more examples of machine quilting being done in a manner than
enhanced and complemented the piecing, so that kind of work really is being
done.

One thing to keep in mind, though, is that it's not always the machine
quilter who chooses the quilting design (this applies to those quilts done
by a "professional"). Sometimes, for instance, the piecer tells the machine
quilter that she wants to spend no more than a certain amount of money. The
quilter then has to determine what kind of design she can use and still make
money. Many times that is an edge-to-edge design or a form of meander. The
piecer would get a more custom-designed quilting job if she wanted (or was
able) to spend more money, but budgets don't always allow for that. Other
times, the piecer specifically requests the kind of design you're
describing - they want something that will hold all three layers together
and nothing more. And, quite honestly, it appears there are piecers who just
don't know/understand that their quilt could be even more beautiful if an
appropriate quilting design were created for it.

In an ideal world, every piecer would have an unlimited budget for the
quilting portion of the project and the machine quilter would find the
perfect quilting design that would show off the piecing and make every
piecer the star of the quilt show!

I'm looking forward to our local show this fall - will be interested to see
if the trend is toward overall designs.


--
-----------
This message has been scanned for viruses by Norton Anti-Virus
http://webpages.charter.net/jaccola/default
-----------

On Aug 15, 2:28*pm, "Louise in Iowa" wrote:
John - no offense taken here! I went to a quilt show last year where I saw
much of the same as far as machine quilting. On the other hand, at another
show, I saw more examples of machine quilting being done in a manner than
enhanced and complemented the piecing, so that kind of work really is being
done.

One thing to keep in mind, though, is that it's not always the machine
quilter who chooses the quilting design (this applies to those quilts done
by a "professional"). Sometimes, for instance, the piecer tells the machine
quilter that she wants to spend no more than a certain amount of money. The
quilter then has to determine what kind of design she can use and still make
money. Many times that is an edge-to-edge design or a form of meander. The
piecer would get a more custom-designed quilting job if she wanted (or was
able) to spend more money, but budgets don't always allow for that. Other
times, the piecer specifically requests the kind of design you're
describing - they want something that will hold all three layers together
and nothing more. And, quite honestly, it appears there are piecers who just
don't know/understand that their quilt could be even more beautiful if an
appropriate quilting design were created for it.

In an ideal world, every piecer would have an unlimited budget for the
quilting portion of the project and the machine quilter would find the
perfect quilting design that would show off the piecing and make every
piecer the star of the quilt show!

I'm looking forward to our local show this fall - will be interested to see
if the trend is toward overall designs.
--
Louise in Iowa
nieland1390@mchsi dot comhttp://community.webshots.com/user/louiseiniowa

"John" wrote in message

...

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

Don't get me wrong. I am not one of the quilt police. If people want
to make things like I have described, then good on them. I hope they
get pleasure out of what they do. If people want to make and enter
things like I described in quilt shows, then good on them. But, and
this is the real defining factor. When they show me those quilts in a
setting that implies that they are looking for opinions. IE; judging
of quilts in the shows, then I will render my opinion as it pertains
to my own choices of excellence. If they hang those quilts in their
houses, and I happen to be asked by them what I think. I will, gently
explain my personal preferences, and why they might differ from
theirs, but I will celebrate, their efforts, and hopefully, show them
a way that might improve their next quilt, technique. That is the
nature of criticism. It is sometimes difficult for the recipient to
accept that criticism, but if you can't stand the heat, stay out of
the quilt judging at the quilt show. I am sometimes judged by hand
quilters as not being a "real quilter" because I machine quilt. In
return, I state that I am not a "real Quilter". I am a, "real machine
quilter". I don't think there is a hierarchy in quilting, only bad
technique, machine and hand. Even that applies only to things that
are of a showpiece nature. If you are making a dog bed quilt, I don't
think it matters to the dog, if it gets four paws or one paw in the
dog bed judging contest. What matters is that it is warm and comfy. If
it is entered in a quilt show, then you better be prepared for
suggestions or criticisms.

John

Just because a quilt is on display does not mean we should be standing there
critiquing it. Well, maybe in Ohio a quilt show means the quilters are
looking for opinions from the people who attend. In my guild, here in
Virginia, the quilts are hung for the enjoyment of the viewers! There is a
"Viewer's Choice" ballot, so the viewers do get a chance to 'judge'
discreetly. That doesn't mean they should be publicly criticizing the quilts
while at the show, although they probably discuss the work with a few
friends, when away from the show. We do not hire judges to rate the quilts.
Even if we did, that does not mean it is open season on voicing opinions in
the venue, which your note seems to imply.

PAT in Virginia


"John" wrote in message . .
Don't get me wrong. I am not one of the quilt police. If people want
to make things like I have described, then good on them. I hope they
get pleasure out of what they do. If people want to make and enter
things like I described in quilt shows, then good on them. But, and
this is the real defining factor. When they show me those quilts in a
setting that implies that they are looking for opinions. IE; judging
of quilts in the shows, then I will render my opinion as it pertains
to my own choices of excellence. If they hang those quilts in their
houses, and I happen to be asked by them what I think. I will, gently
explain my personal preferences, and why they might differ from
theirs, but I will celebrate, their efforts, and hopefully, show them
a way that might improve their next quilt, technique. That is the
nature of criticism. It is sometimes difficult for the recipient to
accept that criticism, but if you can't stand the heat, stay out of
the quilt judging at the quilt show. I am sometimes judged by hand
quilters as not being a "real quilter" because I machine quilt. In
return, I state that I am not a "real Quilter". I am a, "real machine
quilter". I don't think there is a hierarchy in quilting, only bad
technique, machine and hand. Even that applies only to things that
are of a showpiece nature. If you are making a dog bed quilt, I don't
think it matters to the dog, if it gets four paws or one paw in the
dog bed judging contest. What matters is that it is warm and comfy. If
it is entered in a quilt show, then you better be prepared for
suggestions or criticisms.

John

Thank you, Pat.
Gen


"Pat in Virginia" wrote in message
...
Just because a quilt is on display does not mean we should be standing
there critiquing it. Well, maybe in Ohio a quilt show means the quilters
are looking for opinions from the people who attend. In my guild, here in
Virginia, the quilts are hung for the enjoyment of the viewers! There is
a "Viewer's Choice" ballot, so the viewers do get a chance to 'judge'
discreetly. That doesn't mean they should be publicly criticizing the
quilts while at the show, although they probably discuss the work with a
few friends, when away from the show. We do not hire judges to rate the
quilts. Even if we did, that does not mean it is open season on voicing
opinions in the venue, which your note seems to imply.

PAT in Virginia


"John" wrote in message . .
Don't get me wrong. I am not one of the quilt police. If people want
to make things like I have described, then good on them. I hope they
get pleasure out of what they do. If people want to make and enter
things like I described in quilt shows, then good on them. But, and
this is the real defining factor. When they show me those quilts in a
setting that implies that they are looking for opinions. IE; judging
of quilts in the shows, then I will render my opinion as it pertains
to my own choices of excellence. If they hang those quilts in their
houses, and I happen to be asked by them what I think. I will, gently
explain my personal preferences, and why they might differ from
theirs, but I will celebrate, their efforts, and hopefully, show them
a way that might improve their next quilt, technique. That is the
nature of criticism. It is sometimes difficult for the recipient to
accept that criticism, but if you can't stand the heat, stay out of
the quilt judging at the quilt show. I am sometimes judged by hand
quilters as not being a "real quilter" because I machine quilt. In
return, I state that I am not a "real Quilter". I am a, "real machine
quilter". I don't think there is a hierarchy in quilting, only bad
technique, machine and hand. Even that applies only to things that
are of a showpiece nature. If you are making a dog bed quilt, I don't
think it matters to the dog, if it gets four paws or one paw in the
dog bed judging contest. What matters is that it is warm and comfy. If
it is entered in a quilt show, then you better be prepared for
suggestions or criticisms.

John

In article ,
"Pat in Virginia" wrote:

Just because a quilt is on display does not mean we should be standing there
critiquing it. Well, maybe in Ohio a quilt show means the quilters are
looking for opinions from the people who attend. In my guild, here in
Virginia, the quilts are hung for the enjoyment of the viewers! There is a
"Viewer's Choice" ballot, so the viewers do get a chance to 'judge'
discreetly. That doesn't mean they should be publicly criticizing the quilts
while at the show, although they probably discuss the work with a few
friends, when away from the show. We do not hire judges to rate the quilts.
Even if we did, that does not mean it is open season on voicing opinions in
the venue, which your note seems to imply.

PAT in Virginia


Well said, Pat.

--
Sandy in Henderson, near Las Vegas
sw.foster1 (at) gmail (dot) com (remove/change the obvious)
http://www.sandymike.net

On Aug 16, 4:22*pm, "Pat in Virginia" wrote:
Just because a quilt is on display does not mean we should be standing there
critiquing it. Well, maybe in Ohio a quilt show means the quilters are
looking for opinions from the people who attend. In my guild, here in
Virginia, the quilts are hung for the enjoyment of the viewers! *There is a
"Viewer's Choice" ballot, so the viewers do get a chance to 'judge'
discreetly. That doesn't mean they should be publicly criticizing the quilts
while at the show, although they probably discuss the work with a few
friends, when away from the show. We do not hire judges to rate the quilts.
Even if we did, that does not mean it is open season on voicing opinions in
the venue, which your note seems to imply.

PAT in Virginia
Nobody is standing around and criticizing the quilts, at least that I
have heard. The quilts in question are divided up into categories,
Traditional, Art, hand quilted, machine quilted, ect. The different
categories, are voted on. Therein lies the judgement, that is being
rendered. I am shure some of them are in it to show what they are
doing and not for any prize ribbon or award. But I hope that you an
agree that there are "good quilts" of whatever stripe, and those that
are not so good because of poor choices of color, assembly or other
widely accepted criteria of excellence. I understand that somebody
just starting out will not produce a quilt that they might produce a
number of years down the road. They in their enthusiasm, might have
placed the quilt into the display area, to show what they are up to.
My criticism of their efforts, in no way should be construed as
something that should tell them to stop doing what they are doing. But
more like what you might read within the confines of a book on the
subject of quilting excellence. I have noted in many publication,s of
quilting technique, articles referring to common mistakes that you
should watch for when getting started out in quilting. I learned all
that I know about quilting from books, as I am completely self taught.
All of those books, have made reference to the need to respect the
integrity of the quilt pattern design when stitching the tops, and I
think that is a reasonable attitude to take when doing free motion
topstitching. The quilting patterns can be simple or complex, as the
person desires, or is capable of producing, but the end result is
often considered to be better, than one in which the careless
disregard for seams of the patchwork when applying the overall random
placement of stitching using free motion techniques. If, for whatever
other reason, the person knowingly uses that technique, to some
imagined, "Artistic" Ideal, then that is fine. It is not something I
would consider spending much time either doing or even looking at
during my pass down the isles of the quilt show. If on the other hand,
some might judge the simple but careful placement of stitching on a
simple traditional pattern as boring, then that is fine also, but at
least they can not judge it as sloppy craftsmanship. That is the
difference that I was trying to point out. If that is overly critical,
then so be it. If you enjoy what you are doing, as I said in the
original post, then good on you. But don't think that I will champion
your efforts, if they don't at least try to follow some basic elements
good design. That being a somewhat subjective, but not unknown ideal.

John

On Aug 15, 1:25*pm, 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

I can understand the limitations of money into the overall equation.
But, I do all of the quilting on all of my quilts myself; with a
machine, and proudly so.
1. If I didn't do it, all myself, I wouldn't call it, "My Quilt".
2. If I paid to have it quilted, I wouldn't enter it into a show.
3. I don't like the look of all over quilting on small pieced tops.
4. Number three does not apply to art quilts which are different than
small pieced quilts, and have a different type of piecing pattern than
traditional small pieced pattern quilts, and therefor might be a
candidate for overall machine quilting. I don't make Art Quilts, so I
have no personal experience with that element of the medium. I neither
like or dislike them. They are a different kettle of fish, for me.
Neither better nor worse. Just different. If I ever did do an Art
Quilt, I would certainly consider an all over quilting pattern, if I
thought it would not detract from the design.
Maybe I am a traditionalist in this regard, but one of the quilts
that I really appreciated was machine pieced, and hand quilted. The
hand quilting was stitched in the ditch. Now there was somebody that
took hand stitching to another level. She buried the stitches in the
fold of the seam and they were not even seen in some instances. That
takes commitment when it could have been done by machine with no foul.
Except it wouldn't have been hand quilted. Kudo's to her. I wish I
could do the hand stitching, but these old stubby hammer pounded
fingers just won't cooperate. My own personal cross to bear, I guess.

John