Hand versus Machine

[Lynn K.]

Mandy, when I started thinking about getting my longarm, I also got the "glare" from hand quilters. Now, they bring their tops to me to machine quilt for them.

[Lynn K.]

I am a new quilter. I machine piece and quilt because I can. I still have to learn the skills of hand work. However, I was most distressed at a small local quilt show to hear an elderly lady comment, "Oh, that's just a bed spread, not a quilt, see, it's done on a machine." There is a place in this world for both, and both are egually beautiful when done well.

[Lynn K.]

Hey Ruth,
I would be distressed to hear that also. My opinion is what ever the quilt is going to be used for--dictates whether or not it is machine stitched or hand stitched. Keep practicing on hand quilting and have fun with whatever you are doing.
ritzy

[Lynn K.]

This is a really tender spot for me. My sister used to quilt in the 80's. All by hand, very nice work, but if you washed it, it came apart. I started quilting in the 90's. By machine. I enjoy it. I like the sound of the machine while I sew, I find it relaxing. Also, there are SO MANY quilts I want to do, that I don't always have time for hand work. I do hand applique, and I am working on a grandmother's flower garden that is hand pieced.

At the holidays my sister was in town. I have started designing and selling my own quilt patterns and she saw one on my desk. She picked it up and inquired where the templates were. I pointed out that it was for rotary cutting and machine piecing. She smiled, set it back on the desk and stated that she preferred real quilting and but it was cute that I was still working by machine.

Ladies, I don't care how you do it. By hand, by machine, in the car, at home, it doesn't matter, it is all quilting and it is all beautiful. Imagine how boring quilt shows would be if everyone did the same kind of work with the same techniques.

I feel sorry for the people who believe that if it isn't done a particular way, it somehow lessens the value or impact of the quilt. EVERY quilt is an expression of the maker's creativity NO MATTER HOW IT IS DONE. I don't have to like them all but I do have to RESPECT their interpretation of our wonderful craft.

Thank you all, I'm stepping off my soapbox now.....

[Annette R.]

good for you, you are right different strokes for different folks that us what makes the world go around. My only sibling used to say he thought I was awfully silly to take good fabric cut it apart and sew it back togerther
But since I started to make quilts for all the family and he was the last one to get one (and his wife thought I was not going to give him one) I didn't hear that very often
But last summer I gave them the one I designed for them (not a traditional paattern at all but something I designed myself he has quit making comments about my quilting.
I do hand embroidery and hand beading I have a friend who does beautiful machine embroidery. I love what she does and she admires what I do and we do not have to compete with or coppy each other we each have our own talents

SO VIVA LA DIFFERANCE

[Annette R.]

BRAVO! moogi and snowplow!!

[Annette R.]

Moogiequilter, you could point out to your sister that if she followed your cutting instructions and then marked the quarter inch she can still do her hand work the "real" way without messing with templates and she might even find it more precise than the old way.

[Annette R.]

Moogiequilter, you could point out to your sister that if she followed your cutting instructions and then marked the quarter inch she can still do her hand work the "real" way without messing with templates and she might even find it more precise than the old way.

I never thought of that. it would be more precise and she could keep the element of hand work!

Moogie

[Annette R.]

Ooo... great topic!

I am another handpiecer and quilter, and probably always will be. I got into quilting last year as a hobby, and have since become a Jinny Beyer groupie LOL! I have tried a little machine piecing and am enjoying that too (enough to invest in a Featherweight), but the meditative act of handsewing is like therapy for me. I tend to use the FW more for when I'm joining rows up.

I didn't teach myself how to do this to become a quilt machine; I did it because I fell in love with the process itself.

I created something of a sensation at a bee last fall at my LQS; everyone there was on a machine. I was the only one of of about 20 who was handsewing, and pretty soon a crowd had gathered around me. It was hilarious, given how unpracticed I was at that point LOL! But everyone's work was simply beautiful, and I was in awe of how quickly they made lovely things come together. In awe, but still content to keep sitting with my DH in my living room, handsewing away.

[Annette R.]

I've been watching this forum. I've only started quilting the past year or so. Started by machine but doing a Cathedral Windows & found I liked hand piecing. I thought about responding but chose not too since I couldn't find the words. You put together the way I've felt beautifully. I still think I'll do a few things with my new machine but totally enjoy the "art" of hand sewing. It seems to be peaceful & keeps the older traditations alive. I started out with embroidery & at about 10 was given a course in the "Singer Sewing Machine Store" by my grandmother. Thank goodness for her or I'd never learned the "Art" of sewing.

Linda
sw PA

[Annette R.]

Isn't it a great memory to be taught by your granparent. My grandmother didn't teach me to quilt but she did teach me to sew - little doll dresses Early on it was all by hand and later with a Cabbage Patch Kid hand crank toy sewing machine. She taught me how to draw my own patterns and had such a fearless attitude about it I always assumed she had been sewing all her life. It was only after she died that I found out she had never really sewn anything before she taught me, she was just making it up as she went. I guess thats why I wasn't afraid to try quilting even though nobody I knew did it.

[Lynn K.]

Now that is a beautiful story! Thanks for sharing it!

[Lynn K.]

I'm a hand piecer myself and all but one of my quilts have been hand quilted. I love the portability of hand work and the tactile feel. I actually get intimate with my fabric I believe. When my quilt is finished I can look at individual pieces and remember 'oh, I did that in the car waiting for the husband' or 'that's the piece I misplaced in the couch cushions for weeks!'. I'm the only one in my quilt group that hand pieces and I get the most positive responses from the ladies. They are very generous with their comments on my stitching and I adore their work on machine. It's a mutual admiration society.

Keep hand piecing ladies. The quilt world is big enough for variety and it's an art that should never disappear.

McKenna

[Lynn K.]

I, too, do it all. I love the long process of a hand made quilt and I usually have one going. It doesn't bother me at all that a quilt might take 2 years. It makes it seem even more treasured. There are other times when I want to whip something up quickly on the machine.

I think there are cases where hand or machine quilting is more appropriate - at least for my quilts: I love hand applique and I hand quilt those quilts. I love fusible applique and satin stitch applique and I machine quilt those with some thread painting too.

There is nothing as relaxing as sitting with a quilt and hand quilting. I think I feel connected to our foremothers then. But I also love the exillaration I get when using the long-arm or breezing along quilting on my home machine!

My least favorite thing is making repetitive blocks on the machine. This gets boring to me and I usually do quilts like that at a retreat where there's conversation going on around me.

I'm really glad all methods are acceptable and accessible to us. We should feel lucky that we have all these choices and also that we're able to make quilts just for the joy and creativity of it and not out of necessity!

[Sandy F.]

I too love the process of making a quilt by hand. Sitting down at the sewing machine is like work to me but sitting in my comfortable chair listening to a book or watching tv and sewing is sooo relaxing and I can pick it up and carry it with me. People do incredible work on the machine but I haven't had the patience to master it yet. Hand made quilt will always be my first love.