Professional Machine Quilting
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COPYRIGHT 2010 MARGARET M. BINGHAM ALL RIGHTS RESERVED PROFESSIONAL MACHINE QUILTING AND ITS IMPACT ON THE CONTEMPORARY QUILT MOVEMENT A Thesis Presented to The Graduate Faculty of The University of Akron In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts Margaret M. Bingham August 2010 PROFESSIONAL MACHINE QUILTING AND ITS IMPACT ON THE CONTEMPORARY QUILT MOVEMENT Margaret M. Bingham Thesis Approved: Accepted: _____________________________ _____________________________ Advisor Interim Director Dr. Virginia Gunn Mrs. Sue Rasor-Greenhalgh ______________________________ _____________________________ Faculty Reader Interim Dean of the College Dr. Sandra S. Buckland Dr. James Lynn ______________________________ _____________________________ Faculty Reader Dean of the Graduate School Dr. Teena Jennings-Rentenaar Dr. George Newkome _____________________________ Date ii ABSTRACT This thesis investigates the role of Professional Machine Quilters within the contemporary quilt movement. Over the last thirty years, two important attitudinal shifts within the global quiltmaking community have occurred accompanied by technological developments in specialized machine-quilting equipment. These forces have facilitated the reintroduction of professional quilting services by entrepreneurial quilters. Presented here are the results of research investigating Professional Machine Quilters and their customers as well as hobbyist owners of professional-caliber equipment. The participants in this research project, members of the contemporary quilt movement, are productive on creative, commercial, and educational levels within the quilt movement and they play a major role in the support, promotion, and perpetuation of the art of quiltmaking. By purchasing equipment, supplies, and textiles with which they can express their passion in quiltmaking, quiltmakers are contributing to the on-going financial strength of the industry. The current acceptance and appreciation of machine quilting and the collaboration between quiltmakers and the Professional Machine Quilters facilitate the ultimate goal, finished quilts, and thereby also facilitate the satisfaction and pride of the quiltmakers. Consequently, the satisfied quiltmaker begins to make another quilt, contributing again to an ever-growing industry and artform. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The few words on this page cannot express the depth of my gratitude and appreciation to the people without whose help and support, I could never have accomplished this project. Dr. Virginia Gunn was unflagging in her confidence in my endeavors. Without her support, I would never have succeeded. I relied heavily on her scholarship and advice and thank her for all she has done for me. Dr. Sandra Buckland and Dr. Teena Jennings-Rentenaar provided steady encouragement and significant scholarly advice. Dr. David Witt helped with the survey format and gave me significant input on the structure of my research. My research would not have been as rich as it was without the help of several quilters and quiltmaking groups. The members of Ohio Longarm Quilters were a tremendous help, with proof-reading, reviewing, and advising on my online survey. I want to thank Janet-Lee Santeusanio and Mary Schilke of Machine Quilters Exhibition for sharing my research with their community. My quilting guilds, Cascade Quilt Guild of Akron and Keep It Simple Sewers, were patient and generous with every request I made for support and advice. Janice Kiser was always available to explain any little detail of professional machine quilting services and processes. Every respondent to my survey contributed immeasurably and I am very appreciative of the time they donated to educate me and support my research. iv To my family - my mother, Mary Eleanor Rankin, my sisters, Ellen Mitchell, Kate Hearn, and Kathleen Rankin, thank you for believing in me and being there through this project. I could not have done it without you. My niece, Katie Rankin, thanks for the skillful, meticulous, and exacting reviewing. To my sons, Todd and Thomas, thanks for your understanding, patience, and help. To my husband, Mike, I am blessed beyond measure to have you by my side. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF FIGURES …………………………………………………….………………ix CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ...…………………………………………………………………1 Methods …………………………………………………………………………3 II. EVOLUTION OF SEWING MACHINE USE IN QUILTMAKING ………………12 Quilting Basics ………………………………………………………………….13 Sewing Machine Development and Its Early Use in Quiltmaking………..…….13 Colonial Revival Influences on the Decline in Machine Quilting …..………….17 Attitudes from the Early to the Mid-Twentieth Century ………….……………20 Reintroduction of Sewing-Machine Use to Quiltmaking ……………….……..23 Widespread Acceptance of Machine Quilting …………….……………………34 III. INNOVATIONS IN THE SEWING INDUSTRY …………………………….……42 Contemporary Styles of Machine Quilting …………..…………………………42 Emergence of Specialized Machine-Quilting Equipment ………………………44 Current Equipment Classifications ……………………………..………………46 Features of Professional-Caliber Equipment ……………..…………………….53 Table and Frame Systems ………………………………………………………55 Ancillary Products and Support ……………………….……………………….57 vi IV. PROFESSIONAL MACHINE QUILTERS ……………………………………….62 Professional Machine Quilters Survey Results Overview …………………….67 Motivations ………………….…………………………………………………73 Business Structure ………………………...…………………………………….80 Aspects Enjoyed ……………………..…………………………………………92 Changes Seen and Foreseen ……………………….……………………………94 V. CUSTOMER OF PROFESSIONAL MACHINE QUILTING SERVICES …….…110 Customer Survey Results Overview ……………..……………………………113 Motivations for Employing a PMQ ………………………………..………….116 Customer Relationships …………………………….…………………………123 Impact on Quiltmakers ……………………………………...…………………147 VI. HOBBYIST OWNERS OF PROFESSIONAL-CALIBER EQUIPMENT ……..167 Hobbyist Survey Results Overview …………………………………………..169 Motivations ……………………………………………………………………169 Production Impact ……………………………………………………………..182 Changes Seen and Foreseen……………………….……………………………186 VII. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS …………………….……...………………196 BIBLIOGRAPHY ……………………………………..………………………………206 APPENDICES …………………………………………………………...……………214 APPENDIX A. IRB NOTICE OF APPROVAL …………………….………215 APPENDIX B. ONLINE SURVEY QUESTIONS ………….………………216 APPENDIX C. SHORT-ARM MACHINE MODELS, 2010 ………….……222 APPENDIX D. MID-ARM MACHINE MODELS, 2010 ……………..……223 vii APPENDIX E. LONG-ARM MACHINE MODELS, 2010 …………………224 APPENDIX F. EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURERS SOURCE LIST …..…225 APPENDIX G. NOTIONS AND SUPPLIES SOURCE LIST ……..……….227 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 2.1 “A Midwinter Day-Mare” by Else Brown, ca. 1970 .…………………………..24 3.1 American Professional Quilting Systems Millennium …………………………51 4.1 Length of Professional Machine Quilting Business …………………………….68 4.2 Machine Quilting Systems used by PMQs ………………...……………………69 4.3 PMQ Career Quilt Count ………………………………….……………………70 4.4 PMQ Monthly Quilt Production …………………………..……………………71 4.5 PMQ Hours Worked Per Week …………………………………………………72 4.6 Business Initiation Motives …………………………………….………………74 4.7 PMQ Marketing Techniques………………………………………….…………82 4.8 PMQ Reaction to Area Competition ……………………………………………89 4.9 Aspects Enjoyed by PMQs ……………………………………..………………93 5.1 Customer Duration …………………………………….………………………114 5.2 Number of Quilts Professionally Quilted ……………….……………………115 5.3 Motivations for Employing a PMQ ……………………………………………117 5.4 Methods of Locating PMQs ……………………………...……………………124 5.5 PMQ Selection Factors ……………………………………..…………………126 5.6 Quilting Styles Preferred ……………………….………..……………………128 5.7 Quilting Design Decision Input ……………………….………………………129 5.8 Reasons for Re-hiring …………………………………………….……………133 ix 6.1 Machine-Quilting Systems used by Hobbyists ………………………………170 6.2 Hobbyist Equipment Ownership Tenure ………………………………………171 6.3 Number of Quilts Quilted with Professional-Caliber Equipment …………..…172 6.4 Hobbyist Monthly Quilt Production ……………………………..……………173 6.5 Hobbyist Purchase Motivations ………………………………….……………175 x CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE To fully understand the contemporary world of quiltmaking requires an understanding of the role of Professional Machine Quilters. The development of highly specialized machine-quilting equipment over the last thirty years has spawned a cottage industry of Professional Machine Quilters who play a significant and substantial part in the $3.58 billion quilting industry.1 This, in turn, makes their business activities and the impact on their customers worthy of analysis and report but, to date, this population has not been researched. The goal of my master’s thesis research was to achieve a deeper understanding of the community of Professional Machine Quilters, the equipment on which they work, the services they provide, and the customers of their services. I hoped to gain a broad perspective of the impact of this sub-community of professional quilters on the contemporary quiltmaking movement. The history of the Professional Machine Quilters begins in the late 1960s and early 1970s as a quilt revival gained momentum, influenced by the interest in Colonial Revivalism at the time of the nation’s Bicentennial. Culturally, quiltmakers were also impacted by the back-to-nature movement which emphasized hand-made crafts, self- sufficiency, and simplistic, atavistic lifestyles. By the mid-1980s and early 1990s, the quiltmaking industry was burgeoning. One might have expected a quiltmaking revival 1 based on nationalistic pride and cultural movements related to naturalism and self- sufficiency to have lost popularity as society