Survey and Give-Away at Piecemeal Quilts, and Then Some

Sandi over at Piecemeal Quilts is hosting a survey and a give-away that are a result of her post on 'the dumbing down of quilting'.  Pop on over to read the post, then do the survey and get in on the give-away!

You all have seen my rants about simple patterns, so I'm sure it's no surprise to any of you that I agree with Sandi's post.  The online quilting community is inundated with modern bloggers, no few of whom have gotten to be quite well known for their adherence to the aesthetic that currently defines modern quilting.

Unfortunately, I feel that this adherence does a disservice to newer/less experienced quilters whose primary influences come from the modern movement.  There are so few modern (aesthetic, not contemporary) examples of piecing beyond squares and rectangles, and even those few extend to flying geese and pinwheels.  There is no reason that a quilt can't be something more complicated to piece and still retain a modern aesthetic.

In fact, I would argue that even a Dear Jane quilt, the original quilt completed in 1863, done in the right color scheme could be considered to have a modern aesthetic.  Check out Modify Tradition for some excellent examples of bringing modern to traditional blocks.

Modern quilters the world over!  Let's move beyond basic squares and wonky - test your limits and challenge your own creativity.  Make a quilt that speaks to *you*, one of your own design or take a traditional pattern and try a non-traditional color scheme, and get a taste of creative freedom.  Don't box yourself in because someone famous hasn't blazed that trail for you.

A Presentation on Modern Quilting by Rossie

You all have probably already seen this video...  I'm sort of the girl who's always last to the party, but I found this presentation by Rossie, the moderator of the Fresh Modern Quilts flickr group, pretty interesting.  Check out her blog here.







Modern Quilting, Mutant Quilting from r0ssie Rossie r0ssie on Vimeo
(EDIT 9-18-2010, 1851 hours - After reading Sandi's essay on this video and modern quilting, I thought I should preface the following comments thusly:  
I have nothing against the modern movement.  I find myself fascinated by it, and am a member of two Modern Quilt Guilds, going on a third.  
However, I do not consider myself to be a 'modern' quilter.  I appreciate the aesthetic, but I also appreciate the exactness and flow of a traditional quilt.  I much prefer to combine the two, utilizing traditional blocks but using modern colors and fabrics.  See the blog Modify Tradition for some excellent examples of what I like.)
I had a difficult time following Rossie's train of thought throughout the presentation.  Quite a few times, I found myself wondering what point she was trying to make, but I stuck through it.  
Some quotes that caught me, and why they caught me:
"I think that part of the reason that people like the imperfect and the not parallel is that it shows that you made it, that it shows that it wasn't a machine cutting it." (followed by a discussion about how you know someone's hands were on it)
I personally have a problem with this, simply because I don't feel that incorporating odd angles (or wonkiness) and planned imperfections makes someone appreciate my quilt more, that those things emphasize that I made something by hand.  I don't feel that my pieces have any less 'soul' for not doing those things.  Now, I'm sure that Rossie didn't mean to imply that anyone not doing these things is putting less 'soul' into their work, but still...
"Modern quilting and the internet are, like, in love with each other.  I don't think I can talk about modern quilting without talking about the internet." (followed by a discussion about flickr, blogs, bees, and online fabric purchasing)
I don't believe that without the internet we'd have the huge number of quilters labeling themselves 'modern'.  The modern movement has entirely been facilitated by the internet and the free passage of information enabled by it.  The downside to this is that we see just so many duplications of one quilt, right down to the fabric selections.  I think this is a shame...  We're being robbed of our creativity by the proliferation of media, while simultaneously being opened to new ideas.  
I'm kind of torn on applying the term 'wabi-sabi' to modern quilting.  It's supposed to imply a simultaneity, though perhaps that term is aptly applied to my statement about being robbed of our creativity while becoming more open to new ideas.
From wikipedia:  
"Wabi-sabi (侘寂^?) represents a comprehensive Japanese world view or aesthetic centered on the acceptance of transience. The aesthetic is sometimes described as one of beauty that is "imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete".^[1] It is a concept derived from the Buddhist assertion of the Three marks of existence (三法印 sanbōin^?), specifically impermanence (無常 mujō^?).  Characteristics of the wabi-sabi aesthetic include asymmetry, asperity, simplicity, modesty, intimacy, and the suggestion of natural processes."
I just don't get a sense of transience or impermanence from 'modern' quilting.  Certainly, I can agree with there being 'imperfections' in modern quilts, but are they really imperfections when that was what you intended?  I would argue, probably not.  It's rather like abstract art to me.  Were Miro or Pollack deliberately setting out to create an imperfect canvas, or were they striving to create the perfect expression of an imperfect state?

Hmm... perhaps that is where wabi-sabi enters into modern quilting...


I'm probably over-thinking the whole thing...

'Modern' Quilting

Recently, the Milwaukee-Madison Modern Quilt Guild split, due to geography, and became the Milwaukee Modern Quilt Guild, while someone separate from the existing guild founded a Ning group called the Madison Modern Quilt Guild.  I've gone and joined the Madison group.

The founder of the new group started a discussion on what makes a 'modern' quilter.  I couldn't resist throwing my two (thousand) cents in, especially since this is a topic that just keeps percolating in the back of my mind.  This is what brownbuilt posted:

I have been asking myself what makes someone a "modern" quilter and I came up with this:
You Might be a Modern Quilter if...
...you consider Deniye Schmidt your own personal hero
....you wander around a quilt show, wondering where all the "cool" fabrics are. You leave a quilt store with a suspicious feeling that all those quilts are beautiful, but not quite your style
....you have no interest in making a traditional Christmas stocking or anything from most traditional quilting books.
....you love fabrics from designers such as Amy Bulter, Heather Ross, Heather Bailey, Tula Pink, Erin Micheal, and Anna Maria Horner, to name but a few.
.... you go online to search for fabric, find techniques, and read other quilting blogs
Any more you can think of?

And this is what I wrote in response:

I had to have a chuckle when I read this, because I just don't match any of these, besides the second and last ones.  Keep in mind, though, that I started quilting in the most traditional manner possible.  I checked out a book from the library, and followed its instructions for making cardboard(!) templates, traced around them, cut my fabrics with scissors, and then hand sewed(!!) everything for about six years.   (One of my first quilts was a hand-stitched Double Wedding Ring Quilt.)  Then I discovered the sewing machine...  'Nuff said.


Maybe I'm way old school, but for me, throwing the word 'wonky' or 'improv' in front of a block or quilt name doesn't make it 'modern' to me.  I'm not much for abstract art either though.  


I don't particularly go ga-ga over any designers, though I do admire the aesthetics of Joel Dewberry and Tula Pink.  And most 'modern' quilters think the following statement is blasphemy:  Kaffe Fassett's prints and quilts look like Technicolor vomit.  I think it's a crime that he re-colored some of Liberty of London's prints.


I've only ever purchased several prints within a fabric line twice in my life, and I have never made a quilt using only the prints from a single line.  I find it boring and not at all challenging.  Quilting is expressing my vision, and I feel like confining myself within a single fabric line serves to only express the fabric designer's vision.  


For me, being a 'modern' quilter is about working beyond the barriers of 'traditional' quilting, even if it's as simple a barrier as working a traditional block in a different value or color scale.  It's about embracing the things that make us unique as creative individuals and allowing those things to help us thrive as artists.  It's about being unafraid to follow my own vision, rather than copying someone else's pattern (and really, how many freaking four-patch patterns can there be out there?!?).  It's about letting the materials at hand speak to me, and letting my intuition guide the final project.  It's about being unafraid of color, and working outside of my comfort zone.


I guess, really, for me, it comes down to being true to myself and not becoming entrenched in what others think a quilt should look like.  Sure, I'll use traditional blocks and settings, but, then again, so did the Amish, and 'traditional' Amish quilts are as modern as you can get!  Such strong use of color and line, married with technical expertise - I can only hope to achieve such beauty in my quilts.