Tuesday, February 9, 2010

my thoughts on modern quilting

so...the modern quilt guild is asking people to write a little something on what modern quilting means to them. here are my thoughts.

i started quilting about two years ago. i know, i know, that kind of makes me a newbie but there you have it. i've been sewing since i was a kid, so it wasn't a huge leap for me, and the more i make the more inspired i get to make more. i've always loved mid-century mod decor and architecture, and modern quilts sort of go along with that (at least in my head). i literally had no idea that these kinds of quilts existed until i stumbled upon denyse schmidt's website. i saw her drunk love in a log cabin quilt and fell instantly in love. nearly a year later i had finished my first real quilt, after countless ripped seams, machine jams, poked and/or sliced fingers, and a million, "so this is how NOT to do it" moments.

for me, it's all about the pretty fabrics and non-traditional piecing. i can appreciate the effort that goes into an exact, traditional-type quilt, but they don't appeal to me aesthetically and they certainly don't inspire me to make one. no offense to the traditional quilters out there. 

i love bold patterns and bright colors. 
MIL1

i love colors other than white (although white is cool, too) for sashing. i love quilts that look a little more like art and a little less like something dusty that covers your grandma's couch. 

and i LOVE LOVE LOVE how endless the possibilities are! for me the hardest part about starting a new quilt is deciding which idea i like more. and that takes me almost as long as the quilt.

2 comments:

Jessica said...

this quilt is stunning!
i also fell in love with denyse schmidt's quilts pretty hard. it was an awkward few years there until the quilting community started to reflect the shift in trend that she brought about, but man, i'm happy it's here.

Lisa Bee said...

I love the black in the quilt pictured above. I'm a big fan of using black in quilts, although the trend seems to be towards using a lot of white. It's nice to see someone else using solid black - maybe we can be the next trend in modern quilting. :)