Since I only do hand applique and hand quilting, to me stitching "in the ditch" means around the applique. Because I want the quilting to show up, I don't quilt RIGHT next to the applique, but go out at least 1/16" around. If quilting piecework, there are lots of seams. If the seams are pressed both to one side, I would quilt "in the ditch" meaning on the OTHER side, quilting through only 2 layers of fabric (plus batting), instead of 4 layers of fabric. On applique quilts, I press the block and border seams open, to minimize bulk. So the most I would have to hand quilt through is 3 layers of fabric (front, backing, and one seam allowance) plus batting. Also the quilting would be diagonally across the seams, never along a seam. BlueBars

"The Statler Stitcher® is a computer software program combined with hardware which will operate a longarm quilting machine and can stitch almost any design. A Gammill® machine equipped with Statler Stitcher® can handle an intricately patterned king-size quilt in a matter of hours instead of days, and is guided by the computer instead of by hand. The system can determine the pattern size, block size, stitches per inch, repetitions of the pattern and the offset of the pattern." If you have $30,000 to spare and room in your basement, you can have your very own quilt factory, and the glory will be a production run of one single factory quilt at a time. It will be perfectly easy to save your program and throw on quilt after whole cloth quilt--they will all turn out perfectly, and perfectly the same, at the great rate of two per day. It's an amazing machine--the "quilter" doesn't even have to stay in the room. Most factories call this person an operator. You may say you'd never churn out copies--but you COULD. Back to my painting analogy--is it original hand work, or is it limited edition print signed by the artist, or is it a paint by numbers kit? Folk art follows a tradition in a craft. Generally, folk art can be done by...folks. Whatever is happening by professional long arm quilters with these expensive machines is VERY far from the heart and soul of a quilting tradition. My grandmother and great aunt were skilled factory workers at the Derby--now known as Fruit of the Loom. You can take the machine out of the factory but you can't take the factory out of the machine. They'd no more be proud of a machine quilt than of a pair underwear they bought at Wal-Mart. My mom sends out machine pieced quilts to be long armed--it's expedient, but she'd never call it the best. The fact is, by law of supply and demand, with automatic machines churning out two quilts a day, those quilts will be less valued over the course of the years. People are smart, and all the art talk in the world doesn't change the value of reproducible work done in a few hours by automatic machine. The human element becomes entirely secondary to the machine. Some of these shows function mostly as a marketing tool for the industry, and indeed the whole shift to machine quilting was pushed along by big prizes awarded by businesses. It's very much in the interest of business to elevate the easiest. The easiest sells. BTW, lets all make a million pillowcases!!! Excuse me? This, I think, is what kills machine quilting for me, and makes me reject it as art (not high art, not fine art, but folk art.) The end product of Gammill Statler Stitcher will be indistinguishable from any other machine quilt--except it will look very, very skilled and be entirely reproducible. I feel like my values have been slowly pushed too far, my standards slowly pulled aside and I feel myself backlashing. Suddenly, I look up and say "That's ridiculous." I certainly don't mean to attack machine quilters, especially you, Annie. What you do is practically unique--find me another professional treadle quilter (yeah, I know there might be a few, but still, it's rare isn't it?) It's not black and white by any means, machine quilting has it's place, albeit with all these different categories and qualifiers. Hand quilted will always be a class alone for me, no explanations required because everybody understands a hand, a needle, and a thread.

Every show is different. Some are run by guilds (usually volunteers) and they can show any quilts that members want to share. Of course, there must be insurance, and if there are prizes, they must have impartial judges, and at least break even on expenses. Quilt shows that are professionally run have to make a profit to keep the show running; vendors, classes, admission, entry fees, etc. To offer prizes, they must have a jury process, hire professional judges and other staff, insurance; lots of overhead. Big shows usually also include a non-juried exhibits, to add balance. Now picture yourself as a quilter who has a quilt you want to enter, and maybe even win a prize. You will likely have to ship your quilt. OMG! Now thatÂs really scary. So, you will want to have an appraisal, read all the rules carefully (remember, all shows are different) and take the risk and expense of packing and shipping your quilt. Maybe your only reward will be the pleasure of seeing your quilt hang in a show. If you have a quilt business (teaching, designing, selling books, patterns, longarm quilting, etc.) you can probably write off your expenses. For an individual who just loves to make beautiful quilts, would you still enter, and compete against the proÂs? Would the risk and expense be worth it to you? And of course, your quilt must be original enough that nobody can claim you copied something. Just some things to think about when you visit a quilt show. BlueBars

You start in the middle of the quilt and work your way out, so that any 'excess, or shortcomings will be at the outer edges. Quilts are not always completely square, and as you quilt, these 'offages' will grow...and, if you start in one corner you may find yourself all out of wack (and fabric), when you get to the other side. If you start in the middle and then work out from that, your quilt will be flat. Sometimes I complete each block....all the quilting - crosshatching in both directions.....sometimes I stitch in the ditch around every block, starting in the center. Then, go back and do the rest of the quilting - it just depends on what I plan to quilt. But, I would do all the quilting in one direction of that block before starting in the other direction. I've used cross hatching several times on blocks that I've appliqued something onto. I stitch 1/8 in or so around the appliqued portion, and then add the cross hatching. Generally I don't do this crosshatching on the appliqued piece. If you don't quilt over it, it seems to pop out visually. I just lightly stick a piece of tape from one corner, diagonally to the other corner, and start there with my quilting..do that line, move the tape, do the next line of quilting, and so forth. At times, depending on how big the appliqued piece in the middle is, I use 2 threaded needles, one to do each section of the quilting, if the appliqued piece is too large to 'travel' through.