Curiosity Question
 

I love order, balance and color appeal. When I decorate I normally decorate symmetrically, every once in a while I'll go asymmetrical (sp?). When It comes to quilting, I was drawn to the perfect piecing, lines, angles and shapes of quilts. What do ya'll think of "Wonky" quilting? I think that's what they're called where a bunch of leftovers are laid out to fill up a certain size. It makes me think somebody just threw a bunch of leftovers together and sewed it all up instead of learning how to really piece them together. I don't want to step on anyone's toes here so, nicely please, educate me if it's really artistic or not. I am NO professional but just am in awe when I see a very intricately pieced quilt. THAT to me is real talent!

I am not generally huge fan of "wonky", however, I'm currently thinking of setting my Dr. Seuss Lorax panel blocks wonky (wonkily ?). For Seuss it makes sense.

I think with all things quilty it's each to their own. I'm just now learning to embrace really scrappy.

I appreciate the work that goes into all quilts but my hart and taste tend to lean to organized chaos. In the beginning I hated quilting but loved the patchwork. I avoided the quilting part by making victorian style crazy quilts. They are a lot of work and although that look like a mess of fabric thrown together they are really not. Piecing can be challenging due to the use of different fabrics from silks to heavy upholstery. All the pieces have to be harmonious because they all have to be embellished with silk, yarn and/or floss embroidery. They are both hand and machine pieced and always hand embroidered. They may not be everybody's taste but the work is difficult and intricate.
As for modern quilts, they appeal to my rebellious side. Patchwork is as much art as it is craft and I like to break the constraints of traditional quilting and express myself in any way I like. It may not be everybody's cup of tea but I enjoy the freedom it gives me. It appeals to my creative side because no two quilts are alike.

Wonky quilts do not appeal to me any more than scrappy quilts do...just not my taste, and it has nothing to do with the talent of the quilters making them. I don't like Gee's Bend quilts either. http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-basic/shy.gif

I do sometimes like wonky. The colors and shapes still have to appeal to me.

If I were making a quilt for myself I would probably use a lot of scraps. I'm of the waste not want not school having grown up pretty poor. I just can't stand to see things wasted or thrown away when they can be repurposed. A TV throw or lap quilt is usually just for cuddling under and not displayed on a bed, so I use a lot of scraps and make some very "scrappy" ones. For my friends and family I usually try to do a nice organized pattern. I go for the easy ones, pinwheels, split rail, and a lot of Jenny's from Missouri Quilt Co. However, everyone has their own styles and preferences and as the saying goes "THERE ARE NO QUILT POLICE HERE"...just enjoy.

I think your thinking of "Crazy Quilts" where various scraps - often various fabrics (lace, velvet, satin, cotton, etc) are used in whatever shape "fits" and are often embellished with embroidery, edging, beading etc.

I'm not a fan, but I need to explain. :)

If I'm going to make something like that, I don't want to see that each piece is the same size square. Even though the pieces are all different, I can always tell where one square ends and another starts - and they are usually made from the same size blocks.

I would handle it differently for an overall "unorganized" look using both square and rectangular blocks so that a "pattern" isn't identifiable.

I love organized patterns, but when my goal is to look unorganized I need it to look TOTALLY unorganized.

I guess I like the challenge of what a scrap quilt is going to look like. I've heard that there is no such thing as wrong colors in a scrap quilt because your eye is not drawn to any one color.

Can't say as how crazy quilts are my favorite either. But I can appreciate the work that goes into making them. Aren't we lucky out chosen hobby has so very many options to suit all our different tastes.

I went to a quilt show once where they displayed vintage quilts. One section was devoted to the traditional pieced and appliqued quilts we all know so well. The other section was devoted to "wonky" quilts created by slaves and poor families from the same period. What amazed me was that those wonky quilts -- fabrics put together in ways I never had even considered -- were alive! Especially compared to the traditional quilts. When walking between sections, it was striking how alive the wonky quilts were, and how dead the traditional quilts appeared.

I have difficulty making wonky quilts, but I wish I could make a few that would come alive the way that display of old quilts did. Maybe some day.....