FOOD FOR THOUGHT- Dumb down quilting

[Margo C.]

http://piecemealquilts.wordpress.com...n-of-quilting/

http://piecemealquilts.wordpress.com...ilting-part-2/


Here is an article on the web that is thought provoking.... I am working my way through the article and the fifty plus and growing comments.

come back here and tell the other TQS what you thought about the article.

lady rags

[Kathryn S.]

Anna, I read all three parts of the "dumbing down of quilting" blog posts. The main idea of her posts was that many internet sites (and I imagine also magazines) are presenting anything but simple blocks made of squares as intermediate or advanced, and that this might be discouraging to new quilters to try new things. I do see that a lot on the newsstands and when looking at websites. I've always been one who wants to know more, try more, learn more.... that's the fun of it for me. If the information is out there, I imagine that if someone is interested, they can find it. some of my quilting friends aren't interested in searching out the new- their motivation to make quilts is to give them to family members. As the blogger said, either approach is valid and worthy. If I were in the camp of not trying new things, I might have taken umbrage at the words "dumbing down" but if I read the article I would have to agree with what she said. A worthy topic of discussion!

Thanks for bringing this one up

Kathy

[Paula D.]

Well, talk about your "quilt police" - SHEESH!!! :shock: I did NOT bookmark her site! (Free country, no?)

[Paula D.]

There are now 3 posts about the dumbing down, and having read them I think that she actually is probably making some valid points about how things are generally presented. Her main objection is that pinwheels and the like, which are only built up of hst's, are being presented as an intermediate/advanced difficulty, while in her book, they should be classed as beginner work.

Now I admit that I don't tend to trawl a lot of quilting blogs (I come to TQS for my quilting), but I do trawl clothing blogs, and I have to admit that most comments are usually of the 'that is fab' school, you never see 'that's good but if you tried this/altered that for fit, it could be better' school. People are afraid to type constructive criticism (unless they are in a 'closed' forum - the Cutter & Tailor being a case in point, because it is encouraged there for learning),in case it is taken as a personal insult. This is probably because we do not have the nuances of body language or voice tone to help us to decipher how the actual words are to be taken, and it is a harder skill to develope on the printed page. In some respects this stops us from having 'deep'(or 'have you tried?') conversations, because something that was meant in a helpful way is interpreted as a personal insult, and then you end up having arguments over tiny differences of interpretation that if you were face to face would not happen.

Give the lady her due, she stuck her head over the parapet and opened up the debate - that is Good,
Disagree with her - that is Good.
Insult her, for her perceptions of what she is reading in the blogosphere - that is Bad !

Rosemary

[Paula D.]

I will be taking the time to read it all and follow. I just read part 1 and I must agree whole heartedly. I want to (and do) grow in my quilting but each person must find her own comfort zone. Sometimes that has meant that I have moved on and actually left a group because though 30 year quilters they were still very much attracted to beginner/wonky/haphazard quilt making and totally ignoring anything that caused them to think. For me, quilting is a whole body exercise which means the brain must work and I do not just replicate somebody's design, up to the point of going into a funk if I can't find the line of fabric used in the original pattern.

This will be a debate I will enjoy following and may open some cubby holes in my brain. Who knows?

[Marion D.]

I didn't read all the comments, but I did find that a number of them completely missed the point!

Sometimes I feel like I'm ready to tackle a Dahlia or Mariner's Complass, and sometimes I want to retreat back to pinwheels. It depends on what else is going on and how much time I feel I can devote to it.

I recently made a quilt with different sized sawtooth stars -- which I consider a basic block -- and one of my friends said she could never do that! She has made a lot of sawtooth stars, she just doesn't have the confidence to sit down and design something herself.

You just have to ask "what if...?" and somedays I can't do that.

[Eileen K.]

I'm a pattern follower and that's fine with me. I figure if the person who wrote the pattern could make a certain block, then so can I. I've been known to pull things apart to see how they're made.
I have friends who have been quilting for a couple of years and who have never done a HST. It's like they have training wheels and they're afraid of having them taken off. I'm working with one of them; hopefully she'll take that leap of faith and sew triangles.

[Keith D.]

Interesting posts and comments, Lady. Thanks!

For the most part, I think she was spot on - especially when she suggested I was so fashion forward for working with yellow and grey right now. Or did she suggest that I was blindly following trends... Hmmm...

I agree when she said that HSTs are not intermediate or advanced.

Except there's room here for everybody - and we need and love new quilters. And not really being in the business, I don't know how best to attract and keep them. Encouraging people to take steps must be good, right?

And there's something wonderful about turning your mind off and enjoying your quilting while you spend the afternoon with family and friends at class, at home, or wherever you happen to be. Maybe the preponderance of basic books and classes and patterns she talked about is a good thing.

But there's also something exciting about experimenting and learning and pushing yourself right up to the edge. Not everybody is there though.

And you know you've been doing something for a long time when everything old is new again... =)

[Hannelore N.]

Well, Keith, why don't you take another look at those HSTs. They may not immediately shout 'intermediate' or 'advanced' to you, but it all depends on what you do with them. I bet in a few months time we will see some very advanced quilts here that started life with an envelope full of humble HSTs and end up very close to that edge that you have mentioned, Keith.

Isn't that one of the attractions of quilting, that you can take some very straightforward techniques and develop them, initially to somewhere within your own comfort zone, but eventually when that comfort zone start to feel a little too cozy, and if you feel like it, you can leave caution behind and fly.

[Keith D.]

Oh my golly - you're right, Lorchen. How narrow of me... HSTs can be used for amazing and advanced quilts. I only meant that using skills one already has or pushing to new piecing skills - both are fun and have their place.

[Hannelore N.]

Not 'narrow' at all, Keith. It's just that the internet is such a rigid way to communicate. You type a message and you send it on its way. And there it sits, for an eternity, without the chance to immediately tweak or adjust it, or add detail, as you can when you have a face to face conversation. Some folks read messages and take them literal and others just take in the gist, some would like to ask questions, but are too shy, and then there are those who jump in where angels fear to tread. So never a dull moment, right!

Just think of how much you and I would chat about over a mug of coffee and a large slice of Schwarzwälderkirschtorte!

[Pam D.]

Lorchen, I'm not sure what kind of cake that is, but can I have a slice too. Pretty please.

[Pam D.]

My guess is Black Forest Cherry cake - aka Black Forest Gateau in UK.
Swartz = Black
Walder = ? (sorry I'm missing the dots over the 'a')
Kirsch = Cherry(?)
Torte = cake (or gateau if you're being posh)

Which when it is done properly is probably magnificent, but there are lots of poor commercial imitations around

How is my translation, Lorchan?

Rosemary

[Pam D.]

Rosemary, I did wonder if it was that, but didn't want to look stupid. ops: ops: My german is non existent, although DD is doing her MA in german translation and interpreting.
Anyway I'd still like a slice please, :lol: :lol: Lorchen.

[Hannelore N.]

That's it, Ladies! Blackforest Cherry Gateau. You make a nice think chocolate sponge cake and cut it into three layers. Then drizzle a little (if it's for grown-ups) Cherry Brandy on the cake layers. Whip some cream till it's stiff and take the stones out of a bowl full of black cherries. Then layer: cake, cherries, cream, cake, cherries, cream, cake, cherries, cream. Decorate with a few cherries and some grated dark chcolate. And enjoy. Only eat/make when not on a diet.