Finally! I have finished all 32 quilt blocks for this xtra long queen sized, ultra traditional quilt. I am ready to begin adding the sashings, cornerstones, and setting triangles. It's going to be a beautiful quilt & I like it well enough that I want to make another one for our bed. All of these blocks were made using Judy Rothermel's fabrics from Marcus Brothers. DH has been kind enough to continue my subscriptions to both of her reproduction lines for some years now- mid eighteenth century types & 30's. It's always great fun to open these packages - and it's a gift that continues to bring me much enjoyment. As I worked on each block I thought it was the prettiest one yet! Scrappy traditional quilts ares still my favorites & I think they prove that all colors can, in fact, work together.Oddly enough I am doing a lecture in May that is about what we call our quilts and what we call ourselves in relation to our quilts. Is there a difference? Is quilt art for the bed as well as for the wall - or is a quilt for the bed and textile art for the wall? An interesting dilemma at times. I am most fond of traditional patterns. They calm me down and comfort me. I LOVE having a hand made quilt on my bed. I am also, however, a person who makes "art quilts" that are meant solely for display on a wall (or maybe in a cat bed!) - so am I a quilter, an artistic quilter, an art quilter, or a tectile artist? Am I an artist at all? What do you call yourself? What do you think of this "naming" issue? I would love to hear your comments - I need information for this upcoming lecture ! I still have not started my notes for it !
5 comments:
I make quilts for the bed and quilts for the wall--if it is pieced and quilted, it is a quilt. It doesn't matter what I call myself. To call myself a quilt artist sounds pretentious to me, but I think there are others who are quilt artists. I think somehow being labeled an artists in our society is valued more than a craftsman--but I have seen many works that are called art, that I wouldn't want in my home, and many works by craftsman, that I would. In my mind, you are a craftsman when you have mastered a set of skills--you can be an artist (it seems)if you label yourself one, or someone else does. It seems we humans have a need to put things in categories--it lessens the amount of time we have to think and analyze before we react. So, as a labeler, I call myself a quilter.
Dennis says you are the artiste that creates the beautiful textiles that comfort both humans and animals and adorn walls and are admired.
If it is for a bed, it is a quilt, and for the wall textile art. However a lot of the "art" quilts are being made in bed sizes to enter contests. It is doubtful they will ever be used on a bed even though they are the size for it. Most designs don't read well as art when laying flat where on a wall you get the full effect. IMHO
Artists can still make bed quilts, that's homemaking, a European tradition.
You are an artist if you believe you're an artist, whether you present your work to the world or keep it only for yourself.
'Just one artist's opinion....
I love playing with traditional patterns and putting new spins on them (at least that what I hope to do) with my choices of color or fabric.
I have a history of having issues with labels - when it comes to my play/work with fabric most often I will refer to myself a quiltmaker, sometimes an artist (or textile artist), sometimes a quilter....regardless of label, what counts and has meaning to me is the process of creating something for some person or family that might bring comfort or even become a cherished item in their story.....
I wish I could attend your lecture! sounds marvelous. if you have any way to share the lecture (audiotape, transcript) send it to me - I'd love to hear what you have to say.
to me you are an amazing and talented artist who seems wonderfully talented and skilled in a wide range of mediums
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