I don't let these super-duper wonderful quilts depress me. I try to look at them as pieces of art and see if there is any little piece of it that I can take home and apply to my own meager quilt efforts.

Face it. I work for a living. I quilt for enjoyment and hobby. I will never be as good as those "professionals." But I can enjoy them and also learn a bit from them.

Besides, my friends and family will NEVER get one of those fabulously wonderful and fabulously expensive quilts from a big-name quilter, but they just might get one from ME!

Furthermore, mine will be more usable and "fluffier" as someone above said -- more welcoming -- than those show quilts.

There is a place for everyone and everything in this quilt world.

BethMI

Just some thoughts to ponder.....the 'big winners' in competition had to start somewhere.
Many a business is started by doing two jobs at once. One job pays the bills and one pays the artistic soul. Any start-up business means personal sacrifices in other areas of your life. As for the stress a professional competitor is under...I would assume any business person is under stress to be successful and competitive in their field.
How long is long enough to complete a quilt? Does it really matter how long, or short, a quilt takes to make if you are happy with it in the end?

I like being an enthusiastic amateur. I think I read somewhere that it took Sharon Schamber over 1,900 hours to complete her Houston prize winning quilt. I love looking at the prize winning quilts but I long to feel of one to see if it is as stiff as it appears. I like soft fluffy quilts.

I agree with you too Lorchen. I just love to be able to experiment with things that appeal to me as well as making gifts for others. I love to see what professional quilters create as they can provide inspiration for ideas if not necessarily execution. I like being an enthusiastic amateur, there's no stress involved in it. Maggi

Lorchen, I wonder if you are talking about the lady who came to our quilt guild earlier this year. A brit who wins top prizes and as Pat suggested, she admitted that her aim early on was to make prize winning quilts to raise her profile for teaching, lecturing etc. She has certainly succeeded.

Pam

Lorchen, I agree with you. I am a longarmer, this is my business. It takes time to create a masterpiece. It can take anywhere from a month to a year in some cases to create one. I know many longarmers that are extremely talented. Most do not work for others.
There is Sherry Rodgers Harrison and Karen McTavish, who work for other clients. They still bring in the top awards. They Teach as well, showing us longarmers quick ways to make award winning quilts. Both of these ladies are masters.
Try these two websites see if you agree:
http://www.designerquilts.com
http://www.sewfarsewgood.org
I personally, find it hard to get the time to do anything really large for myself. My clients are taking home awards, that makes me feel much better. I do however love whitework and trapunto. I have several of these quilts to do. But they don't pay the bills, as one of my clients has said.
Like you when I make something it usually for a gift or someone wants me to make them something to sell to them.
I do enjoy looking at the beautiful quilts they make you strive to do better, if not just for my own satisfaction. Plus, it shows me there are far more anal people out there than Me!

Most of the 'big names' that I have come across persue quilting full time, and have a lot of support from their families.

One of these prize-winning quilters does not work outside the home, has a cleaner twice a week, husband is retired and does all the cooking and shopping, and they have a gardener. Her studio is about the size of my whole house, and she has two longarms, plus three or four domestic machines set up at all times. When she is working in her studio and feels like a drink she phones her husband on the mobile phone and he bring her a cup of coffee and a few biscuits.

Do I want to swap places with this quilter? Absolutely not! She stresses all the time about the next quilt, feeling the pressure of maintaining this award-winning standard. And if a quilt of hers does not win a prize, she feels very depressed about it. Personally, I prefer to have fun with my quilt projects. They may not win prizes, but my wallhangings are loved and admired by staff and students in the school where I work. I get a real buzz from that.

For me it would be impossible to reach anything like a professional level. I have to work full-time, and my job is very tiring (my choice - I'm doing something that's never boring). I simply wouldn't be able to get in the hours and hours of practice that densely quilted large pieces require.

The solution, of course, would be to stick with smaller quilts and the kind of styles that do not require to be quilted till they can stand up by themselves (big grin!).

Fortunately I'm not an ambitious person, but enjoy the experience of playing with fabrics - whatever the result.

I sometimes wonder what would happen if we'd lock up a dozen 'big names' and a dozen 'unknowns' in a room, give them each a medium-range domestic machine, a pack of fabrics, a couple of threads, and 10 hours (about the amount of time that I can devote to quilting over a period of 2 to 3 weeks), and tell them to 'create something for a major show'. I'm sure the results would be interesting.

Lorchen

Well, I still work a bit as an RN, and have a reading habit, and won a few times in national competitions, but I don't do nearly as nice work as the big winners in the shows. Many of them do make quilting their career. By making a name for themselves with gorgeous quilts, they can expand into teaching classes and designing patterns and lines of fabric. I wish I had the talent and the drive to do something like that, LOL, but I'm just an enthusiastic amateur.

Pat in Rockport, TX

I am sure this is sour grapes.... but the winners of the quilt shows ... do they do anything else beside quilt / make these beautiful quilt.... do they have other jobs / interest ( family not included)

I have the same 24 hours in a day and I do not think I could ever make anything as lovely as they hand applique quilt... not because I can't applique but because there is NO WAY I could sit still long enought to do the work....I would not be able to focus that long on the work.

My oH My but these were lovely quilts.