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Quilting Methods
Quilting Methods
Patchwork Quilting: The Traditional Quilting Method
By: Pinoak Designs
All quilts and quilt designs, if you ask me, came about as the result of patchwork quilting. What charm would there be to quilts if they were not done in the patchwork style? Today, though quilting is once again at the height of its popularity, you will find that patchwork quilting is a dying art. This is because this method is very meticulous and requires incredible patience and consumes a lot of time when compared to other quilting styles.
In this internet age, people are used to get things at the press of a button and a click of the mouse. They are in no mood to wait for two or more months to finish a quilt. Can you imagine anyone ordering a quilt in August because they need it for Christmas in December? This is why the computerized machines for quilt making has met with such a tremendous success since their introduction into the craft world. Making quilts with these machines has become a leading cottage industry in many places in the world.
Why Handmade Patchwork Quilting Should Not be Allowed to Die
There is something extremely beautiful and memorable in a handmade quit. The patchwork quilt somehow becomes warmer, cozier, and more attractive project. It becomes almost like a companion when you're working on one. They're not just any old bed cover. Maybe I belong a the sentimental class of quilters (this is a dieing breed, too). Like many sentimental people, I would pay double price any day to get myself a handmade quilt rather than accept a commercial product of a patchwork quilting machine.
It is true that the patchwork quilting machine produces many fine and excellent quilts. These can be made faster and sometimes even better than the hand-made ones. However, there is no way that you will ever be able to compare quality of a hand-made quilt with a machine made one and not see the difference. One is warm, soft and inviting while the other is cold, beautiful and indifferent. It is like Cinderella and her step mother. Both were exceptionally beautiful, but everybody loved Cinderella because her beauty was warm as well as was her character.
Very Few Quilters Today Work by Hand
There are very few quilting artists and masters who still prefer to work by hand. They are a dying breed, because they cannot compete with the machines. Quilting machines offer high turnover, better designs and what matters the most today – they are faster. Though handicrafts are still in this day and age highly valued the world over, the turnover time for completing a quilting project is not sufficient to make adequate profit for the quilt artisan to stay in business.
Hence, only those who are indulging in this art as a hobby will, in the end, stick to the traditional patchwork quilting and keep this long standing custom going. Those who make a living out of this art will be forced to shift lanes, and adopt the present quilting machine technology, if they want to survive in the modern market.
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