Antique quilts quilted on long arm machine, sad story

I agree. We have a sad tendency to overestimate the value of anything just because it is old. There are plenty of old tops lying in drawers unfinished for a good reason: they didn't come out the way the maker intended. (Calling them butt-ugly would be rude :-) And if they can be adapted somehow and finished and made useful, that's certainly a good thing.

As for these particular old quilts, I haven't seen them and I'm no expert anyway. But if they made our Susan feel bad, then they probably were a sorry sight. OTOH, the simple fact of being old might help them bring in a good sum for charity. Roberta in D, where "old" means more than 200 years "Taria" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news:OhRph.19$R76.16@trnddc05...

Polly, I couldn't agree with you more. A skilled long arm quilted would also choose the quilting pattern that is appropriate for the quilt. I have seen amazing work from long arm quilters (Lucky you to have seen Kathy's work. I would love to have the opportunity to see her work. I promise not to drool on the quilts ;o). Having worked in a quilt shop many moons ago that offered long arm quilting services, I have also witness work that makes me cry.

The way I've been understanding the thread is that it's not that the quilt was quiltted on a long arm that's the problem, but the quality of workmanship, not to mention the bird dropings ect.. ect.. I could be wrong but that's how I choose to see it.

To be honest, when I examine my feelings more closely I realize that I am afraid of the quilt police. It would make me cringe to overhear, "What a shame! Those lovely old quilts....didn't she know any better?" I really do try hard to produce a nice quilt that will be appreciated by its owner, but must admit to being the merest tyro. I am self-taught and have no background in textiles. The handwork/machinework controversy seems over-the-top to my practical self, but I realize there are people who know more than I do and who care very much about such things.

I run into this confusion at work, too. Having absolutely no background in corporate culture keeps me in hot water--I'm always stepping on someone's toes or making inappropriate remarks. Sometimes I think they keep me around as a great bad example.

Like my mother always says, there's no way to please everybody.

There are also people who know a whole lot less than you do who care very much about such things. *evil grin*

Remembering this has also helped me a lot in the corporate world, too. *even bigger evil grin*

Intellectually, I know that it is okay to machine quilt a hand-pieced or hand-appliquéd quilt if done well that enhances the design of the top. I just can't bring myself to do it. I do a lot of machine quilting, but I also enjoy hand quilting. I bought a hand-pieced top at an auction and later quilted by hand. And when I do a hand-appliquéd piece, I quilt by hand. I guess I figure if I have all that time invested in the top, I can invest some more in the quilting.

Julia > Sad! I could just weep. I have some hand-pieced quilt tops that a friend

Carole: There is a good chance that the owner WAS the long arm quilter. OR, the owner thought the quilter was an expert. You know: "Mrs. X is a professional quilter, she must know all about it!"

Another example: because I completed the Master Gardener Course and volunteer > Oh, what a shame. Why did they not consult with someone before having these

LOL, thanks for the kind words and the advice, Kathy!

The person who did the long arm quilting was hired to do the work. She is not the owner. Some of the quilts fit into the catagory of "they were not made well enough or flat enough to quilt". Others were scrap quilts that would have been OK to machine quilt if the quilting had been better quality. Then there are the few (8 or 10) that should not have been machine quilted for historical reasons. The backings and bindings were chosen by the owner. Some are OK and others are very distracting. Most are "JoAnn's wall" quality materials. Putting a metallic print backing on an antique quilt is just wrong! The one backed and bound with the bright frogs on a black background is worth taking apart and requilting. I will not do it before the sale. I am sure a quilter will spot the possibility and buy the quilt with the idea of taking it apart. Most of the others are not worth or are too fragile to take apart.

Susan

the bird droppings are after the quilting. The owner hung them in her home. I brought three home to try and clean. The ones with the fresh droppings are probably going to clean-up better than the ones that the owner washed. There are stains that I am sure are the result of her washing the quilts without first trying some type of spot remover on the bird droppings. I plan to soak one of the stained quilts which is in good conditiona and see if there is anyway of removing at least part of the stain. Right now the quilts the owner washed have black stains about the size of a quarter which are probably the result of the bird droppings. The three I brought home have "fresh" stuff on them. The three quilts are living in the trunk of my car until I have the time to try cleaning them. I thought the cold weather promised Chicago this week would help them.

Susan

I fully agree that a good long arm quilter is an artist. Some of these quilts would have been OK if the long arm quilter was at all talented. The owner probably couldn't have aforded to have them all hand quilted. New backings and bindings would have been fine rather than looking for vintage if some consideration had been made to coordinating the new backing and binding with the quilt top. On most of the quilts a muslin backing would have been fine. Some of the quilts should have been bound in muslin.

Susan