It was interesting to read the comments you all left regarding having someone copy your quilts. It seems that no one who responded really minds! The reason I asked is because I have a couple of friends who don't like it all that much. They like the fact that they have created something unique and aren't wild about having copy cat versions of their work floating around. They aren't rabid about it, and would never object or complain, but I hear their little mutters from time to time….
I have to say I am a copy cat. I get so many of my ideas from other people and certainly from patterns. I might switch things up most of the time and use my own fabric ideas or make some other change, but many times I have made a quilt just as shown in a pattern, right down to using the exact same fabric group. Sometimes you just have to have it as shown! I was going to say that I do it less these days than in the past, but I guess it isn't so. I totally copied Cathy (Quilting on Main Street) with her Red Pineapple quilt, and Lisa and Thelma and I are so enamoured of the Buggy Barn's Autumn In My Garden pattern that we are all making it together. And swapped fabrics so all our quilts will even have the same materials!
So, how do I feel about having my work copied? Why, I don't mind a bit. I agree that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Living in these days of the internet, our work gets more exposure (especially if we have a blog), so it is inevitable that someone is going to like what we make enough to want to make a duplicate. It's all good.
26 responses to “Copy Cats”
Personally…I think it is a compliment to the author’s work to copy it. I have absolutely no creativity. So for me, I have to have a pattern or book to make a quilt. That’s why I purchase so many books, patterns, etc. I need all the help I can get. Love the quilt you and the girls are doing from Buggy Barn. Keep up the good work.
Personally…I think it is a compliment to the author’s work to copy it. I have absolutely no creativity. So for me, I have to have a pattern or book to make a quilt. That’s why I purchase so many books, patterns, etc. I need all the help I can get. Love the quilt you and the girls are doing from Buggy Barn. Keep up the good work.
I am happy to have my work copied, but don’t like doing exact copies myself. I always seem to change a pattern or fabric in a kit, so it feels like “mine”.
I am happy to have my work copied, but don’t like doing exact copies myself. I always seem to change a pattern or fabric in a kit, so it feels like “mine”.
Cute picture for “Copy Cats”!
I’m with Sheryl. I make unique quilts from the fabrics I choose to use, but do copy patterns and it’s fine with me if someone wants to copy my quilts. I’d be surprised if anyone thought them worthy of copying, but you’re right, it’s all good.
Speaking of good, it’s sunny, breezy, and 58*F here and that’s all good, too!
Hugs!
Cute picture for “Copy Cats”!
I’m with Sheryl. I make unique quilts from the fabrics I choose to use, but do copy patterns and it’s fine with me if someone wants to copy my quilts. I’d be surprised if anyone thought them worthy of copying, but you’re right, it’s all good.
Speaking of good, it’s sunny, breezy, and 58*F here and that’s all good, too!
Hugs!
Well, I’ve kind of always subscribed to that old saying (and I’m not sure I have it just right, but…) “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”. The very first quilt I ever made (seen here … http://www.flickr.com/photos/stitched_with_prayer/6459760867/ …) was done in a class of about 15 more experienced quilters, several of them making their second or third version of this quilt. In the center is and Octagon and the original pattern didn’t call for a border around it. It just blended completely with the background fabric. Well, both my SIL and I thought it looked a bit, um, ‘blah’, so we went home and started playing with borders. I came up with the narrow border idea to make it stand out a bit, but it was my SIL who finally hit on the dark narrow border to make it stand out! So we undid everything we had done down to that point, finished it up the way we liked it and went to class then next week. All but four of the other ladies in the class, loved the border so much that they took apart their quilts to add the contrast border to theirs and the amazing thing to me was they all asked our permission to copy what we had done. Remember, we were both completely new to the quilting world. Okay, point is, we were both, really excited that people had liked our idea so much that they were willing to un-pick their quilts (some almost completed) and copy an idea that we came up with to get rid of the ‘blah’. So I don’t mind being copied at all, it let’s me know that people like my ideas. Besides, if I’ve learned anything since I started quilting, it’s that most quilters are all about generosity and sharing. I think that is as it should be. But I also think it is okay to tell us if you don’t want an idea copied. It’s much better to say so up front, than to be upset because people are using your ideas. It would save a lot of hurt feelings! … Good post Nicole!!! Big Hugs…
Well, I’ve kind of always subscribed to that old saying (and I’m not sure I have it just right, but…) “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”. The very first quilt I ever made (seen here … http://www.flickr.com/photos/stitched_with_prayer/6459760867/ …) was done in a class of about 15 more experienced quilters, several of them making their second or third version of this quilt. In the center is and Octagon and the original pattern didn’t call for a border around it. It just blended completely with the background fabric. Well, both my SIL and I thought it looked a bit, um, ‘blah’, so we went home and started playing with borders. I came up with the narrow border idea to make it stand out a bit, but it was my SIL who finally hit on the dark narrow border to make it stand out! So we undid everything we had done down to that point, finished it up the way we liked it and went to class then next week. All but four of the other ladies in the class, loved the border so much that they took apart their quilts to add the contrast border to theirs and the amazing thing to me was they all asked our permission to copy what we had done. Remember, we were both completely new to the quilting world. Okay, point is, we were both, really excited that people had liked our idea so much that they were willing to un-pick their quilts (some almost completed) and copy an idea that we came up with to get rid of the ‘blah’. So I don’t mind being copied at all, it let’s me know that people like my ideas. Besides, if I’ve learned anything since I started quilting, it’s that most quilters are all about generosity and sharing. I think that is as it should be. But I also think it is okay to tell us if you don’t want an idea copied. It’s much better to say so up front, than to be upset because people are using your ideas. It would save a lot of hurt feelings! … Good post Nicole!!! Big Hugs…
I have to admit, I’m a big time copycat. Yes, sometimes I just have to have one exactly like I saw and fell in love with. I always, always give credit and would never claim that any of it was my own idea.
I have to admit, I’m a big time copycat. Yes, sometimes I just have to have one exactly like I saw and fell in love with. I always, always give credit and would never claim that any of it was my own idea.
I am ok with folks copying my work. I think there are folks that like the design part of quilting and others that like the actual sewing itself. There is plenty of room for everyone, imo. Interesting. Imitation is the greatest form of flattery ‘they’ say. Glad to have you back! We missed you.
I am ok with folks copying my work. I think there are folks that like the design part of quilting and others that like the actual sewing itself. There is plenty of room for everyone, imo. Interesting. Imitation is the greatest form of flattery ‘they’ say. Glad to have you back! We missed you.
Hasn’t quilting always been about “copying?” After all, without it, we wouldn’t have the populartiy of the standard quilt blocks that we all use today if others hadn’t loved the original idea so much and copied it. It’s why we buy patterns, books and magazines. Quilting has a unique perspective as being both a solitary pursuit (the individual who pieced the quilt top) and a community pursuit (the quilting bees that gathered in order to quilt the top.)
Every hand-made quilt is unique, no matter what you copy, because every quilter who makes a quilt is unique. We will switch up fabrics, or maybe use the same fabric, but quilt it differently. Some of us machine-piece, some paper-piece, some use templates and others hand-piece. Some quilts are machine quilted, and others by hand. But most of all, every quilter’s intention for the quilt they make is different. Some are gifts, some are memories and others are just because we need a new quilt to “spruce up the place.”
When one creates something and puts it out into the world, you do so not only to say “look what I did,” but to inspire others. It’s why there are so many “categories,” such as the Impressionists, the Realists and the Romantics, in painting and in writing. Even knitting has different “categories,” from Shetland to Bohus to Fair Isle. So the next time you hear someone grunbling about copycats, just smile and say, “Be happy about it. You may have just created the next design movement in quilting.”
Hasn’t quilting always been about “copying?” After all, without it, we wouldn’t have the populartiy of the standard quilt blocks that we all use today if others hadn’t loved the original idea so much and copied it. It’s why we buy patterns, books and magazines. Quilting has a unique perspective as being both a solitary pursuit (the individual who pieced the quilt top) and a community pursuit (the quilting bees that gathered in order to quilt the top.)
Every hand-made quilt is unique, no matter what you copy, because every quilter who makes a quilt is unique. We will switch up fabrics, or maybe use the same fabric, but quilt it differently. Some of us machine-piece, some paper-piece, some use templates and others hand-piece. Some quilts are machine quilted, and others by hand. But most of all, every quilter’s intention for the quilt they make is different. Some are gifts, some are memories and others are just because we need a new quilt to “spruce up the place.”
When one creates something and puts it out into the world, you do so not only to say “look what I did,” but to inspire others. It’s why there are so many “categories,” such as the Impressionists, the Realists and the Romantics, in painting and in writing. Even knitting has different “categories,” from Shetland to Bohus to Fair Isle. So the next time you hear someone grunbling about copycats, just smile and say, “Be happy about it. You may have just created the next design movement in quilting.”
love the copy cat photo!
love the copy cat photo!
I admit I am a copycat! I see what I like so I make it, want to have it! I did have a very unpleasant encounter with a quilter a few yr. back. It was at a retreat where a free pattern had been handed out. This woman had just finished the quilt and I loved her fabrics so I asked where she bought them. I ordered the fabric and made it. This woman found out a few months later, confronted me at our guild meeting and blew her cork. I didn’t display my quilt, enter in a show or sell it ! She was very upset because she wanted hers to be unique. I don’t follow that line of thought. I concluded she really couldn’t have been a quilter because I have only met generous and kind ones!
I admit I am a copycat! I see what I like so I make it, want to have it! I did have a very unpleasant encounter with a quilter a few yr. back. It was at a retreat where a free pattern had been handed out. This woman had just finished the quilt and I loved her fabrics so I asked where she bought them. I ordered the fabric and made it. This woman found out a few months later, confronted me at our guild meeting and blew her cork. I didn’t display my quilt, enter in a show or sell it ! She was very upset because she wanted hers to be unique. I don’t follow that line of thought. I concluded she really couldn’t have been a quilter because I have only met generous and kind ones!
i like what you said: it’s all good. life is too darn short to fret about such things. we are blessed to have the resources and $$ to make quilts. ;p
i like what you said: it’s all good. life is too darn short to fret about such things. we are blessed to have the resources and $$ to make quilts. ;p
Hi Nicole! I read your first post, but didn’t have time to comment that day, so I’ll comment now. I don’t mind if someone copies what I’ve done, but I really do appreciate them mentioning where they got the idea or the inspiration for the project if they show it on their blog. It just polite and it seems like the right thing to do if you saw it somewhere else first. It’s a nice way to spread blogger love and ideas. I’ve noticed that you try to give credit where credit is due and I think that’s important 🙂
Hi Nicole! I read your first post, but didn’t have time to comment that day, so I’ll comment now. I don’t mind if someone copies what I’ve done, but I really do appreciate them mentioning where they got the idea or the inspiration for the project if they show it on their blog. It just polite and it seems like the right thing to do if you saw it somewhere else first. It’s a nice way to spread blogger love and ideas. I’ve noticed that you try to give credit where credit is due and I think that’s important 🙂
Love your pic! I’m a big time copycat too :). Can’t say how many patterns or fabrics I’ve bought to make a quilt just like one I saw. I think I have a friend who doesn’t like being copied too as for Christmas one year she gave me the quilt book Copy Cat Quilts 🙂
Love your pic! I’m a big time copycat too :). Can’t say how many patterns or fabrics I’ve bought to make a quilt just like one I saw. I think I have a friend who doesn’t like being copied too as for Christmas one year she gave me the quilt book Copy Cat Quilts 🙂
Love your copy cats! The sunflower quilts you’re making as a group project are going to be gorgeous! What a fun idea to share your fabrics!
Love your copy cats! The sunflower quilts you’re making as a group project are going to be gorgeous! What a fun idea to share your fabrics!