Resource advice

[quiltmonkey]

I've been reading these posts over the past week (since discussion started) and have to say something. You guys know me by now, I'm a drama queen...I can't keep my flap shut! LOL! Anyway, from a person like myself, in regards to those of you who quilt without the SR and may have what you call "imperfect" designs and stitches....well, frankly myself, I really appreciate and find real true beauty and art in those slight imperfections, and I find the quilts that are quilted this way very charming and personal and human...AND BEAUTIFUL! You all are true artisists and use your thread like paint. So what if every stitch is not exactly the same. So what! Big deal if you ask me. The stitches are pretty darn close to perfect, and I don't go around with a measuring stick and magnifying glass.

The thread you use on cloth is like paint on a canvas. Has anyone ever examined a painting to make sure each brush stroke was exactly the same? No.

You all keep doing what you do best. I think folks like Bonnie and Teresa do absolutely beautiful work. Don't let the uneducated customers think that just because you don't have SR you don't create a beautiful product. I love quilting, especially the designs that come from the heart, through the fingers and on to the cloth. Quilting stitches that are not perfect are those stitches that come from your heart and straight into my heart. Quilts made like this really touch me in the sweetest way. It's hard to describe, but I'm sure you know what I mean. I love it.

OK nuff said. I'll shut up now.

[Bonnie]

Thank you Shana....that means a lot. Sometimes I forget that it took me a long time to be proud of what I have and what I do, and then to have someone tell me it now isn't good enough....well, you can see and hear my 'tude. If it was coming from my quilting peers...then maybe I wouldn't take so much offense to it, but to have someone who doesn't know the south end of a north bound cow really really upsets me and I get on my soapbox..... SO will get off and just say thank you again.....

[chickenscratch]

I know how you feel Bonnie. I have practiced and practiced. My stitches are much more even. I have more control. I have been doing some awesome freehand stuff. To have people tell me they aren't interested in bringing their quilt to me before they've even seen what I can do just kills me. I'm getting very tempted to say I do have a stitch regulator-ME.

[Mary Beth]

Ya know, I have been thinking abou this. How about Dawn Cavanaugh, who is one of "The Great Ones", I don't think she has a SR....and look where she is in life, and she makes it look so easy. she could quilt for me any day of the week!! Dawn is just one example. There are a lot of great quilters out there without SR. This just blows me away. I really didnt' think a SR was that big of a deal. I even had a quilter friend that uses a Gammill ask me why I bought and APQS and why the SR. She said that she couldn't stand the sound they make. She is a very talented quilter and does beautiful work.

[Bonnie]

Originally posted by Mary Beth

This just blows me away. I really didnt' think a SR was that big of a deal.

I think that this has gotten out of control because so many are pushing that the SR makes perfect stitches and it doesn't look homemade with irregular stitches.

Well, my first thought is something like Shana said...."Why would I want a hand made quilt look like something I can get from WalMArt of JC Penny's....I would rather have a few irregular stitches to show that it was hand or in our case machine made, and made with love and not just an easy pickup purchase.

Those of us who don't have SR's can at times get very tiny stitches if not planned correctly...its like driving a car, ya need to watch ahead of where you are so you can plan an exist or stop, so you don't have a huge line of very tiny stitches and then have a line of normal ones. Control of every step of your process is mandatory and with practice comes art like Dawn and others do...You are right Mary Beth, Dawn doesn't use a SR machine for her work she owns a ULT I.

SID is very hard for us and when we finally get it correct it really is something to crow about....

But, I personally feel that its because someone has had a poor quilting job from someone's work that couldn't hold a reasonable stitch quality and now they are spreading that they would never use a quilter that doesn's use a SR machine.....we all know that 1 person who is upset can tell 10 people who tells 10 and it snowballs from there. Word of mouth advertising when someone is upset is way better than the printed word.

And the mouth is saying that SR machines are the only thing quilters should be using, and with the shows as Teresa said promoting perfect stitiches not to mention all the ads promoting the machines stating that they no longer having to deal with irregular or imperfect stitches its made those of us who have it dialed in harder....

[ffq-lar]

I think part of the SR problem may be all the DSM set-ups that now offer a SR--for a hefty $$$$ The ads for these home machines stress how beautiful and even the stitches are and how easy. "You can do king-size quilts with ease" Too much hype. Barf! Sorry! They try to make the customer think they "need" the SR to do beautiful work. Look at Diane Guadinski's work on a non-regulated DSM and you can see it is talent and practice that do the work. The same is true for all the no-SR artists out there! I'm done!

Linda R

[chickenscratch]

Linda, That's the point exactly! The DSM users have heard so much about stitch regulators that they feel like every good machine should have one, and those that don't are inferior (and so is the quality of the work produced on those machines). I do know it is hard to do SID on my machine, but I do it anyway. It is not perfect, but I'm not either. I didn't mean for this to turn into a big debate. I was simply trying to find out if it was worth spending all that money to purchase a stitch regulated machine or not.