Well, how did the week go? It was a stressful one in ThimbleannaLand. Big layoffs at work yesterday and it was very sad to see some of my friends lose their jobs. Especially in this economic climate where it will be hard to find a new one.
So, it’s in that frame of mind that I’ve read several posts on several different blogs about the “Dumbing Down of Quilting”. I’m too lazy to look up the links, but I’ll bet a google search will get you there. I think both sides of the argument have valid points. I get that a lot of what we see on blogs seems simple and without challenge. I even roll my eyes when I see another “pattern” pop up for a square-in-a-square quilt. And I get really frustrated when something appears with the idea that it’s a new concept. There’s really very little that’s new in quilting. Our grandmothers nailed most of the geometric shapes out there, a long time ago. (Although part of the original complaint may have included “art” quilts, that’s not what I’m talking about here.)
On the other hand, someone, somewhere made the statement that we need to push ourselves and do something more challenging. If we’ve made tons of quilts with half-square triangles, we need to move on to applique, or something like that. Really? Do I NEED to do that? I love a good challenge….I like to make different quilts….but is it required that I do that? If I’m perfectly happy to just make big ol’ one-patch quilts for the next three years then shouldn’t that be ok? (The simple quilts are still some of my very favorites.) I’ve been sewing a long time — I’m pretty sure I have the skills to make most of the more “challenging” quilts. So, I hope if I make an “easy” quilt that it will be ok. Or if I make a quilt with a fat quarter stack, that that’s acceptable. It’s not that I don’ t enjoy picking my own fabrics. I LOVE scrappy quilts and almost all of my quilts have been scrappy. I do understand that using precuts seems lazy and dumbed down — I’ve even complained about it before. But sometimes, a collection comes along that I love so much, I just want to have fun playing with that collection and only that collection (re: Bliss. And if I could come up with something, The. Pips.)
Well, that’s my two cents worth. I could ramble on, but in the big picture, I think we’re all just taking ourselves a bit too seriously. Quilting should be whatever you want it to be, but most of all FUN. If you can sell a pattern for something that I can draw up with a little graph paper, then more power to you. I might roll my eyes, but you go girl LOL!
Ok, at the risk of dumbing down our cooking, I have my late entry for Randi’s Recipe Box Swap. I love a challenge in the kitchen, but after a long day at work, I want something simple. My good buddy Gurney (who is a fabulous cook — I’m so lucky that all my quilty peeps are awesome in the kitchen) gave me this recipe years ago and it’s become a family favorite. It’s unbelievably easy and in about 30 minutes(during which time, you can be watching tv or whatever), you can have a delicious dinner. (Btw, Randi requested main dishes, but this recipe is the whole dish — main and sides. Also, Disclaimer #1: This recipe calls for frozen green beans and I didn’t have any, so I didn’t add them to this recipe. We still ate green beans, but they were canned. So….this is a case of “do as I say, not as I do!” ;-) )
Skillet Pork Chops and Rice
4 to 6 lean pork chops
1 – 6 oz. package Uncle Ben’s Long Grain and Wild Rice mix
9 oz. frozen, cut green beans
In large skillet, over medium high heat, brown pork chops on both sides; remove and set aside. In same skillet, combine rice mix ingredients and water according to package directions; bring to boil.
Place pork chops on rice mixture.
(Disclaimer #2: Your pork chops sitting in the wild rice mixture won’t look exactly like this — I inadvertently added too much water. Not to worry though, I siphoned the excess off, and as you can see in the first picture, it all turned out just fine.)
Reduce heat; simmer covered 20 to 25 minutes or until pork chops are tender. Arrange green beans around edge of skillet. Cover; simmer an additional 7 to 10 minutes until water is absorbed and beans are crisp tender.
Thanks for a great recipe Gurney!
Have a good weekend …
XOXO,
Anna
I have no time for ‘quilt snobs’, who look down their noses at people who want to make ‘ordinary ‘ quilts. I sometimes think that people who make ‘art’ quilts do so because they are too lazy to make their point meet!! I always tell new quilters that there are no ‘quilt police’, that you don’t have to do things the way ‘experts’ say you have to. There – I’ve had my rant!
The recipe looks good, although I think I would serve it with broccoli!!
I have no time for craft snobs either, be they quilty ones or otherwise. Sometimes, what we need is ‘dumbed down’. I spend a large part of most days in the company of many small children – a joy, but hard, unpaid work. In the evening, sometimes I want a challenge, but more often than not I just want to do something that will be rewarding and untaxing.
On the days when my time is my own, I am happy to tackle complex projects. But not every day!
Yum to the recipe. If I wasn’t so tired I might have a go tonight ;-)
Re the quilts – HERE! HERE!
Couldn’t agree with you more, isn’t this suppose to be fun and inspiring. I really don’t have time for people who take credit for other peoples ideas. Besides aren’t there more important things to get upset over, like what you mentioned at the beginning of your post….
Hope you have a better weekend, it is suppose to continue on with the rain here in Northern California – I think our drought is over!
Clap, clap, clap…I do it because I love it. soemtimes I do tough patterns, sometimes I use pre cuts and do mindless strip sewing…its all good. Most importantly its what pleases ME not someone else (unless its a gift and then I do try and at least use colors they love). I hate layoffs, as a long time HR person its always the toughest of times for everyone, those who go and those who stay and the managers who have to make the decisions.
I like a challenge at times to sharpen my skills but never thought I had to do it to become a good quilter. And I certainly hope I don’t make others think they have to be like me because frankly, I’m a free thinker, I like to use patterns but not exactly as a copy. So does that offend the designer? Recently a comment made on a small quilt of mine said she neither liked mine or not liked only that it was different. Okie dokie mission accomplished!
Oh, Anna, I love it that you keep things real. And I will add my AMEN to both those who take themselves too seriously and to those who want to tell us what to do and how to do it. Nope. Not happening. I refuse to let anyone dictate to me how to do what I’m doing for fun in the first place. If it weren’t fun – – – I wouldn’t do it. That said, I do so much appreciate and value everyone out there who has taught me how to do something I didn’t know how to do. Blogging is a gateway to knowledge and yes, FUN! And so is Thimbleanna!!! Sorry for your friends losing their jobs. Incredibly sad, and that’s a real challenge.
Hi – I have been reading your blog for the past couple of years now. Enjoy immensely your whimsical and fun approach to all of this.
I guess that my only 2c worth about the “police” – the people who matter don’t mind – and the people who mind, don’t matter.
Having said all that I am starting yet another scrappy quilt. By hand again – and doing a BOM as that challenges me technically enabling me to get better and not have to think to hard. Why well it is simple – quilting is my hobby and it should be a joy.
Agreed! And that recipe is definitely going to be tried this weekend. That’s my kind of dumbing down. :)
AMEN Anna…you said it so well. I’ve been at this for almost 35 years…I’m going to do what I want, I’m going to do what I enjoy…as long as I’m having fun I’m going to keep doing it…when I’m not having fun, I won’t do it any more. This is all supposed to be fun, not competitive quilt making. Everyone has enough stress, this is what we do to relieve the stress, not add more. I don’t quite understand all the judgmental attitudes going on right now.
You put it well; I agree completely. Sorry about the layoffs. I’ve been there and it is almost as bad for those still working as for those who got laid off. A period of mourning needs to be observed.
I agree 100%! I started quilting over 30 yrs. ago, but didn’t make many quilts. In the last year I have discovered Fresh Modern Quilting and can’t get enough – I have so many quilts I want to make and the new fabrics, I can’t get enough of them. It takes creativity to put any quilt together whether you cheat or not.
So sorry about your co-workers. I can understand your sadness. Hopefully something good will be waiting for them around the corner.
I agree with your philosophy on quilting. Sometimes I make simple quilts, sometimes I make more difficult quilts, but it’s all good. As long as it eventually turns into a quilt, it can’t be a bad thing, right?
Sorry to read your friends lost their job!
Thanks for putting it so well.
What has happened to enjoying the process of making a quilt, using a simple or not so simple pattern, using precuts or not. It’s supposed to be fun. When it becomes competitive, the fun is over (the same counts for blogging).
Happy weekend Anna!!
I like what you have to say about quilting. I often have a similar internal discussion about knitting. There are simple patterns I enjoy so much, but there is so much I don’t know how to do that I feel a big guilty for going back to the same old comfortable pattern. I guess balance is the key.
Wiggle and laugh ♥
Sorry that work is stressful. We await government cuts here and will see what happens – I think everything is ok until at least next March but may know well before then if it’s not. I hope our economy picks up soon!
Onto the crafting – craft is meant to be fun, it’s meant to be relaxing, it’s not meant to stress us out trying to be new and different…..do what you love is what I say and to hang with everyone else!
I’m off to a wedding in Edinburgh tomorrow (and my mum had good news following a health scare) so this week has been ok….
I missed part of the whole debate but got caught up the next day… missed the REALLY good blog post. I’m with you. I like simple. Simple even takes me a year to complete. I’m happy and that’s fine with me. I find “challenging” quilts to be too fussy for me and my tastes. But all the power to you if that’s what you like. I don’t mind trying something new but I do what I like. Thanks for the recipe! If I was making it… I would skip the green beans all together. Not a veggie for me. :)
“Most of all fun” that’s what it is for me Miss Anna! I have stitched a lot of quilts too, loads of hand applique, hand piecing,cutting templates out of cardboard and tracing onto fabric laid on sandpaper…it’s all fun and I just sew what makes me happy! Have a great weekend Anna and have fun!!
i get it, but i don’t really Get. It. and i’m not sure i want to use anymore time thinking about whether or not i am a beginning quilter or an intermediate quilter or a beginning intermediately advanced quilter … or even if i’m a quilter at all … the whole thing made me weary … but there are pork chops in the freezer and now i have a new-to-me recipe to try – maybe tomorrow cuz, as i said, i am weary today…
p.s. – having been on the receiving end of “down-sizing” before it hit all the other industries, i do Get. That. and i know that it is Very. Difficult. on both sides
ooooh, Thanks for that recipe, looks like something super easy the family will love. So sorry to hear people at your workplace are loosing their jobs – I keep thinking we’ll stop hearing about that type of thing so often, but sadly not yet.
I say your crafting should be whatever makes you happy – easy quilts, hard quilts, easy kniting, challening knitting, cheap yarn, pricey yarn….isn’t a hobby about doing what brings us joy?? And that’s going to be different for everyone.
Well said Anna! I have made plenty of complex quilts but some of the easier ones are my favourites and they are the ones that we love to snuggle with in winter in front of the TV.
Why can’t people just live and let live! What does is matter if some quilter love and make easy quilts? And other people make art quilts while others use pattern for wonderful Baltimore of Civil War Quilts? Yes, there are people (and bloggers) out there who turn out quilt after quilt using squares and maybe sometimes halfsquares. So what? To be honest; I think a lot of the new fabric lines ask for simple blocks to accentuate the fabric. Why over analyze this issue?
—
Hi Ms. Anna~ I have not come out from under my rock for long enough to read about the great quilt debate. I only come out for Downton Abbey watching. The house servants of Downton aren’t really in to quilting. LOL!
Porkchops look fabbity yummy. Thanks for sharing.
Wiggle and laugh, friend~
Cassie
PS–Sorry to hear about your chums at work. No fun. No fair.
Brava, my friend. As always, you’ve expressed what many of us feel. WHO CARES if we use pre-cuts (or don’t), use scraps (or collections), go hard (or go home haha). Really, this is a HOBBY for me, one I enjoy immensely. I want to keep learning and challenging myself but the minute it stops being FUN, I will move onto something else… and it’s not time for that yet. I’m so glad I belong to an online community of people who cheer each other’s efforts without judgement.
Terrible news for your friends at work. It seems the recession is not over yet I hear that big corporations are making record profits. Hmmm…
Sorry about your friends at work…that really stinks. The pork chops look delicious and I’ve got some chops in the freezer…I’ll have to give your recipe a try.
Oh please…I need to keep it simple, very simple. I do like all those complicated looking…I’m not sure I could even do that…quilts. Throw in more than say 5 fabrics and I’m done :)
Yaeh, I love a good debate especially about quilting. You can’t be wrong if you love what you’re doing is my motto. Sorry to hear about the layoffs, it seems really tough out there in the workplace still.
Your chops look yummy, I love simple.
That recipe looks delicious!
As for the quilting debate…I think I must have been under a rock or something and have missed most of the woo-ha. But I too can see both sides of the argument…but the one thing I’ve learned over the years in quilting is that there are some people that need the fabric and need the exact instructions even after years of quilting and if someone is willing to cater to them, then so be it. I think anything to get people sewing and creating is a good thing…it doesn’t hurt anyone and it makes the world a better place.
Oh, Anna . . . you frequently speak for the rest of us. If quilting weren’t “dumbed down”, there would be a lot fewer of us doing it and there would be fewer fabric designers making money, etc. Not everyone has the urge to spend 2 years on each quilt that is going to be put to use as soon as the binding is stitched on.
As for the layoffs, it is very hard to see friends lose their jobs and it sure makes things insecure for everyone else who is still at work. In the past, in my husband’s industry, if you got laid off, you could find something else before the layoff went into effect. Not now. It is scary, so we always try to just save as much as we can and live frugally.
it has been an interesting discussion about the dummy down. I just wish quilters were encouraged to be creative and make it “their way” instead of just sewing, but hey, that’s me.
I also wish quilting wasn’t such a big “business” as it has become. oh well…that’s my 5 cents.
So sorry to hear about the layoffs at your work. That’s a tough situation!
And I couldn’t agree more with you on the quilting. I’m still pretty new at quilting and I just want to have fun with it. And I’m glad to hear you mention the square in a square patterns. Even being the novice that I am, I have been puzzled by these, thinking that surely I could figure out how to make one without having a pattern. So as always, you are right on! :)
Well said!
For me, quilting is like one of my other favorite hobbies: reading.
Sometimes, I like a nice classic… I can read The Odyssey over and over. Sometimes I like to try a complicated series… and then there are the times that I like a nice, brainless book that I can zip through in a night.
If I don’t have that balance, I get a little worn out… just like quilting.
I’m sorry about your friends. We’ve had 2 large rounds of layoffs at my work, as well. We’re losing amazing folks that have been a valuable asset to the space program. It is very hard. (Hug to you)
I’ve been on the bad end of layoffs, and I know it is hard for everyone! I felt like my life changed instantly, and my friends who kept their jobs had survivors guilt.
I’m happy to say after 11 years (!!) I’ve kept in touch with my group of friends and life improved greatly!
well said anna.
we should definitely be making what makes US happy. still love the spaghetti in hot dog recipe…but gonna try pork chops next…love your easy meals!
Well said, Anna. When I post about something I’ve done, I’m merely saying, “this is what I’ve done.” Not, “is it alright what I’ve just done?” Just sharing, not asking for opinions or permission. We all need to treat each other with more kindness and manners, don’t you think?
I hear ya sister! I agree. It should be fun. I often hear myself saying, I need to do something a bit more challenging, but I’m just having fun so I’m not to worried about it. I agree, I get a little sick of the square in a square patterns (and I hope my patterns never fall into that category) but at the same time, some beginner quilters want a pattern that is somewhat simple so there is a place for all kinds of patterns. :)
LOL Anna, I could have written your post about cooking, instead of quilting!!! Yummy recipe by the way xoxox Clarice
Anna, if it weren’t for ‘dumbed down’ patterns and quilts, I never would have had the confidence to BEGIN quilting just a short few years ago, as a young woman with virtually no sewing skills besides straight lines!!
So those quilters who want to sit on their high horse and be quilt snobs will in fact be doing thier ‘hobby’ a disservice by not encouraging young and new quilters to get into this fabulous hobby.
Bah, there are always people out there happy to criticise anything that makes us happy and BOO to them!! Keep quilting, what ever you want, however you want, whenever you like! I will!(BTW, I LOVE your quilts, your jumbo applecore is still my favourite quilt ever)
Sorry to hear about the lay offs at work, that does really suck, especially on a Friday.
Sas x
I’m sorry to hear about your friends losing their jobs. How hard. Quilts. I love ’em all. Easy and hard. They are gifts of love and time.
I’ll be over for supper!
Jody
Anna, that’s hard about the job lay offs. I hope things will be okay for them.
Gee, I have been ‘under exposed’ to the quilt debate, but I am thinking- if people are making quilts then, hooray, that’s another person keeping a tradition going.
And, yum, dinner!
Even though I’m not a quilter….yet, I appreciated what you had to say about quilting. There are so few hours in the day, most of us can’t be “purists” in almost any area of our lives, particularly something we do for enjoyment.
oh, and I got so annoyed when I read the ‘original 3 articles’ about the dumbing down of quilting – that I replied on that blog too!
For heavens sake! can’t I enjoy a wonky block without someone thinking I am a ‘dumb’ quilter!!
people take themselves FAR. TOO. SERIOUSLY!
This is an interesting post. I didn’t even know there was such a debate underway.
I love to see the intricate designs that others create but I don’t have time to try to duplicate them. I generally aim for simple that just looks complicated.
As you know, I’m not even a “real” quilter. I’m a topper since I send all my tops out for a professional to do the actual quilting. Saves lots of time-lol.
Sorry to read about the layoffs on your job. I hope your position is safe.
Thanks for a good read. Enjoy your Sunday.
Your post was interesting. I have quilted in the past becaue I want a challenge… but, a QUICK challenge… purses, bags, etc. I made Kristin a pieced quilt using fabric from her favorite clothes when she was little and comforters to coordinate with each girl’s bedroom… just squares. Do what you feel like doing. Life is too short.
Who is that cute little ‘wiggle’ doll? Love her!!
Amen, Anna.
The pork chop recipe looks great! I’ve added pork chops (and green beans) to the shopping list for this week.
Absolutely LOVE your rant. I love simple things. Of course you know I am a bit of a minimalist. But some of my favorite quilts are the Amish ones. And the reason is for their simplicity of geometry and color. The fussier it gets the less I like it. I guess I am even like that with knitting. I like it clean and simple. Glad you did not get laid off. It is hard seeing people leave. I hope you are having a good weekend. I have been shoveling snow all morning. Grrrrr.
well, i’m happy about you still being gainfully employed, and terribly sorry to hear about your coworkers. i have to say, that people were indeed taking themselves a bit too seriously with the quilting rants this past week…. makes me think they might need something more important to worry about in their lives, but that’s just me being a bit witchy. i am glad however, that we now know who the quilt gurus are. you never know when you might have a deep-seeded highly important quilting question that only a guru could answer.
hope your weekend is going okay.
:waves madly
I always loved that in the world of quilting there is something for everyone.
I made a few double wedding ring quilts and a Baltimore years before I figured out how to make a HST properly.
Here’s to being kind and supportive of each other, not critical and judgmental. Now, let’s all hold hands and sing Kumbaya ;)
Thanks for your thoughts Anna and I have loved everyone’s comments. Quilting is personal, and not deserving of being critqued. When inspiration hits me I typically quilt…and that is what gives me the most satifaction and enjoyment.
Oh that is sad to hear about your friends at work. It is a tough climate. I agree with all that you said about quilts. I usually buy quilt magazines for the inspiration (color combos) and not for the patterns themselves.
You said it, girl. Quilting should be fun. :)
If someone’s idea of fun is pushing themselves and achieving and designing and wow’ing the quilting world, then I say go for it.
As for me and mine, I’ll stick to a little more tame stuff, and my mom (whose mental blocks about her ability to coordinate colors wholly prevents her from figuring out how to put colors together) that thanks heaven for coordinated fabric collections.
I’m sorry to hear that there were layoffs in your company. We’re just coming out of a long dry stretch with no work, and it’s seriously tough out there. I’m thankful you still have work!
HI Anna,
It sounds like a difficult time for you at work these days. It is very hard when people are losing their jobs around you. My son was a lucky one not to lose his job but many of his friends did- it is a very discouraging time these days for people.
There certainly has been lots of talk about dumbing down of quilting- I think people should make the kind of quilts that give them satisfaction – its not about everyone creating heirloom quilts ( and just maybe what they are creating will be heirloom to their loved ones anyway.) Quilters create quilts for different reasons and most serious quilters are on a journey- Sometimes I don’t have time to make a complicated quilt – I want to give a quilt to someone as a gift to comfort them or tell them that I love them.
I liked what you had to say about this topic- Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Regards,
Anna
First off I can’t wait to make that recipe!!! Dumbing down quilting….yes I have been on the side of that opinion until I was with a group of young (young in age compared to me) quilters. Listening to them talk about working, being wives, mothers and all that entails to squeeze in a simple quilt is what they have time for. And being at a lunch where they unveiled their quilts, well each and every one was a beauty. So I have had to step back from my opinion, and a quilt is a quilt and the joy that it brings to the person making it is pricesless regarless of the pattern. Great post!
“I think we’re all just taking ourselves a bit too seriously. Quilting should be whatever you want it to be, but most of all FUN.”
Perfect.
I’ve been reading them too, and so far, what you had to say (above) is my favorite-favorite. You couldn’t be more right!
Amen, Sister.
Amen, sister! I could not have said it better. :) I did not miss Billy Collins’ birthday- I sat and listened to a few youtube vids in honor of this amazing wordsmith’s birth while sorting out a (easy) pattern. I will be making your skillet pork chops- yum! Love the quilting book. Must get it, even if it does have a quilt with those annoyingly simple half-square triangles on the cover. ;) Can’t wait to see what your tiny Bliss squares will become.
Have a lovely week, Anna!
Yes, I am a very luck duck, indeed. Here’s to all the moms with boys, but I don’t know how I would have fared myself, not being able to make pretty pink things for them! Thanks for all the love, Anna (I named my oldest Anna). Glad you’re in the audience ;)
sorry to hear about all the layoffs at work. that’s stressful. way back when i was working in an office, our company went through all sorts of changes. those were dark and scary days. i remember them all too well.
it seems like the dumbing down of quilting debate lifts it’s ugly head every 6 months or so, doesn’t it?
i think that’s why i made the resolution of “make what you want to make and make it how you want to make it” for this year. i had to remind myself of that the other day again. it’s not easy, especially amidst the (silly, sometimes self imposed) pressures of the blog world.
I’m not a quilter. I don’t even play one on TV. :) You know my sewing skills are basic, at best. But in my way of thinking, quilting, like any type of creativity, should be something you love. Sometimes our creative projects may lead us to places we didn’t know we could go; but other times, art is just finding a place of joy in the process.
It’s always a joy stopping here in Thimbleanna-land.
C
People definitely take themselves far too seriously.
It has to be fun, or why the hell would we do it?
Like you state things out there right now are bleak and problematic enough in so many ways, I just wish people would leave the small, simple pleasures alone and stop piling on the expectations……quilting is simply the most recent – look at the pressure around planning a kids time to load in the constructive and educational at every turn (my kids are really young, poor suckers get similiar non electronic toys, books, sports equipment and enough craft supplies to choke a horse like I did, if they can’t figure it out while I let them roam without an enrichment class or flashcards thru my house we have bigger problems – cooking has become a competition in your own home with bloggers, foodnetwork and the magazines, it amused me to no end that my husband who grew up without meatloaf or stuffed peppers, or sloppy joes etc. (cultural differences, not economical), all the stretch a dollar cooking my mom did, far prefers that over any fussy concoction I could (not do) slave over…..We definitely load too much expectation into everything!
I know my next project is going to be a super simple one using strips, regardless of whom expects what!
Thanks for posting – Nicole
glad to see you weigh in on this…i guess i just don’t like to be told what to do. the little hairs on the back of my neck stand up and that’s never a good look.
Applause, applause – love your comments regarding quilting. We have enough stress and angst in the world do we need to add it to something that’s suppose to be our fun. Pashaw!!!! LOL