Yikes!

[meg]

Interesting blog...

http://www.lovebugstudios.com/2013/05/21/the-dumbing-down-of-the-quilting-and-sewing-industry/

[Sue E.]

Meg, I agree 100% with Ebony. However, this problem goes way beyond just the quilting and sewing world. I used to be a typing/secretarial subjects teacher in the 1970s and I have owned and operated a secretarial/word processing business since the mid 1980s. I have seen a dramatic decline in the quality of what is acceptable in the business world. I am, more or less, a perfectionist and I want everything that I produce to reflect me and my standards. I want my letters, reports, etc. to look good and make my clients look good. I want the letters to be set up properly, have correct punctuation and correct spelling and grammar. I know you have seen lots of junk mail come into your home that has spelling errors, incorrect punctuation and in general just look tacky. Work like this would never leave my office!

 

I want the same standards for the quilts I produce and give away. If I don't like the quality of what I have produced, I will not give it away and I definitely won't put my name on the label. I only quilt for myself, although I have started teaching classes at the LQS. I demand the best work I can produce from myself and my students. If something is not right, it is easier to use the seam ripper and try again. My students appreciate this.

 

In short, what I am trying to say is that this country (and the world) has set mediocrity as the new standard. I set a higher bar for myself and will continue to do so. I get frustrated when I buy a new book or pattern and then find lots and lots of errors in the directions and typos in the text (I once subscribed to a magazine and in one issue I found 6 typos in one article - I no longer subscribe to this magazine or any magazine where that editor is listed.)

 

Okay, I'll get off my soapbox now!

[sewhappy]

I read this blog also~I DO so "get" what she is saying and I try to look at "Art" with an open mind! I may hate something someone else loves or visa versa~But My peaves have been with magazines or patterns that in THE PICTURE of the quilt the points are way off~sashings crooked etc...This is the first thing I see we looking at the pattern I may want to buy!~ If that is there I do NOT purchase it~Also I do get that we as pattern designers do not want to be held responsible for the errors of the indivdual quiltmaker, but to put on the pattern that they are not responsible for errors in the pattern???Really?? I of course have made errors but I will double check my directions and have @ least two people make my pattern BEFORE I send it out !!! 

I consider that MY responsiblity!!

[peglu]

I have thought about this post a lot. I GET what everyone is saying. I am hoping that all of this is directed at those who are making substantial profit from their work. There are those of us though that have yet to perfect the perfect stitch or the perfect points. I see so much wonderful work here and I get so much inspiration. I would hate to think that there are those who wouldn't post there work because it isn't 'perfect'. What's a masterpiece to me might be not be to a show judge, but it doesn't mean it's not perfect for it's purpose. 

 

I know that this banter is in reference to 'professionals', but what does that really mean? What are the parameters to the title? To me, 90% of you are professionals. That's because you know a lot more than me and are better quilters than I am, and you have things you could teach me. I guess that as you become a better quilter, your expectation of your mentors is raised. But everybody is human, and thus, everyone makes mistakes. I agree, that if photos are being used in magazines an editor should surely make note if a mistake is visible. That only makes sense. But, isn't that just as much the fault of the editor as the quilter. They must not be so perfect either. I also agree that there are quilters out there who could sell "a pile of poop" just because it has there name on it. I don't however feel that they necessarily do this. Maybe I missed something that's going on in the quilting world that all of this is in reference to, but I certainly haven't seen any blatant attempts to pass off shoddy work as a masterpiece. 

 

Interestingly, there were absolutely no negative comments to this blog post. Maybe no one wants to offend the professional? Or, maybe they're like me and trying to heed mom's advise; 'if you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all". With that in mind, I probably shouldn't post this. But, I still don't always buy in to 'mother knows best' all the time. I certainly don't mean to offend anyone, and I do agree that much of our society has lost the notion of taking pride in your work. But I don't necessarily believe that the work has to be perfect, but rather, just the best that you can do. 

[GrandmaLKB]

Unfortunately, subpar workmanship has become the norm in not only quilting but so many areas.............They just don't seem to take any pride in their work.   Customer service in many stores, resturants, etc. is horrible.............they are just there to collect a paycheck and go home.   

 

My Mom never would hang any of her quilts, chrocheted items, etc. in our quilt shows because she said "my stuff isn't good enough".    I finally got her to really look at some displays and pointed out that 99% of her stuff was as good, if not better, than most of what was on display.   I see some quilts hanging at shows and would be embarrassed if it were mine.   It's sad.  

[lisae]

I think this goes hand in hand with our instant gratification society. Have you noticed how many pre-cut fusible applique quilt kits are in the catalogs now? Where is the craftsmanship in that?

[oireachtas]

Yikes

[whitepinesquilter]

I so get what the blogger meant, and I believe it was mentioned that there may be those who took offense to what she was trying to say.  It was not meant a slam to those who actually have HONED their skills over the years and use those skills when creating a pattern or sewing an item from a pattern they made.  I believe editors and publishers need to take the vast amount of responsibility here for what is published of the written word - that is their area of expertise, and they seem to be seriously slacking sometimes.  It seems to me, anyway, that a lot of research anymore comes from the blogosphere world and not from face to face, word of mouth investigation and communication.  Makes me think of a recipe for a natural bug killer/deterent I recently found online.  I bought into it hook, line, and sinker and purchased the four ingredients needed: ground hot pepper, oil, vinegar and liquid soap.  The directions said to mix together, put in sprayer bottle, and spray around window and door frames, etc.  While I was making it I thought that it is odd that this wouldn't clog the sprayer bottle with ground pepper in it, but hey - this was posted on a widely recognized and popular site so it must be good. I really convinced myself that it must be something to do with the oil and soap mixture that would make the tiny pepper particles just flow right through those tiny little spray holes, I was sure of it.  I mixed it all up, put in the bottle, went to the basement to spray it and guess what?  Nothing came out, not a drop - it immediately clogged up..... Who was to blame? ME.  I believed something I knew didn't look right but darned if I didn't invest in it anyway because it was published and, therefore, it had to be good.  Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. 

[meg]

I'm still not sure how I feel about this.

I agree that we should try to keep the standards up.

Even though no one is forcing me to buy, it would be nice if I didn't have to scrutinize everything before buying.

And even though I try to be careful, I've made bad purchases.

I have been frustrated by poorly written patterns.

I have also seen gadgets that I would consider useless.

Unmatched points grab my eye immediately, especially when i see them in print.

I've unsewn a lot of seams, & I've also left some that didn't exactly hit right.

But like Peg, I wouldn't want to discourage newbies.

I love fresh, new ideas.

Even when i try really hard, my work is not without mistakes.

And I've been at this for a while and taken many great classes from some fabulous teachers.

I've never been a 'sheep', so no one will be selling me poop.

But, perhaps we do need to point out the decline in workmanship and quality.

If we don't acknowledge it, and say something, how can we expect change?

I admire Ebony for bringing this to the surface.

[Zora]

Everyone has their own standards.  What this blogger thinks is crap, somebody else obviously does not think so.  While I am personally not enthralled with the raggy look, some people are.  They like the primitive, worn look of this type project, and its really not my concern.  If a quilter makes a quilt with 1/2 inch chopped off the points of her triangles, it meets her standards.  No, it doesn't meet mine, so I would not be happy with that.  People have different reasons and different skill levels. Even the meandered invisible thread quilter has served a purpose in encouraging people to get the tops out and quilt them.  Not attempting something because you can not do what is perfect is a problem many people have. 

 

The only person whose work I have to worry about is my own.  Quilting is not a life and death activity.  People do it for fun, for pleasure, for a distraction from life's problems, for charity, or whatever.  Just because the patterns are not what I'd spend my money on, people who have different standards are entitled to purchase them anyhow.  Not every painting has to be the Mona Lisa. 

 

I think the blogger should lighten up.  What does she really want?? Recognition for being a martyr?? To have us all know she is better than the un-named offender?? I have never seen a pattern or book where the work is shoddy.  Is every stitch perfect?? No..because that's the way close-ups are. Perfectionism can be just as big a character flaw as carelessness.  And, it can lead to another character flaw..judgementalism.

[Mandalei]

I wrote about this on my blog, too, Meg, and what I worry about from my professional longarming side is that I've only been doing this for a year, and as much as time permits with 2 kids 5 and under, one of whom is at home.  MY level of expertise, which I think is good (can always be better, as mostly whose cannot?) is still a work in progress.  I still make mistakes.  My pebbles and feathers aren't perfect, but then I am not putting them on a customer quilt just yet (But I will have to at some point, so when do I do it?).  So when am I "good enough" to be professional?  Anyone who just bought a longarm has a pretty big learning curve as it is, and if I want to make this my business, when do they just jump in with both feet?  As a newbie just starting out, this article raised some significant questions for me.  Would love others thoughts on this.

[RitaR]

I totally agree with the author, and have seen it myself.    I grit my teeth when I hear something like this, " It is only a charity quilt, so if I make mistakes, it won't matter..  It's a good way to learn."  Now, if you are down and out, needing something we make as pro's or hobbiests,  should it be any less than we can do or do our best to show them we care.  Care, that is the word.. I do care, how about others? 

 

I do my best for where I am at that point in life and in skills, with love included.. "Sew Love Into Every Stitch".  sometimes its not as well as I've done before, because of the Prednisone I occasionally  have to take to settle the COPD down and keep living. It does affect the quality which when I look the quilt over for mistakes, I correct them.  I do miss  many I'm sure.  After the affects of the steroid wears off, I can see and think I can do much better, and see the mistakes and go back and fix them.

 

When I quilt either way, I always make mistakes, and go back and fix them, if I still have the quilt.

 

Do your best at all times and you can't go wrong.    Always try to do just a little better at the least, than you were on the last quilt.

 

Happy, Great Quilting,

 

RitaR

[meg]

I wrote about this on my blog, too, Meg, and what I worry about from my professional longarming side is that I've only been doing this for a year, and as much as time permits with 2 kids 5 and under, one of whom is at home.  MY level of expertise, which I think is good (can always be better, as mostly whose cannot?) is still a work in progress.  I still make mistakes.  My pebbles and feathers aren't perfect, but then I am not putting them on a customer quilt just yet (But I will have to at some point, so when do I do it?).  So when am I "good enough" to be professional?  Anyone who just bought a longarm has a pretty big learning curve as it is, and if I want to make this my business, when do they just jump in with both feet?  As a newbie just starting out, this article raised some significant questions for me.  Would love others thoughts on this.

Mandy....

Can you....

Load and achieve good stitches/tension?

Be up front regarding your 'newbieness'?

Be willing to unsew your mistakes?

Understand the customers vision for the quilt?

Have a thorough intake form and set a realistic completion date?

I think the longer you wait, the harder it becomes.

One of the pro's here whose work I really admire started taking quilts right away.

She said the only way to get better is to do it.

She jumped in with 2 feet and is really killing it.

I say take a deep breath and do it!

You can do it!

I just noticed your from Saratoga.

Syracuse area for me, Heidi and Charlotte live over your way.

When I ever get the longarm group going, (after daughters wedding) you should join us!

[meg]

Hi Lynn,

I agree with you regarding skill levels and personal taste.

And even about workmanship as it pertains to ones own work.

There is room for everyone and we need all the different styles to keep us thinking and excited.

I blogged about this myself a while back.

But, every consumer is judgmental.

It's how we protect ourselves from wasting our $.

I don't think that patterns with mistakes are acceptable.

Anyone can draw up a picture of a block.

The reason we buy a pattern is to eliminate the need to figure it out.

And I feel the same way about gadgets that don't work.

And fabric that isn't consistently colored or bleeds.

And, I don't think poor workmanship should be put out there as an example of a finished product.

We should have a well made example to shoot for.

Personality and popularity might help you earn a following.

But you need to back it up with effort and thoroughness.

I think that is what Ebony is trying to say.

JMHO

Everyone has their own standards.  What this blogger thinks is crap, somebody else obviously does not think so.  While I am personally not enthralled with the raggy look, some people are.  They like the primitive, worn look of this type project, and its really not my concern.  If a quilter makes a quilt with 1/2 inch chopped off the points of her triangles, it meets her standards.  No, it doesn't meet mine, so I would not be happy with that.  People have different reasons and different skill levels. Even the meandered invisible thread quilter has served a purpose in encouraging people to get the tops out and quilt them.  Not attempting something because you can not do what is perfect is a problem many people have. 

 

The only person whose work I have to worry about is my own.  Quilting is not a life and death activity.  People do it for fun, for pleasure, for a distraction from life's problems, for charity, or whatever.  Just because the patterns are not what I'd spend my money on, people who have different standards are entitled to purchase them anyhow.  Not every painting has to be the Mona Lisa. 

 

I think the blogger should lighten up.  What does she really want?? Recognition for being a martyr?? To have us all know she is better than the un-named offender?? I have never seen a pattern or book where the work is shoddy.  Is every stitch perfect?? No..because that's the way close-ups are. Perfectionism can be just as big a character flaw as carelessness.  And, it can lead to another character flaw..judgementalism.

[sbcquilts]

As a frustrated high school teacher, I feel this 'dumbing down' started in the education world...the double speak of 'raising standards' has lead to not even counting grammar/punctuation on English exams (only the ideas are important) and every year it seems to be getting worse. Most of our students (many of the best ones sadly) grow up doing work just to get by, never wanting to take the time to go back and fix/improve their product. As new younger teachers enter the field, this mediocracy is the norm and older teachers become so frustrated they leave the system or are forced out because every student is an honor student and should be getting 90's. 

 

This is why I took a personal day today...so I could stay home and quilt and do something productive and rewarding.  I still LOVE working with students and will forever find excitement in learning new things  ....it is the system that makes things so difficult.

[Zora]

Unfortunately, the blogger is tilting at windmills.  She has NO CONTROL over the workmanship of others.  She is saying that because "some" people don't do quality work, it disparages everyone who does that work, and we as a society begin to accept shoddy work throughout the profession.   I just returned from MQS and I can tell you that isn't true.  No quilts with shoddy workmanship in any area won a ribbon...period.  Customers who execute perfect piecing do not accept sloppy quilting.  They may make the mistake once, but they don't return to that quilter.

 

We DO have control by where we spend our money.  If I purchase a pattern and the directions are poor, I don't buy patterns from that person in the future.  However, one mistake in written directions is not enough to make me decide a person doesn't care about what they do.  Its easy to make a mistake in written directions, and easy for the mistake to be overlooked (or not caught) by an experienced quilter who knows what they are doing and how things "should" work.

 

I think most people strive to do their best.  If this is a cautionary tale about always doing my best, it isn't necessary because I already know every bobble in my quilting.  Sometimes I do accept less than perfect backtracking on my feathers...if the quilt already has points chopped off, seams hanging open, borders 6 inches too big, etc.  I am not in business to take a poorly made quilt and spend hours at no compensation making sure everything is square, flat and perfect.  There is a trade-off between getting it perfect and getting it done, and the piecing sets the standard for what that trade-off will be.  Yes, I grumble and feel sorry for myself about the terrible quilt I have to work on, but in the end, I have to get it done and  I have to realize the piecer has different standards than I do.  I will also not accept a quilt that I feel is beyond my capabilities.  If the piecer demands perfection, a computerized quilter can deliver on that far better than I can.

 

I think she is taking this far too personally.  Just because one doctor  (or 100 or 1000)  is bad, we don't decide the entire profession is being diminished, and that society is crumbling.  We all still recognize and appreciate quality and ability when we see it. Quallity workmanship will create its own demand.   This is an "ain't  it awful" rant that will change nothing.  Those who care don't need the lecture, and those who don't will never understand that it is addressing them.

[meg]

Those who care don't need the lecture, and those who don't will never understand that it is addressing them.

Agreed.

[RitaR]

I too have seen this, and don't really like it.

 

I agree with every thing she said, and ask

if I can give then a couple of tips.  So far 

no one has said no, and one can see the

improvement in their work since.

 

I can see it helped, so they put the tips to

good use.

[whitepinesquilter]

I am out of 'Likes' for the day

 

sbcquilts - I worked for many years as an instructor at a community college before retiring from there.  I agree wholly with you.

meg -   amen.  Love your short and concise views.

RitaR - amen. Love how you help others.

Mandy -   amen. You so remind me of my daughters   Love your style

whitepinesquilter - (me) make sure you don't come off as condenscending when you don't mean to be. I'll work even harder on that, thanks for the tip

[meg]

Marci...

Not once, ever, did I read your words as condescending.

I don't even know where you got that!

And it would be heaven to have a daughter, like Mandy, interested in quilting.

Mine is a super focused, ex-jock, corporate ladder climber.

She is getting married soon...maybe that will spur interest? Probably not!

But I love her to death just as she is.

And maybe she will reproduce...bringing a crafty grandchild into my life!

Hope springs eternal.

Meg

[whitepinesquilter]

Oh, no, Meg, I didn't mean that you did! I've been watching the posts and I was reminding myself that words I write can be misconstrued without my meaning them to. So I jokingly remind myself to always be aware of that.

 

Meg, you are such a doll, and you always have sentences that pack so much meaning in your few words.  Now, if only I had that knack

[meg]

Marci -

Sometimes, or most of the time, we are our own worst critic.

Post away - you are totally not condescending!

[Mandalei]

Ladies, you're too sweet; coming here is one of the highlights for me.  I live hours and hours away from family (and I *really* miss my mom), so it's nice to come here and feel like I have a group!  I actually go to two quilt groups because it's like hanging out with my mom (or 10 of them) for a couple of hours.  Not to mention they're all amazing quilters and artists, but the "mom factor" is a decided benefit.

 

p.s. when I told my Gramma I was going to stop teaching and be a stay at home mom, she laughed for a solid 10 minutes.

[Mandalei]

Oh, Meg, please do keep me in mind if you start a local-ish group.  I would love that!

[ffq-lar]

We (me included) who are boomers raised kids that were told "good job!" when all they did was what was expected of them. Everything got a "good job'' from pooping in the potty to managing to color within the lines. They got soooo much positive reinforcement so their egos wouldn't be bruised that they think everything they do is good enough. This includes the young woman who helped Patty/sewhappy at the Joanns who gave her a bad time because she thought Patty was buying "too much fabric" for her backer. She's been taught that she does a good job so she thinks she can berate others if they don't agree with her. Unfortunately these self-absorbed twenty-somethings can sometimes only find jobs in a service industry and they're miserable and make their customers miserable as well. 

I joined a "modern quilt" group at an LQS and was appalled at the quilting on some of the quilts. Most were self-quilted--as most publications stress that this is the thing to do with modern quilts. All the Mod websites devoted to Mod quilting show how to set up and quilt lots of designs. But you still need to ppp and earn your stripes.

I realized though that these enthusiastic quilters can only get better as they do more and more. And as with every quilter I know, tastes change as skills are honed and the modernists will probably move on to other genres of quilting as they challenge themselves. And yet every quilt got lots of applause and "good jobs" from the audience. It's so ingrained to encourage everyone I can't imagine anyone offering a negative response. But I don't have to comment at all--and I offer suggestions if I'm asked. It's just that it seldom happens!