Modern Quilting could be found all over Road this year. There were vendors, classes, fabrics and materials all dealing with the modern quilting movement. What is a modern quilt you ask? Emily Cier, one of our modern quilting instructors, described what it isn’t. “Modern quilts are not easy, sloppy or crooked. Rather, they require good craftsmanship in putting together quilt blocks made of solid colors.”
At the lecture, Thoroughly Modern Quilting,” attendees were asked, “Why did you attend this event? Spotted in the class were exhibit curator Helen Remick and her friend of 53 years, Melissa. They have known each other since they were college roommates at UC Davis. Both quilters, Melissa came to Road to see Helen’s exhibit. Together, they wanted to learn more about modern quilting. Most attendees were after the same thing as Helen and Melissa. In addition, they offered these comments:
“ I’ve been a quilter for 30 years and am looking for a new look.”
“I am a displaced quilter. The modern designs make me happy.”
“I like how anything goes with modern quilting.”
“My 28 year old daughter told me about these kinds of quilts.”
“I wanted to see first-hand where quilting was going.”
“Our age wants more modern fabrics and looks.”
“I love the designs and enjoy the night time activities at Road.”
“I am looking for new designs and was drawn to the angular quilting.”
Whether someone was an experienced quilter or a newbie, modern quilting was a fun technique to check out.
What do you think about modern quilting?
]]>
Many of the modern quilts I see read very “midcentury modern” to me–hearkening back to the 1950’s in color and patterning. I like the fresh clean look of a nicely-made, well-designed modern quilt, and I’ve even made a couple, with a few more in the planning stages. I have read quite a bit about the whole modern quilt movement, read the MQS blog, followed the QuiltCon events, and one thing that stands out to me is that many of the quilts being called modern really are works of art, while others are not. To me the “wonky” blocks and settings aren’t attractive or fresh and spontaneous. Rather, they seem haphazard, sloppy, ill-planned. I guess this is also true of many quilts, really, whatever they call themselves! I have noticed this about art quilts as well–some are truly beautiful and well-made, while others are sloppily constructed and not pleasing to look at. Again, like many art works of other genres!
I think you hit the nail on the head: with any style of quilt, some are haphazard and some are beautifully designed. The important part is that the designer found satisfaction in their creation.