Quilt Show Etiquette

[Margo C.]

Actually, Anna, I'm not "in the business".

I am only a regular (charter) member of TQS who volunteered to work with Sue to clarify some of the instructions in her first TQS BOM pattern, and after that she asked me to help with the others. I'm not on anyone's payroll, and quilting and monitoring the forum is just something that I do to keep from going insane!

I have taught a few classes locally, but don't do much of that any more.

I have entered quilts in a few shows and have been fortunate enough to win a few ribbons, but mostly my quilts are made to be used and loved to death.
Thankfully, the recipients are glad to do just that!

[Hannelore N.]

Anna, like Margo I'm not 'in the business', but my quilts range from quickly thrown together snuggly quilts for a charity to the odd art quilt that gets entered into shows. The labels very much depend on what the piece is intended for. A Linus quilt simply said on the back 'For a Football Fan. Enjoy! from H.N.', but a small art quilt had to have a label on it that contained a whole list of information, as stipulated by the organizer. I must admit that I have not managed to find the time yet to play with my embroidery unit, and things often get finished at the last minute, so most labels are hand-written with a permanent marker pen. My sons' quilts have a very small 'From Mütterchen with Love, 20..' in a corner, and similar for my granddaughter: 'From Oma for Evchen, 20..'

Now, if there would be any chance at all (and we'd start a colony on Venus before that happens) that I would have to stand next to one of my quilts at a major show and answer questions from quilters ('It took me three years, Dear!', 'I used Razzle Dazzle in the bobbin', 'The trapunto work is my own design.', etc.) I would definitely keep a log whilst working on that quilt so that I could answer all those questions. But then those people are professionals. I'm striclty (and very happily) amateur.

What I don't understand is...... going off on a tangent here..... that anybody wants to know how many hours anybody spent on a quilt. We are all different, some work fast, some don't, some are disciplined and spent 10 hours non-stop quilting, others have to change and do something different every half an hour, and - oh no! - some quilters have to work in order to generate enough income to pay the basic bills and just squeeze in a few minutes quilting here and there. Personally, I'm much more interested in why someone came up with a certain design. What triggered the use of vaguely Celtic shapes, for example, or what lead to the use of certain colour combinations (and don't tell me it's the old colour wheel, because according to that, anything goes, there are just different names for the various combinations). And going off on yet another tangent: Why do a lot of the prize-winning quilts have to be quilted so tensely that you can hardly see the fabric? That, for me, would be thread painting and not quilting..... Ok, I have waffled enough for one night. I'm off to bed. Maybe I'll just manage to get upstairs before midnight and so won't turn into a pumpkin.

[Kathryn S.]

Actually, I'm not "in the business".
and quilting and monitoring the forum is just something that I do to keep from going insane!

Margo, I'm so very glad you do monitor the forum- thank you very much. You are a wonderful source of enthusiasm and information.

Hmm, you must be a true amateur- a lover of quilts and quilting!

Kathy

[Terry K.]

For what it's worth, I've been adding information about the batting and thread just because the information helps me remember for another project as I'm experimenting with thread and batting.

Here are a couple examples of my labels:



I enjoy making the labels fit the project and the recipient.

[Margo C.]

I love your labels Terry! Good job!

[Margo C.]

Quilt historians in the future will be thrilled that we took the time to add so much information to the lables of our quilts. I have added my thoughts as I worked on the quilt to my lables. I have mentioned world and even celestial events. I have told of personal joys and sorrows. All these on a lable will add to the pleasure of owning one of my quilts in the future long after I am unable to tell their story. And after all, it is my quilt and I can fill the back with any thing I choose. I've earned that right. I am pained each time I admire a quilt and then I see the word "unknown". The quilts by Betty Ann Seeman will not be unknown and I hope with all of me that I put into them that Betty Ann Seeman herself will not be unknown. Betty Ann Seeman