This is Elizabeth Hartman’s answer to the question, “What does modern quilting mean to me?” Read more about our modern quilting blog meme here.
I tend to think of “modern quilting” as one of the latest in what have been many quilting trends and movements over the years.
I feel like it’s difficult to fully define any creative “movement” but, when I thought about what I was going to write in this post, there were three concepts that I kept coming back to: practicality, sophistication and innovation.
Practicality: For the most part, I see modern quilting as being about making useful objects that will actually be used, not heirlooms to be packed away or fine art too fragile to be touched. When I make quilts, even if they’re intended to be used as wall hangings, I still think about how they’ll stand up to washing and everyday wear.
Sophistication: Instead of reproducing a traditional look, I see modern quilting as being more interested in reinterpreting patchwork in a stylish way that could fit comfortably into a contemporary home. For me, this often includes bold color schemes and lots of solid, neutrally-colored areas.
Innovation: What I most love about modern quilting is how openly its practitioners embrace new and different construction methods. I’m a very meticulous planner, and tend to approach every new quilting project by developing a specific system or plan, so I always find it interesting to see the kinds of solutions that other quilters come up with. I feel like the modern quilting community is one where most people are interested in seeing and learning new ways of doing things.
Because I think it may be the sharpest dividing line between traditional and modern quilting, I feel like I would be remiss if I didn’t also mention the online crafting community. Quilt making has long been a community-centered activity and quilters have participated in bees, quilt-alongs and guilds for many years. Modern quilting has embraced many of these activities, but I feel like our community is still rooted almost entirely in the online world – in blogs, via photo sharing on Flickr, and in virtual quilting bees.
That’s actually one of the reasons I’m so looking forward to participating in the Modern Quilt Guild. I’m looking forward to meeting other quilters who do “my kind of work” in real life!
February 8, 2010 at 5:24 am |
Your quilts are beautiful. I am anxious to try a new style and to learn some new techniques. Rooted in traditional patchwork, I found your blog through a link on my daughers blog. I see what she is so excited about.
February 8, 2010 at 8:05 am |
i find that this idea of ‘modern’ quilting is somewhat limiting. not that I want to be critical of the style, but I enjoy a more eclectic collection of quilts in my own home. Yes, this MODERN quilts and quilting is easy on the eyes, somewhat restful, even with the bright clear colours and simple straight lines. These are quilts that anyone, any new quiltmaker can make and feel the accomplishment of completing, but there are only so many of them that you can do before getting bored — everyone needs to progress and thats where the curves, and angles come in, along with the challenge of giving a quilt a dark mood or a teaching element. Yes, the Modern style is fun, but Modern is just one style of many many many ways of doing things…
February 8, 2010 at 9:27 am |
oh my goodness what WOULD we do without elizabeth? she can be held responsible for initiating my passion into modern quilting. i am continuallly amazed at what i see when i log onto her site daily. she is an inspiration to all of us. the time and effort she gives is enormous. i think we all owe her a great deal. i am certain she is one of the primary women responsible for this movement. by the way, the second quilt down, the coin quilt in essex grey linen is my all time favorite quilt. it is a table topper but it is so beautiful and the gradient of colors is phenomenal. i have been collecting fabric to make a larger quilt using it as inspiration…citing that of course!
February 8, 2010 at 9:46 am |
Susan,
With all due respect, I think you may be oversimplifying the work done by modern quilters. I think you’ll find that, if you look more closely at our work, it isn’t as simplistic as you may have assumed.
(As one example, the third quilt from the top in my post is made using a freezer paper technique I developed specifically for that block to guarantee perfect placement. It may look simple to you, but it was actually meticulously planned and pieced to look that way.)
Many modern quilters (including me) work with curves, angles and darker colors and, like anyone pursuing a creative endeavor, our work develops and our skills grow over time. In fact, one of the reasons those of use who self-identify as modern quilters have been frustrated with the “quilting establishment” is that there does seem to be an assumption that our work is somehow less valid than more traditional quilt making when, in fact, it’s just different.
I can’t speak for everyone, but I have been quilting for 10+ years and have yet to get bored with working in a modern style. I am constantly finding new ways to challenge myself!
February 8, 2010 at 10:14 am |
This is an interesting note. I have a completely different style and approach that Elizabeth, but I strong identify as a modern quilter as well. She may meticulously plan everything and I rarely do. That, I see, is one of the inherent successes of modern quilting – it can’t be pigionholed. Not that traditional quilting can be either. But Elizabeth shows that modern quilting isn’t all about wonky log cabins on a white background.
February 8, 2010 at 10:18 am |
Have to agree with Elizabeth here. Our quilting style is based on taste and what we find attractive, not at all on our skill level. To say otherwise is incorrect. As I grow and improve in my quilting skills, I will in no way therefore start making traditional quilts that have a different aesthetic from my modern quilting style.
February 8, 2010 at 10:29 am |
i find it disappointing that modern quilting would be characterized as limiting or as lacking curves or angles. i also self identify as a modern quilter and while traditional quilts are not my aesthetic, i appreciate and admire the quilts and value the history and tradition from which i draw inspiration and maintain a connection. i’m looking forward to sharing my perspective as a modern quilter later in the week. our posts this week are intended to help define the modern quilt movement and hopefully increase the understanding and appreciation of our work.
February 8, 2010 at 10:47 am |
I think Jacuqie makes a great point (that I really neglected in both my earlier comment and my post!) about drawing inspiration from traditional quilts.
I had actually hoped to include a photo of a quilt that one of my great-grandmothers had made in my post, but was unable to find it in time. It is made entirely from solid black and white fabric cut from old choir robes and one of the things I find most intersting about it is how very “modern” it looks to me.
I think that also goes back to Alissa’s comment about modern quilting being about taste and aesthetics, and how subjective this whole thing really is.
I’m obviously looking forward to reading Alissa, Jacquie, and Latifah’s posts this week, but I do hope that a lot of other people participate too. Maybe it’s just my background as an art student, but I always find it fascinating to learn about other people’s creative processes!
February 8, 2010 at 12:23 pm |
I agree, I think “modern” quilting is an aesthetic just the same as modern or contemporary design is different from country. The lines separating the two can sometimes be blurred. For example, I just made a quilt for my mom that I think borders on a more traditional quilt, even though the pattern is modern. The truth is, when I picked fabrics that fit her style, the quilt took on a different look than if it were something I was making for myself. I think we all have a lot to learn from each other, but I know as a younger women in my mid-thirties I still don’t feel completely comfortable telling people I quilt in my spare time. However unfortunate there is a stigma associated with quilts and quilting that I think the modern quilt guild is doing a fantastic job of erasing. Soon, it will be cool to quilt and all quilter’s traditional, modern, and those in-between will benefit.
February 8, 2010 at 12:33 pm |
I have been giving this very topic so much thought over the last couple of weeks. I have been quilting 15+ years and come from a background where quilting is very much part of our cultural “fabric”, and I’m very proud of that heritage.
That said, the modern quilting movement has revolutionized my thoughts about quilting and completely changed my style. I find it to be very fabric-designer oriented, with the emphasis on gorgeous fabrics first, and how to emphasize those fabrics, rather than a particular traditional pattern and making the fabrics fit into that pattern. When that is the case, it allows you to be creatively improvisational. And rather than breaking the “rules,” it allows you to make your own rules. I think there is a lot of thought that goes into these quilts and I don’t find the process boring. Rather, I find it liberating. I certainly have been extremely inspired. And as my goal for 2010 was to reach outside the box from a creative standpoint, modern quilting is the venue that will allow me to do exactly that.
February 8, 2010 at 3:25 pm |
I would argue that some modern quilters are a little too fabric focused. Don’t get me wrong, there is gorgeous stuff out there. But there is more to life that Denyse Schmidt, Amy Butler, and Anna Maria Horner. Don’t hate me, I love their fabrics. I just wish that more people would move beyond these names and lines of fabric. You know, mix it up a bit more.
February 8, 2010 at 5:10 pm
And Cheryl, I just realized I could have specifically replied to your comment. So I hope you will read below to get some more of my comments. I completely agree with you.
February 8, 2010 at 2:52 pm |
This thread topic is very timely for me. So, thank you for your description of “modern quilting”. I know it when I see it and am very drawn to the style, but was struggling with how to define it. Also, I wondered why I found it so very appealing–erroneously thinking that it was just the fabrics and simplicity of the designs. Currently, I working on a Clothesline quilt using recycled men’s plaid shirts and an olive green Kona cotton sashing. Although I like my quilt, it is not giving me the same feeling as your modern quilts do. Now, I realize it is because my color palette is dull with low color contrast.
February 8, 2010 at 5:09 pm |
I completely agree with you, Cheryl. I think my point when I said that I think modern quilting is more fabric-designer oriented is that those names are more familiar than say, Alex Anderson, who, having had a quilting show on HGTV for eleven years and now having a web-based quilting show, having written many books and designed many patterns, as well as having designed many of her own lines of fabric and was always kind of the Michael Jordan of quilting to me, is a name not even recognized by many “modern” quilters. Does that make sense? (even though that was a horribly long sentence….)
I think the three designers you mentioned specifically have added a sparkle to my stash for sure. But my love of fabric is so extensive that I have many, many lines of fabric. I have also always felt, for me at least, that so make my quilts successful I have to mix it up, combining fabric from a variety of places. I hope that clarifies some of my thoughts.
February 9, 2010 at 8:45 am |
Very good point. I do agree that the fabric designers are the leading charge on this.
Some other “old” or “traditional” names that come to mind: Jinny Beyer, Jennifer Sampou, Mary Ellen Hopkins, and yes, Alex Anderson!
February 8, 2010 at 5:31 pm |
I think this is a wonderful topic of discussion. I am relatively new to quilting but I can appreciate the beauty in both traditional and modern quilting. I know that I am more drawn to the new more modern fabrics. However, both styles of quilting appeal to me. What I would like to get across is whether a quilt is traditional or modern, someone has lovingly taken the time to piece and quilt something beautiful. There is nothing better than that. What is modern quilting to me, I think it is being free to think outside the box! Where the rules dont apply and looking at more than one way to create a quilt!
February 8, 2010 at 11:19 pm |
For me, “modern quilting” is a way to quilt, and connect with my grandmothers who quilted, without having to use the “grandmother” prints and patterns. I first got into quilting about 12 years ago, and bought a bunch of books and fabric…but never did anything with them because they never “struck my fancy”. A couple of years ago, I sold all of it at a yard sale because it JUST. WASN’T. ME. And I felt like a part of me, a part of my creativity, was just void. I wanted to quilt, but didn’t like what I saw that I would be creating. I didn’t want to quilt like my mother-in-law, who makes beautiful quilts, mind you. But traditional quilting patterns just didn’t suit my style. And then I saw a wonky log cabin on Alissa’s blog, and I’ve been hooked ever since!
)
I think I’m like Elizabeth in that I am a very structured, ordered, regimented kind of person who likes to follow a plan. So, to make anything wonky and improvisational has been a journey of faith and perseverance and pluck. But I feel like there isn’t anything I can do that would screw the quilt up so much that it’s unrepairable, you know? That’s what improvisation is all about! Who knew there was freedom without boundaries!!
)
And I must say that I love what my first “modern quilt” is becoming. I feel like this quilt (and my quilting style) is like a novel, and I’m the author. I have no idea how it is going to end, I just know that the “characters” are writing the novel for me.
February 9, 2010 at 5:11 am |
Melissa, I completely agree with you. That was so well put!
February 9, 2010 at 4:11 pm |
don’t forget REFLECTION: One must look at the creation before, during, and especially after. Modern quilters will always show their successes as well as their failures and comment on the process. “I’m planning to…” or “I’m auditioning these fabrics for a border–what do you think?” or “In retrospect I think I should have…” or “The next time I will…” or “If you’re going to try this please be aware that…”
We learn from one another, support one another, are accepting of others’ views, and believe in MODERATION & CREATION as opposed to perfection.
February 11, 2010 at 5:13 am |
I knew if I waited long enough, this could happen. I am thrilled a the quality of work and the visual power of these quilts.
February 11, 2010 at 8:23 am |
Thank you for this thoughtful post! I don’t know if I’m capable of giving up traditional quilting entirely, but I think I’d at least like to try to do some modern quilting on the side.