I’ve just had an epiphany.
That sounds very grand but it really isn’t. I was just looking at Moonstitches’ wonderful photos from the 2008 Tokyo International Great Quilt Festival (which, by the way, have been viewed on flickr 22528 times!!) and I realised why something has bothered me for years.
You know those technically brilliant, amazing, prize-winning, stitching-masterpieces-type quilts that win all the big shows? You know the kind I mean, right? (I’m not going to put any pictures here because (1) I can’t and never will be able to make one. (2) I’m not going to poo on anyone who can – I admire them.) They tend to be very traditional or, at the least, very formal in design and they are almost always made by hand, taking 124356962143 hours off the maker’s lifeof hard slog and use up at least 249365983 yards of thread.
Have you ever looked at one of those and gone,”Really clever…but…meh…”? That’s how I feel almost every time I look at them. Even when the teensy tiny invisible stitches make me gasp… they still leave me cold.
Here’s the epiphany part:
It’s because they don’t celebrate fabric. They could be made in any number of media and work just as well as designs. In fact, sometimes I’ve wondered “Why didn’t you just paint it?”(or mosaic it, or build it…)
They lack soul. They may have beauty and they may contain the blood, sweat and tears of the quilter, but still they lack soul and so they fail to move me.
So, what do you think? Aside from the obvious technical accomplishment, what do you think these quilts achieve/say/express?
Edited to add: more fabulous photos of the Tokyo Festival here courtesy of Movinghands!
they say, “I’m willing to dedicate thousands of hours to winning a quilt prize.” or even many quilt prizes as the same quilt pops up over and over again.
By: peppermintpatcher on April 11, 2008
at 11:06 am
Kirsty, I think you could be on the right track! Is it because the quilts are not made for someone to use? When you try to achieve the perfect: points, colour, stitch length, etc. etc. something gets lost. I like the quirky, off balance, little mistakes that hide there, type of quilts – probably because that’s what I make
By: Erilyn on April 11, 2008
at 11:07 am
First, what a great question to consider. I have known a few amazingly talented women who make gorgeous quilts…those tiny stitches, artfully designed even with whatever fabric they could find, but they never entered their quilts in competitions. It wasn’t about winning, it was more about a blanket, warmth, sturdiness and yet the artistry was still there. I admire those quilts and those quilters who have their quilts in shows. I know how much work goes into even something simple like I make. I do wonder after the show, do those quilts go home and warm someone’s bed or even hang on someone’s wall and get lovingly oogled over each day. I’m sure some of them do. In my mind there is a place for both. My love of quilting comes from what I am able to put into a quilt that comes from me and me alone. I’m not sure I would want that to be judged. As someone wise once told me…it’s really just a blanket.
By: Jacquie on April 11, 2008
at 11:20 am
I know exactly what you mean. Much as I admire and strive for good workmanship, the clinical precision of some fine quilts leaves can be a turn off or intimidating.
By: Brenda on April 11, 2008
at 11:58 am
I’m not into things that you put sooooo much work into and then just hang there. If I ever managed to make something as incredibly clever as those quilts can be damn, I’d go knocking on doors up and down the street asking people to look at it and touch it. But THEN I’d use the damn thing. Fabric is for using and wrapping yourself in and getting dirty and washing. Just my opinion though. I respect the skill of quilting, I don’t have the patience for it at all.
By: lovestitches on April 11, 2008
at 1:00 pm
I’ve had similar thoughts, thoughts along the lines that the workmanship is exquisite but the quilts just leave me cold.
Some of them – a particularly intricate Baltimore Album comes to mind – strike me as work by conformists for conformists. That’s probably just my jealousy speaking: when have I ever made a prize-winning quilt? Also, I should use the word “traditionalist” rather than “conformist” to be polite.
I simply find it hard to relate to the traditional, formal pieces. The creators clearly have a great deal of time and technical aptitude; why have they chosen to use it in this manner? In their shoes, I would choose to do something far different.
The best explanation I can come up with is that they’re different people and have different sensibilities than me. Also, maybe some of them are wearing girdles that are too tight.
By: Tanya Brown on April 11, 2008
at 1:22 pm
This is really interesting! I do want to stress that I appreciate the workmanship of such quilts and I am certainly very glad that they exist (mankind needs excellence in all ways), I am simply voicing my EMOTIONAL response to them and wondering how others respond.
…tight girdles…*snort*…
By: twolimeleaves on April 11, 2008
at 1:58 pm
Not quite sure which type of quilt you are talking about..was it the more traditional quilt? I once went to the Sydney Quilt Show with two quilters I had just met and was mortified by their scathing and loud critique. One of them feels exactly the way you do but about art style quilts.. she said they left her cold and why don’t they just paint them, meantime I was swooning, almost prostrate at the feet of the same quilt she was criticising!!!! [think it was a Susan Mathews]
What is interesting to me is Kaffe Fassett’s journey..and I am the first to bemoan his kit and now corporate mentality but he started out as an artist and later when asked about designing quilts he said it wasn’t his thing until it was pointed out that he had in fact painted them in his earlier work! Also his knitting of the 80’s was heavily influenced by quilters blocks. Some of his quilts in his first book were tied and some were made of upholstery and he is not into the whole lightmediumdark blahblahblah thing, yet he is heavily influenced by the traditional precise works of the past. He actually used to haunt museums like the V and A etc and has a homage to their quilts in book form.
So my point is I guess that without the traditional precise works we may not have the wonderful interpretations that we have now. So maybe todays traditionally made ones will cause others to subvert the process with their quilts, who knows? One of my favourite things to do is go to the QVB buiding in Sydney and check out the tiled floors and imagine them in quilts…I have one pattern from an old magazine in fact…am thinking of doing a homage in a smaller wall quilt but also interpreting it in more vivid ‘me’ colours. Sorry to be so long winded…great brain and spirit food Kirsten.
By: Magik Quilter on April 11, 2008
at 3:55 pm
So if you see anyone in the QVB with their head down, bumping into people its me..introduce yourselves
By: Magik Quilter on April 11, 2008
at 3:57 pm
I completely agree. While the traditional quilts are technically perfect, they just don’t have the same loving feeling about them. I like the really old fashioned, scrappy, off kilter type of quilt which has been made from scraps, offcuts, or whatever is in the stash. You can tell it has been made with love by someone who was really trying but just not that technically proficient (hmmmm, sounds like something I would make)!
By: CurlyPops on April 11, 2008
at 5:13 pm
I agree – and I think that’s why, whenever I go to a quilt show, I look for a flaw in those masterpieces. I used to do it because I didn’t think a quilt could be that perfect. And if I couldn’t find a flaw, I didn’t like the quilt nearly as much. But now I think that the flaws in a quilt are where the soul is shining through.
By: Tanya on April 11, 2008
at 5:41 pm
Does each of us sit between two extremes?… at one end are the super-challenges that leave us cold, and at the other end are the modest creations that also leave us cold?
These fantastic award winning quilts don’t leave me feeling they are soulless at all. I often feel that the wonderful technical skills have been put to the service of excellence in composition, colour and design. For me the problem is the number of items. Does the world really need another log cabin quilt? Not as far as I am concerned… until I see a surprising taupe version at the Tokyo Quilt Fair and it leaves me dazzled. It’s just that the very next item is also dazzling — and I end up feeling a bit ‘blah’ about it and maybe overwhelmed by the achievement.
At the other end of the spectrum are the polite little cot quilts made of charm squares sewn together and presented on blogs as ‘tah-dah! – I did it’. I am underwhelmed by the achievement.
Perhaps we need the stories behind each of them, so we can enter into the achievement and gain a fuller appreciation of the work.
By: Gillian on April 11, 2008
at 7:36 pm
I had to look after “epiphany” first, now I am sure you had one:)
I am very much about “gut feelings” when it comes to exhibited quilts:
-some of them are completely different to what I feel should be named quilt, but I hope to practise patience and tolerance and keep my mouth shut,
not my taste but good and deserve their place
- some are breathtking in skills but leave me kind of cool because of visual overload of a multitude of challenges concentrated in one piece, way too much, can’t bear, but admire( not loud but give credits to the maker)
-some of them really make me sad, when they are very poorly worked with twisted seams and threads lurking or too much machine quilting aka cardboard ( I am not speaking of the breathtaking quilts of Gee’s Bend with their great visual impact despite the materials and the wonkyness)
my best loved ones are traditional with a twist, working with distinctive colours, which do not have to be my favourite ones but thoughtfully chosen/ composed. which forward an idea or story.
which could enhance the visual appearance of the entrance hall of a company or a museum or a public library etc.
and those to snuggle in which I could easily imagine to be tossed over an armchair or a sofa or beautifully displayed on a bed.
At the moment I am working on my first entry in a judged quilt show in nearly thirteen years of busy quiltmaking because I shyed away from being compared to those brilliant blue ribbon ones.
But there is no other chance in quilt business to get renown or even bookings for workshops
you have to delurk, oh my gosh, that’s stressful.
a little bit of fun too as I do what I love most- sew and quilt my favourite fabrics
X Christiane
By: Christiane on April 11, 2008
at 8:40 pm
Wow! I just had a wee look at 2007 Sydney best of show.
17,000 hours.
I am awestruck.
Totally. How can you stay focussed on one thing for so long?
I haven’t seen many quilts in person, quilting not really being my thing, but, when I have been to classical music concerts and operas, I found the same thing with classical music. Musicians who were lauded as being technically brilliant left me yawning, and others would have me riveted…. I don’t know anything about music, but I knew what sounded good to me, and the technically perfect dudes? (Not that I would know they were, but the ones the music snobs thought were good.) Boring.
P.S. I love Tanya Brown
By: crafty on April 11, 2008
at 10:32 pm
You have really hit on something. Those quilts are stunning pieces of workmanship, but…..
Your Brunswick Street is smiling at me and begging me to take a closer look at the myriad of beautiful fabrics, set so beautifuly against that dark, patterned background.
By: laeroport on April 12, 2008
at 1:09 am
I know how you feel, but I look at it this way: as in all other art forms, different things appeal to different viewers and artists. The quilts you’re talking about celebrate precision, amazing skill, beautiful design, and a level of complexity and intricacy that most quilters wouldn’t try to or can’t achieve. They are beautiful and amazing, and at least to my eye the Japanese quilts celebrate aspects of art that have always been valued in their artistic aesthetic: restraint, subtlety, gentleness, etc. It’s possible that — at least for some of the quilts you’re talking about — the sense of coolness, restraint, quietness and the like are what the artist wanted to convey.
Like you, they don’t reflect what I aspire to create, even in my wildest dreams of where I hope my quilt art will go. But I can appreciate their beauty and the amazing technical skill they reflect. I think the fact that they win awards is appropriate, especially in light of the intricacy and detail and precision of many of those quilts and the skills it takes to make them.
Still, I prefer quilts that are more exuberant. Usually, for me, it’s a combination of color and pattern and skill and design, and I suppose I like contemporary and abstract imagery more than the traditional quilt design interpretations. But I see that as a preference — like choosing to work in modern abstract painting as opposed to wanting to replicate renaissance oil paintings.
So, my take is that those other quilts don’t leave me cold : I can admire them and appreciate them and be in awe of the artistry in them. And I’d even venture to say that I don’t agree that those quilts don’t celebrate fabric. They just don’t celebrate the type of fabric (or the elements of the fabric you love — color and pattern) in the way you like to celebrate it, maybe?
Of course, I think there ARE quilts that are technically excellent but they don’t “sing” in that way a piece can when the design, color, contract, etc all come together in a way that is just right. It’s hard to get everything right, as we all know!
Maybe the challenge is to look at one or some of those quilts and think about what specifically it is that is leaving you cold. How would you make that quilt better, to your eye?
By: Diane Hock on April 12, 2008
at 2:30 am
[...] the cuppa DH always makes for me and and was considering a reply when read Kirsten’s post “Very pretty, but is that all it does?” and wondered if she may have stirred a few worms in their cans with that one. I read the comments [...]
By: is it the journey we love or the destination? « threadspider’s weblog on April 12, 2008
at 4:56 am
I’m not sure what happened above Kirsten-It’s something to do with a setting in WordPress! I’ll try to stop it happening, but please delete it!
This was such a thought provoking post and I’ve been mulling it whilst working, but I think some of the very able comentators above have said what I was going to say already.
By: threadspider on April 12, 2008
at 5:07 am
I have been mulling ove rthis same point, but every time i tried to write it i was sounded rude. well done! you’ve said it without offending anyone. I have felt exactly the same, both about the techincally perfect traditional quilts and art quilts and also one of the commenters point about the cot quilts from charm squares
By: paulahewitt on April 12, 2008
at 6:31 am
This reminds me a lot of music. I play the flute and have for almost 25 years. In school there were always the players that could play faster than you ever thought possible. They would whiz through scales and music showing you how much time they had gotten to know there instrument and the music they played. But one thing they always lacked, in my opinion of course, was heart and feeling.
I’m way too musical and maybe a little too depressing at times. But I have always felt that music, art, crafts or anything that takes imagination should be just that, imaginative. You should be able to feel how the person feels by hearing or seeing. It shouldn’t take a degree in some mathmatical science to figure out what they mean.
Besides, I always wondered too, how it felt to them when they were done? Was it really satisfying or fulfilling? Maybe it is to them because that’s the way it works in their brain, but not me. I guess I am in the same boat as you. I would rather hear or see something that helped me feel their passion then a bunch of squiggly lines or blur of notes that left me feeling empty.
By: the1stdaughter on April 13, 2008
at 3:19 am
I am a very simple person when it comes to stuff like this … I am more than likely wrong because I do tend to jump in with my comminets without much thought but here goes … I think it is simply a matter of style – I like modern, whimsical designs, stacks of colour & fun. I also like structure and traditional designs. I just prefer the former because that’s what my eyes like to look at. Neither is better they are just different … thank God we all don’t like the same stuff or make the same stuff otherwise our world would be very boring!
By: Kellie on April 13, 2008
at 9:03 am
I love both types of quilts for different reasons. I love to see the quilts that are made with precision. You have to see them in real, not on a photo. Seeing texture and colours makes the difference. Two weeks ago I went to a quilt exhibition and both types of quilts were exhibited. I heart the art quilts. I hope to get there one day…
I’m working on the Dear Baby Jane quilt, just because I want to learn about where to use colours and all the techniques that are needed to make it. A challenge in technique. I hope I even manage to celebrate the fabric.
I love all quilts that are designed by quilters themselves. You can feel their creativity, soul, emotions and passion.
(P.S. did you receive my email about Eindhoven? The email was sent back to me again…)
By: nicolette on April 13, 2008
at 5:24 pm
Really interesting question! I love all quilts or things quilted. I am amazed at anything quilt sized as I cannot imagine having the time to do that. Making small sized quilted matryoshka dolls is perfect for me right now!
By: Ravenhill on April 13, 2008
at 6:55 pm
Kirsten, Perhaps the show quilts strike you as soul-less because on some level you know they were designed and made for competition. The constraints on design and color choices, precision, and influences from prior winners define the end results.
Quilts made from the heart, on the other hand, are often made as expression of love (for a person, or for fabric, process, or the resulting quilt) or as an expression of one’s point of view (especially in the case of art quilts). No constraints, “wonky and imperfect” is tolerated (and even endearing) if it is genuine and honest.
I suspect you may be influenced by the messages these quilts are conveying, and find that you prefer “I love you” or “I love sewing fabric” to “I want to win recognition and prizes.”
Guess I see it as apples and oranges.
By: Ellen on April 14, 2008
at 3:15 am
Being the sentimental fool that I am, my efforts in quilting end up “crazy quilts” made up of my family’s shirts, etc. I do love to embroider, so that comes in handy for embellishment. I still have a quilt I made back in the 80’s out of worn out jeans from the 60’s and 70’s that I used to wear. I did have a look at the lineup from the quilt festival…..couldn’t believe my eyes at the skill levels some of those pieces of art must have taken. But, my blankets, and that’s what they are, have covered babies, dogs and cats, guests and worn out chairs and sofas. To me it means comfort, being frugal, and recycling before it became vogue. I have never been known to waste anything. Looking back, we always have something to talk about when I drag out a clean one, and someone in the house is bound to say “Oh, I remember this (garment or another),” kind of like a picture album sometimes. I’m not a great quilter, but I do hand-stich most of it when I do make one. I’m tempted to machine-quilt soon, because I’m running out of enough years to finish the next one……it just takes me so darn long.
By: Lilian on April 14, 2008
at 9:29 am
Lots of interesting comments – here’s my tuppence worth! I think quilts reflect the maker’s personality. I know people who are prepared tobe patient and prefectionist. they are calm and meticulous and focused. And they are likley to produce a technically perfect quilt. That quilt may or may not ’stir me’ more than another one – that I think then comes down to personal taste. However, that is not my personality. I create more quickly, spontaneously, experimentally. ‘Good enought but joyous in the process’ is more me. I think the world of quilting needs both. I love to yearn to do a perefectionist quilts and vow I will focus on just one but then I fly off in another direction.
I have made a conscious decision that I will show my work as it is – at least those I am pleased with becuase I enjoy and have benefitted from seeing all kinds of quilts. (as yet I do not ‘get’ jelly roll kits but maybe I will be educated!) But, I have come to the acceptance that I am unlikey to win anything because quilts shows are judged on an objective standard which happens to suit the perfectionist personality. I woudl like to hope that a way could be found to allow more information on quilts show entries than 30 words so the background and aetiology of a quilt could be taken into account. But I accept that it would be hard to do that.
So for now I am happy with this philosphy. I love all quilts, some more than others. I can only make what I can make and I do not want to become someone else to make someones elses quilt. I will show others what is possible my way and I will learn from the techniques of those who win. But I will not let the declared definition of perfection of one faction of quilting take the joy out of may art. So my applique stitches were not small enough? ( comment on my last show entry). True indeed. But my Mum cried with joy when she saw the gift I had made for her. A better acolade for me than the approval of an anonymous judge.
By: Anonymous on April 15, 2008
at 9:40 pm
Lots of interesting comments – here’s my tuppence worth! I think quilts reflect the maker’s personality. I know people who are prepared tobe patient and prefectionist. they are calm and meticulous and focused. And they are likley to produce a technically perfect quilt. That quilt may or may not ’stir me’ more than another one – that I think then comes down to personal taste. However, that is not my personality. I create more quickly, spontaneously, experimentally. ‘Good enought but joyous in the process’ is more me. I think the world of quilting needs both. I love to yearn to do a perefectionist quilts and vow I will focus on just one but then I fly off in another direction.
I have made a conscious decision that I will show my work as it is – at least those I am pleased with becuase I enjoy and have benefitted from seeing all kinds of quilts. (as yet I do not ‘get’ jelly roll kits but maybe I will be educated!) But, I have come to the acceptance that I am unlikey to win anything because quilts shows are judged on an objective standard which happens to suit the perfectionist personality. I woudl like to hope that a way could be found to allow more information on quilts show entries than 30 words so the background and aetiology of a quilt could be taken into account. But I accept that it would be hard to do that.
So for now I am happy with this philosphy. I love all quilts, some more than others. I can only make what I can make and I do not want to become someone else to make someones elses quilt. I will show others what is possible my way and I will learn from the techniques of those who win. But I will not let the declared definition of perfection of one faction of quilting take the joy out of may art. So my applique stitches were not small enough? ( comment on my last show entry). True indeed. But my Mum cried with joy when she saw the gift I had made for her. A better acolade for me than the approval of an anonymous judge.
By: Helen Conway on April 15, 2008
at 9:41 pm
I came to this discussion via the Moonstitches blog and I have to have a say in all this. I am an artist who thought I would never quilt, but who has recently discovered quilting and has derived a great deal of joy (and frustration) from it. For me, I could look at the Tokyo Quilting photos forever. I admire these pieces for what they are; works of art. You asked the question, why don’t they just paint these? But it is precisely because they are fabric arts, so skillfully done, that makes these pieces amazing. They don’t leave me cold any more than some art does. Yes, some art tries too hard and misses that spark. But I think generalising ALL these quilts as such is just not fair. Yes, I appreciate hand made quilts made with love for the purpose of covering a bed, and my family appreciates the mistake-ridden-absolutely-not-perfect-quilts I make for them with love. But it doesn’t take away from what these quilt show quilts are. They are amazing. The overall vision that creates a quilt like that is amazing. And I don’t agree that they don’t celebrate the fabric; many of them actually play with the fabric, which allows us to appreciate them on a whole other level. As for the sizes of stitches etc; there will always be restraints in competitions. I would still be quite happy to hang some of those pieces in my house and they would bring me joy. They certainly give me, a beginner quilter, something to aspire to, and a glimpse of where quilting can take me.
By: Georgia on April 15, 2008
at 11:20 pm
i haven’t read through all of the comments, but i agree with you!
brenda put it well when she said ‘clinical precision’. to me, some of them are the same as looking at a paint by number compared to a painting. although you’re right – the skill involved is amazing.
By: kirsten on April 15, 2008
at 11:44 pm
You’ve articulated exactly how I’ve often felt when viewing quilt “masterpieces”! I thought it must be some barbaric lack in me that I didn’t feel awe and reverence…….Respect for the skill and perseverance yes, but for the rest. …..Nice to hear I’m not a Neanderthal! To me it’s like the difference between a scholarly tome on some ancient and obscure civilization, and “Atonement” by Ian McEwan. Which would I rather read? Sorry, no prize if you correctly guessed the latter!
By: molly on April 16, 2008
at 12:00 am
I followed a couple links that led me here, and I’m so glad because this is a great discussion! It’s timely for me, because this past weekend I went to the Chicago Quilt Show and have been thinking about my response to the quilts ever since. One blogger posted photos of her favorite quilts from the show, and even though I took a zillion photos myself, I only bothered to snap a picture of one of the quilts she loved. There’s something very personal in each of our responses.
I don’t feel that precision is joyless, or cold, or without soul. It can be, but it doesn’t have to be, and I sometimes get a lot of pleasure from it’s formal beauty. Similarly, free expression by itself isn’t art, although it can sometimes affect me deeply. It’s a lot like poetry — free verse can be great poetry or awful, and at the same time the rhythm and sound of a well-constructed sonnet just flows, and is very powerful. But no matter what you or I may think of any poem, it usually means something to the poet.
Some quilts I never tire of looking at, they always draw me in and offer something every time I see them. Oddly, the quilts that do this don’t all have the same style (they range from wonky, to mosaic, to saturated color, to shades of neutral), and I keep trying to work out whether there is something they all have in common. I wonder whether the form of our aesthetic responses is hardwired in some way, where we have all kinds of variation along a common spectrum?
By: Cheri on April 16, 2008
at 2:33 am
I love to look at them & share them on my blog. But they are not “what I do.” But then again, I have seen plenty of home made quilts on flickr that I also love, but are not “what I do.” Which is why I love to look on flickr & at quilt shows. My only irritation, is seeing the same quilt at a lot of different shows – I got to 3 or 4 national shows a year. – it’s what I do. Then I am completely inspired to go home & to work on “my stuff.”
By: Amy on April 16, 2008
at 4:04 am
hehehehehe! I got something today that is not only pretty but useful too! Thank you Kirsty! It is exactly what I had hoped! I’m so glad it waited for me in your Etsy shop!
By: chronicler on April 16, 2008
at 9:27 am
Meh! I’m with you on this one, sistah! I long ago realised that I DO NOT HAVE THE ATTENTION SPAN to spend that amount of time on anything. Good on those who do, who make a quilt out of 10,000 postage stamp sized bits of fabric but …….I want instant gratification! Or at least fairly-soon gratification. So I can go do something else. And I don’t mean the ironing.
By: Shirley Goodwin on April 16, 2008
at 11:30 am
I’m with you. The award-winning precise, technically perfect quilts leave me cold. There are many well-known quilters whose work I find soulless. Give me the joy and exuberance of Gee’s Bend any day.
By: Tonya R on April 16, 2008
at 4:25 pm
OH MY GOOD KIRSTY – what have you done? Opened Pandora’s Box.
By: deedee on April 16, 2008
at 6:31 pm
“…we come to quilt making looking for a respite from one set of challenges by embracing a very different set ~ involving color, pattern, sensuality, skill, and order, in an ever-changing mixture. . . . The act of making patchwork quilts provided an oasis of grace in my life. I pitched my pieced tent in that oasis, finding shelter and warmth for my psyche…”
[from Quilting to Save My Life by Janet Catherine Berlo, author of Quilting Lessons: Notes from the Scrap Bag of a Writer and Quilter]
From my 4/145/08 blog post:
“As many of you have probably surmised, photographing my quilts is a vital part of the process for me. While some quilts are meant to be hung on a wall, I need to capture living shots of mine as they are draped over stone walls, hung on fences, or tossed over the wicker rocking chair on our front porch.
For me, each of my quilts becomes far more than fabric, thread, and batting ~ our shared journey allows each of them to become their own entities with a story to tell. Some are playful, others are more subdued and formal; some are softly romantic while many are bright and dynamic. Each of these elements are part of who I am ~ alternately together or scattered, certain or unsure, giddy or depressed, in a word ~ complex.
I make my quilts intuitively, emotionally, passionately. The combination of color and design must please the deeper parts of me or I cannot go forward. And photographing the finished quilts is much the same. Flat, static portraits cannot capture the satisfaction of a plan that came together, the idea that was allowed to evolve, or the pure joy that comes with completion.”
—-
When I go to quilt shows and stand in front of the big prize winners, many times I am awestruck by the magnitude of the work required but rarely am I overwhelmed by their emotional impact.
I have entered several of my quilts in local competitions, not to win prizes (although any resulting ribbons do, naturally, prompt a ‘happy dance’) but they are offered to share their glorious colors and a wonderful sense of ‘possibility’ with those who view them.
If others choose to invest years of work to compete in and possibly win a major quilt show, then more power to them. I care about and understand excellence and quality of execution, but it is more important to me that my quilts have soul.
By: quiltdivajulie on April 17, 2008
at 4:35 am
I so agree. They are celebrations of technical accomplisments, and as such I admire them also. But that’s not why I quilt. I quilt for the joy of the fabric, the texture, the snuggling down under something beautiful and unique. A quilt that doesn’t get all used up, to me isn’t a quilt at all.
By: Megan on April 17, 2008
at 8:13 am
I can totally see what you’re saying but I don’t think quilts need to be divided into ‘technically gifted’ versus ‘creative’ categories. Of course, you get quilts that can be both. And I don’t think that just because a quilter is technically accomplished her work will then automatically lack soul. Leonardo Da Vinci was obviously very gifted technically and dedicated years to certain pieces but this doesn’t automatically lead to critics declaring his work soul-less. I’ve been moved by quilts which the maker has spent hours and hours on, the ‘aqua planets’ one (at Tokyo) makes me feel quite overwhelmed by the time and skill that was involved. And that’s a powerful emotion- how can a quilt that appears to hold ‘the blood sweat and tears’ of the maker be seen to ‘lack soul’? Just as I feel annoyed by ’serious’ quilters who disregard an artists work because it’s not technically perfect; I also baulk at the idea of relegating a whole group of work to the inferior pile solely because the makers are technically proficient.
By: sarah on April 18, 2008
at 2:02 am
I thoroughly agree with you. Prizewinning Quilt Show quilts are made to win prizes at Quilt Shows–nothing more. They lack both the warmth of utility in a bed quilt and the spark and imagination of an art quilt. They are mutants, in my opinion.
By: terry grant on April 18, 2008
at 3:34 pm
i always find something to like about a quilt. although i don’t think technical skill makes all that much difference in my view.
By: jude on April 25, 2008
at 3:32 am
I’m sure most quilters have come across someone who looks down at their cutting up perfectly good pieces of fabric just to sew them up again. We do it for the enjoyment of handling fabric and for the beauty that is customized for our tastes alone. I think each person who makes a quilt should be recognized as such. While I have personal preferences, I think that people who make one exquisite quilt should be honored as much as someone who cranks out one quilt a day. There is a place in the world for all of us, and I am not to judge which was a better use of that quilter’s time and energy.
By: Anonymous on April 27, 2008
at 3:14 am