I love the modern quilt movement. The designs, the fabrics – all of it are so
fresh and cheerful and free. I don’t know how long it’s been going on – I discovered
it about two years ago. There was this
blog on the Modern Quilt Guild site –
the title was 100 Days of Modern Quilts.
I spent a lot of time on that blog, and still use it for inspiration. The Modern Quilt Guild, or MQG even put on its
first big quilt show, called QuiltCon, last year. As it was in Austin, Texas (right down the road) I not only went to the
show, I volunteered, something I would highly recommend – it was really fun. And the quilts – oooh - I loved them ALL!
I volunteered mostly because I want to be a
modern quilter and I don’t know how. I
mean, I think I understand it, but when I design, I can’t seem to come up with
anything that fits the modern quilt sensibility. I’m not so sure why, but I’m starting to
suspect it’s because I’m just not cool enough.
The modern quilt movement seems to be pretty
dominated by people in their twenties, thirties and forties although there are
people of every age participating. There
was a definite hip vibe there – lots of funky glasses, mod haircuts, many body
piercings and orange, purple, green and blue hair…I dug these people, they
seemed like my own. Afterwards people
from the quilt show even shared their tattoos on the MQD blog – many of which
were quilting, sewing, or creativity-related!
All I can say to
that is “Well.” I don’t think I have to
go that far, do I? I mean, I don’t have
anything against piercings, but I don’t want to have to do it just to be able
to quilt modern! (Though the idea of
having purple or pink hair is actually appealing to me, but at my age (49) it
seems a little “wanna be.”) But I
do. I do so wanna be -- a modern
quilter!
After seeing the art works in that show, I
can say that modern quilts are absolutely a departure from the traditional way
of making a quilt. Very few of them use
traditional quilt blocks (although some do) and there are definite specific
types of fabrics that most modern quilters use.
Another thing I noticed was negative space – there seems to be a lot of
that, too. Okay, I get it…at least I
think I do…but still, I can’t seem to come up with ideas that seem modern.
I’ve been trying and trying to push myself in
a certain direction, because I like what I see there. But when I stop and think about it, I have to
wonder why. Does it really matter
whether my art fits a certain description?
Of course not. It is what it is,
man.
Oh well - I guess I can’t order up what kind
of creativity I want to channel. I’ll
just have to make do with whatever ideas come my way, and be grateful for
them. It’s not as though I don’t like what
I’m creating, so it seems silly to be so focused on trying to create in a
certain “genre.” I can still be inspired
by and love modern quilts. I can buy
books and study them and make other people’s designs. And I haven’t given up hope of coming up with
some “modern” designs of my own. It
could still happen – I’m not dead yet. I’m
just not going to force it. I’m just
going to take what comes, and enjoy the ride.
Maybe I’m not cool, but I am
Zen.
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