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 Today I attended a talk and book signing at A Gathering of Stitches in Portland, ME - a neat textile and fiber making space that I hadn't been to before, but that I will definitely be back to! The featured title was Quilting with a Modern Slant written by Rachel May, which includes profiles of eighty different quilters interspersed with patterns and tips. Rachel was on hand to talk about the project, along with three of the women she interviewed for the book - Danielle Krcmar, Alice Webb Greer and Jan Johnson.  Danielle is currently the Artist in Residence at Babson College, and does a lot of work with sculpture. She showed this quilt of hers from the book - repurposed shirts, including the pockets! were used to create it and it had so much character and texture. Each quilter brought examples of her work and spoke about her background and inspiration, and then during Q&A the discussion veered off into that murky "what is 'modern' anyway?" Heretofore, I have been mostly ambivalent about the vocabulary, its connotations, and the debate that is going on in the quilting world right now, but today's discussion - passionate yet restrained, informative and well informed - has me rethinking my lack of thinking.  Alice is a founding member and current president of the Boston Modern Quilt Guild. She showed this quilt of hers featuring the Ghastlies fabrics, as well as a few others, including her stunning HST mini that's featured on the MQG website. This is what motivates me to sit down and post tonight because the conversation sparked some ideas that I can't quite pinpoint my views on, and I'd love to hear from all of you reading this: How do you feel about the term "modern?" How do you feel about traditional vs. modern in as much as they come across as "teams" or a side you have to choose? Do you think the Modern Quilt Guild is the best representation of the term and the movement? Any thoughts on style vs. technique as parameters of the definition?  Jan has a background in fine arts and has branched out into embroidery as an extension of her painting. It was neat to see the various examples she brought with her, which included lots of inspiration from her daughter's artwork. I'm going to spend a little time pouring over my new (autographed - thanks, ladies!) book, thinking about the variety of forms that quilting can take and about the language I hear in my quilting world that defines the process and product. And then maybe I'll circle back once I have a more clear stance on the topic. Until then, please do chime in! I'd love to hear your thoughts on "modern quilting." ~ Sarah
Linking up the newest title in my library with Molli Sparkles' Sunday Stash - hosted this week by Mary Emmens.
Cindy Dahlgren
6/22/2014 14:35:06
I think Modern Quilting is just a way for some quilters to keep the quilting movement from getting stale to them. People want to try new things, and do new things that are fresh and different. They don't want to make quilts the way their mothers and grandmothers did, they want to be themselves. What the pioneer women did with seed sacks, varied from what their predecessors did with silks and velvet's, and varies from what we now do with organic cotton and different techniques. They did what they did from necessity, we do it because we can. There is plenty of room for all kinds of quilts, and no need for us to segment ourselves into pigeon holes, and build division among ourselves. We have the resources and ability to do whatever we want with our quilting, and we should revel in it, not argue about it. I do some "modern" quilts, some applique, I embroider and want to do an embroidered quilt, I saw some beautiful quilts with counted cross stitch on them, that were absolutely beautiful, and I hope someday to also do "traditional" quilts like the wedding ring, and others. I don't want to have to label my style, and refuse to do so. I've even seen a resurgence of the Crazy Quilts done by Victorian women. I think it would be a great disservice to the quilting community for us to let this little issue divide us. We have many more commonalities than differences, and we need to remember that. Without textiles like fabric and thread, and sewing machines, we would all be non-quilters and lamenting the inability to express ourselves.
Jess @ Quilty Habit
6/22/2014 15:51:05
I don't like the "divide" that has been made by some over traditional vs. modern. I definitely see myself more as "modern" but most of my work is steeped in the traditional, so in the end, I don't think it matters much at all. Really cool that you got to attend that event! On mothers day I visited the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and checked out the special quilt exhibit from the Pilgrim/Roy collection. At first I thought it was a modern quilt exhibition, with solid fabrics, lots of negative space. Then I read the exhibit notes beside each quilt - these were all made 1840-1870! My daughter comments how contemporary looking the quilts were, yet, they were over 100 years old. That's when I realized and understood when I hear that there is nothing really new in modern quilting - we have just gone full circle back to the Amish and Menonite quilts of the 1800's. We recently had a quilt historian speak at our guild, Paul, and when she showed us quilts from the Civil War era, it was so neat to see all the color and the influence the style has had on modern quilting. Now I can appreciate just how off "Civil War" reproduction fabrics are because they weren't using boring old brown then but really more color!
Vera
6/22/2014 19:18:24
Honestly I don't understand the whole thing mordern X traditional. I don't like to read about color theory and I don't care how you define modern. I just like to do whatever suits my mood and inspiration. I have only two categories Like and Not too much, not my cuppa, whatever you want to call it :-)
Sarah
6/22/2014 23:29:06
I always find it interesting to hear others comments on Modern vs. Traditional, and now after trying to explain to others what "modern" is, its even more confusing. :) I think the national MQG has a lot of guidelines on what they consider Modern, but in reality there's a huge spectrum between the super super modern quilts, and civil war reproduction samplers. But they are all quilts, and we're all quilters - as long as we can remember that, I don't think its a big deal whether we label ourselves Modern, Modernitional, Traditional, Eccentric, Post-Modern, Indpendent, Whatever. Make what you love - if no one else does, oh well, I guess you'll have to keep your quilt. Shucks Darn. :) And aren't Alice and Rachel awesome? Alice & Rachel are awesome! Doubly so because in my local guild, I'm the youngest member and even though there are others who like and work with the style and colors I enjoy, they are few and far between and much older (I attended the event with a woman who is twice my age). It was refreshing to hear from others closer to my age and who have kids and blogs, etc. It makes me wish it wasn't so far to attend one of their Boston MQG meetings! 6/23/2014 03:51:25
To be honest and fair, I first thought that the modern quilting movement was for a younger generation who stayed more connected via the internet than via quilt guilds. I've learned a lot since my early interpretation of the movement... but to be honest, that is what I'm looking for. :) I love log cabins, but I love modern (negative space, solid colors, yada yada yada) quilts, too. I think there is room for everyone, and what I love most are people who are passionate and excited about what they do and inclusive enough to know that what tickles them might not be someone else's first love. I think your original view is a common misconception among non-quilters and new quilters. I think I sort of felt the same about the term - that it was what younger people were making, and that therefore, much like advertising and clothing trends, etc, it was brighter and cleaner in style than what older quilters were making. And I wholeheartedly agree that there is room for everyone in the big wide world of quilting regardless of style : )
This is something I've chatted friends about quite a bit, although I don't feel like my opinion on it is really solidified. Comments are closed.
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Welcome! I'm Sarah. As a milmompreneur maker, wherever I go, I quilt, teach & sew! {Bio} 
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