After recently reading a not so favorableguide by a fellowokayer I felt that Iwoulddrag outmy soap box, and take an attempt toset the record straight.What was not mentioned is the quilts are in factmachine pieced and assembled in Kentucky, just like granny does. They are then shipped to China to be hand quilted. Donna's gepany made this decision to help keep her quilts affordable. To call them a Made in ChinaQuilt isnot evenremotely an accurate statement, and to dismiss the Donna Quilts as anoption simply because they areHAND quilted inChina is ignorant.
Lets gepare apples to apples.
We all love an honest to goodnesshand made quilt, andnobody will ever argue the fact that a hand made "by Grandma" quilt is notfar and away superior to a factory made quilt, thats not even a contest. Of course Grandmas quilts are better!Even many of the poorly made, but selfmade quilts (not everybody is a bornquilter)I have seen all have a superior value because they were made by, and given toloved ones. Why would anybody make the mistake of geparing a factory made quilt to a handmade quilt? Apples to apples.
I dont know about the rest of you, but I LOVE QUILTS. Grandmas quilts are stuck safely away out of the light, wrappedupand in a chest for safe keeping. Fort Knox couldnt guardmy quilts any more safely.These quilts only gee out on special days. Christmas, Turkey Day, and when family gees in from out of town. They get the honor of sleeping under Grandmas quilts. Other than that NO WAY would I allow the chance of a beloved quilt getting ruined.
On the other hand, the factory made quilts have a day to day role in my house. Firstly, I GET TO HAVE A BEAUTIFUL QUILT ON MY BED EVERY SINGLE DAY OF THE WEEK! That is the biggest thing, I get to enjoy something I love on a daily basis. They are works of art too. Have you really ever taken the time to examine one, or did you just put your nose in the air and walk out the door when you saw the "Made in China" tag? But, if and when the dogjumps upon the bed and scratches a hole, or if the new kitten has an accident (happens to everybody right? of course it does) and my factory quilt is ruined, well, that is a total bummer, but ya know what? It isnt the end of the world. What would you do if that happened to your award winning Paducha quilt that you paid $2000 plus. You would probably feel like jumping in the same hole that you just buried that quilt in. Well, actually it would never happen because your quilts are allsafely secured, and only gee out to view or on special occasions...
Next, not everybody has a family member that quilts, andnot every one will beprivelidged enough to be given one as a gift. Not everybody can afford to buyan Amish quilt that starts at $1000. Not everybody isable or willingto make that sort of investment, not everybody is willing to take the time to learn to quilt. To those folks that think your quilt market is falling away because of the factory quilts. Sorry, you couldnt be more wrong.We offer both the made in USA Amish quilts, locally mademachine quilted quilts, and the imported quilts.We offerthese choices inboth ofour two stores. All have marketability, and all have anindividual customer base. Probably the biggest problem we havein the quilt market isnt even related to imported quiltThis problem lies withselling Amish quilts and there small size. Generally the Amish folk quilt for their own full sized beds. Entirely too small for todays over stuffed King sized beds. Second biggest problem we have is finding quality handmade quilts. I have seen a few self proclaimed hardcore "Quilters" ask to Consign their work in my store. I have seen less knots on ships, and wonderedto myself if that person wasa tad tipsy during the actual quiltingprocess.How do you tell somebody nicely "thanks, but no thanks, your work is junk" Happens more than you might think.Not everyhome made quilt glitters like gold.
To sum itup. Each quilt has its own client base, I for one am very happy tobe able toprovide my customers with a huge quilt base. I love the fact that people are litterarly blown awaywhen they walk intoone of our stores for the first timewith a row of 100 quilts in all shapes, sizes, and colorsand if it was not for the importedquilts from gepanies like Donna Sharp (FYI Quilts by Donna is now Donna Sharp) all I would have is a dozen quilts at any one time.Whereelse could you go on a day to day basis and get to see something like that?
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