Creative Nudge - QuiltCon Report

* This is a detail shot of Pamela Johnson's quilt "Paper Shredder" from QuiltCon in Austin, presented by the Modern Quilt Guild.

My trip to QuiltCon in Austin Texas was rather surreal - traveling through snow to leave town - and flying back home in another snowstorm. I flew on a small plane both ways, and an old friend of the family (our family doctor) was on both flights, going to and from a medical conference in Austin! Small world. We shared travel photos on our laptops on the way back, serendipitously having adjacent seats on the small plane.

The long weekend in Austin was a neat little package tied up with a plaid bow. Many of my friends from the industry were there too... all of us were there to check it out and see what's up with this new Modern Quilting movement. I managed to have some business meetings that would have otherwise waited for Quilt Market in May, so it was great to get a jump on the Spring business season. The weather was mostly mild, so I went from winter storm, to mild sunshine, and back to a blizzard. (Lucky to land Sunday during a brief window of snow cessation!)

We were all surprised at how many mature ladies were at the show! We quickly surmised that there is such a huge population of quilters in Texas, that many local quilters were able to pop over to Austin to check out this Modern Quilt phenom. My industry friends and I had the most fun standing in the rows of the quilt exhibits, listening to the frank comments from visitors. They ranged from "I don't get it." to "Wow, this is so fresh and inspiring!" It was especially fun to hear all ages of quilters saying "I can't wait to get home and start sewing!"

I came to the show as a sponsor and a presenter, so I could learn what Modern Quilting is really all about. I left feeling that this movement is growing and changing as rapidly as it was formed - and in another couple years we might not recognize its exponentially changing mutation.

There are some who have tried to define the movement with guidelines that some might find narrow or rigid. At the same time they are very welcoming to newcomers and beginners, and they encourage newbies to just get started and don't be intimidated.

There are those who are super-creative, who have been chafing at the bit and pushing the boundaries of the "Modern" definitions. One of them won Best of Show! Because of that top award-winning quilt, I am no longer concerned that those writing the Modern guidelines will limit the movement. It has taken on a life of its own, and the creative conversation is being crowd-sourced online as I type these words.

What I can tell you is that the Modern Quilting movement is a fresh clean design aesthetic, inspired by Modern architecture, Frank Lloyd Wright, Mad Men, Gee's Bend and Nancy Crow's quilts.

Instead of using layers and embellishment, it uses simple shapes and a lot of negative space. The negative space is often filled with dense or complex quilting, often stitched by brilliantly talented young longarm quilters.

It reminds me a lot of the spare design aesthetic I saw at the Tokyo Quilt Festival... except where the Japanese quilters are using Indigo and Taupe... the Modern quilters are using bright colors and white. It was fun to see yarn-dyed plaids being used at this show too... one of my favorite fabrics used at the Tokyo show.

My Russian translator friend Marina was there from St. Petersburg, and she had a modern red quilt hanging in the show. She plans to start a Modern Quilt Guild in Russia when she returns. (You may recall I was at the Moscow Quilt Festival in September.)

I can't wait to see what happens next!

I also want to mention that there was a glitch in the payment system for the Tentmakers of Cairo documentary fundraiser, so if you tried to make a donation and it didn't go through, please try again!


* Hurricane Sandy Quilt Relief Info *
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* Sandyhook Elementary Memorial Quilt Project *

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Comments

[Michelle]

Luana, I think your "definition" of modern quilting is probably the clearest I have read yet. Some definitions I have found to be so limiting, even the one on the MQG website. It's fresh, it's clean, and it IS inspired by those design and architectural elements you eloquently describe. I would also add that the movement is filled with quilters who are willing to push the boundaries of what the "quilt rules" are, including in use of colours, and are sometimes interested in making quilts that are statements of their personal beliefs while also keeping their beds warm.

I think it's also important to emphasise that modern quilting doesn't have an age limit. At my quilt guild we have a modern group sitting underneath it, and probably the most "modern" quilter amongst us is 76 years old and she just "gets it". She is the last person to define herself as a modern quilter (who needs labels at any age?) but her use of colour and negative space is so infectious.

Thank you so much for your post. I really enjoyed reading a different perspective on QuiltCon. It would have been a fantastic show to attend.

[Rebecca L. Salinger]

Thank you for your wonderful comments on the recent QuiltCon show in Austin, Texas. It was a very well-produced, well-displayed, vibrant show. The quilts were intriguing because they made the viewer think about design, quilting line, shape, space---just like a lot of 20th century art does. I think pictures of the winners will soon be posted on the Modern Quilt Guild's website.

I'm one of those "mature" quilters that went to the show--mostly because there were quilts to see, but also to see what "modern quilts" were all about. (I bumped into several well known Texas judges who were also there to educate themselves.) I first went with some of my bee members, and we probably spent more time examining and discussing elements of the quilts than we usually do at guild shows. That viewing process alone says to me that a quilt is successful.

I realize that this first show was carefully choreographed from the juried entries (over 700 entered, ca. 350 accepted I've heard), to the industry-sponsored presence (booths, lectures, demos, classes, prize monies), so it might seem that the definitions and samples of modern quilting are narrow and seemingly corporate-driven. As a result, the show had a very unified look, but so what? It's the first international show, and the Modern Quilt Guild needed to make an initial statement.

And when have quilters ever colored inside the lines or stayed inside the box? It was an exciting show to many of us mature quilters--we've been talking about it all week and it seems to me mostly positive and energizing. I'm looking forward to seeing how this movement evolves.

By the way, one of the best things to come out of modern quilting is that quilting on the home machine is back and thriving! We've gotten a little spoiled with the growth of longarm quilting, esp. in Central Texas, and we've certainly finished more quilts, esp. large ones. But I really look forward to incorporating some of the quilting ideas the quilt show showcased.

FYI--there are a lot of active quiltmakers in Central Texas. Within a 100-mile radius around Austin, there are at least 14 active quilt guilds and several non-guild quilt groups (with meetings, classes, shows, community projects, bees, etc.) with approx. 65-70 quilt stores. SAQA and other fiber art groups are active, too. Then there's the Texas Quilt Museum in Lagrange with rotating exhibits, as well as the Winedale Center near Round Top with exhibits and lectures (part of UT-Austin now). And the University of Texas Dolph Briscoe History Center in Austin has become an active repository of quilts and quiltmaking stuff and info with a fulltime curator. It's a very vibrant area for quiltmakers. And now there's a whole new branch growing on the great quilt tree in modern quilting!

[Kevin Kosbab]

I couldn't make it to QuiltCon, but it's so cool to see that my Paper Shredder pattern was there anyway! I love the fabrics Pamela used. Thank you for sharing your photos for those of us not there.

I'm also glad to hear that I'm not the only one chafing at the proclaimed definitions of modern quilting, and that the community isn't being contained by them. An open, creative perspective is what's best about modern quilting.