Hiring a professional quilter is not actually a new thing. During the Colonial Revival, mail-order businesses offered quilting services as a part of their business. Designers often suggested less-skilled needleworkers hire someone to quilt their completed tops. Today’s quilters who enjoy producing tops but not the time consuming quilting process hire professional machine quilters. Quilt top makers and their quilters often develop creative as well as business relationships. The most skilled machine quilters offer a range of options from basic stippling patterns to allover designs to customized quilting patterns. Jessica Hartman