What is your take on 'modern' quilts?
03-14-2014, 08:06 PM
#172
Super Member
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: other side of the black stump, Perth Western Australia
Posts: 1,902
what is new today is old tomorrow...so the saying goes. My tastes have definitely changed since i first started quilting and the more different styles of quilting I have been exposed to is what I think has made me evolve as a quilter. So yay for quilt shows, quiltingboard and blogs!
I think it is the fabric and colors that make or break a quilt and what can determine amongst other things if it is modern or traditional.
I can love one quilt and dislike another done in exactly the same pattern just different fabrics and colors.
At the moment i do love modern and contemporary quilting but I also love retro..having said that I also do love some traditional quilting so who knows what I will like in years to come. I enjoy all styles of quilting and there is always something to be learned from all the wonderful people young and old that quilt and sew.
I think it is the fabric and colors that make or break a quilt and what can determine amongst other things if it is modern or traditional.
I can love one quilt and dislike another done in exactly the same pattern just different fabrics and colors.
At the moment i do love modern and contemporary quilting but I also love retro..having said that I also do love some traditional quilting so who knows what I will like in years to come. I enjoy all styles of quilting and there is always something to be learned from all the wonderful people young and old that quilt and sew.
03-14-2014, 08:17 PM
#173
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: East Kootenays, BC
Posts: 947
Isn't it a bit like telling Picasso and Monet what they did isn't Art? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The only sin is to try and fit it all into a defined "box". It would be a pretty bland world...
03-15-2014, 02:42 AM
#174
Junior Member
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Portland, OR
Posts: 190
I'm new to quilting. My skills are . . . . as close to nothing as you can have and still have made a quilt, but I've been designing quilts in my head for years. I would call my style modern, but its based in modern quilts in the early 90s when modern meant reminiscent of modern art. The quilt I'm working on is a monochromatic fabric collage color blend so it doesn't fit in either category. How would you classify a bergalo quilt?
I have other ideas that are clearly in the modern category. When I can do asymmetric piecing and rectangles I have an idea for a black white and grey quilt inspired by birch trees (maybe with a pop of sky blue or leaf green). I'm not interested in tiling blocks or really specific patterns, but I do like quilts like rail fence where the blocks blend together and single block quilts. Im also really interested in pixel quilts. To me its all about the design of the quilt as a whole piece. I also love really only fashioned two color quilts, Hawaiian quilts where the quilting and intricate piecing design are the star, but that's way far off skill wise.
Soo I'm not sure where I am in the modern/traditional spectrum. Maybe I'm something else entirely.
I have other ideas that are clearly in the modern category. When I can do asymmetric piecing and rectangles I have an idea for a black white and grey quilt inspired by birch trees (maybe with a pop of sky blue or leaf green). I'm not interested in tiling blocks or really specific patterns, but I do like quilts like rail fence where the blocks blend together and single block quilts. Im also really interested in pixel quilts. To me its all about the design of the quilt as a whole piece. I also love really only fashioned two color quilts, Hawaiian quilts where the quilting and intricate piecing design are the star, but that's way far off skill wise.
Soo I'm not sure where I am in the modern/traditional spectrum. Maybe I'm something else entirely.
03-15-2014, 08:58 AM
#176
Super Member
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 4,688
Some examples (and tips) from the Modern Quilt Guild.
http://themodernquiltguild.wordpress...ps-and-tricks/
03-16-2014, 06:20 AM
#177
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Louisville, KY
Posts: 386
I haven't logged in here for ages, but, when I saw this conversation--I was compelled to chime in. I am a modern quilter, a member of a modern guild who only seems to be drawn to modern fabrics and construction.
First, I'm not sure anyone has made the distinction between ART quilting and MODERN quilting.
Art quilts are usually smaller, often embellished, irregularly sized/shaped pieces that are decorative in nature.
Modern quilts are made in modern fabrics, using a variety of patterns--often an interpretation of a traditional block. Modern quilts are made to be used, are mostly quilted on home machines, and frankly--there are no rules.
A misconception I want to speak to is: negative space is for fancy quilting? Not so, IMHO. Most modern quilters pride themselves in quilting bed sized quilts on their home machines. The quilting is to hold the layers together and highlight the great fabric choices. Straight lines, SITD, echoing, etc.
As a modern quilter, the biggest difference I can identify between traditional and modern is in color/fabric choices. Our QDO was yesterday, and my modern guild had a booth. I'm not sure it was coincidence that the modern guild booth was dead center in the room, but, in every direction were booths of traditional guilds. While we did display some abstract wall hangings and such (some of the traditional booths had smaller artsy pieces, too), we hung quilts made by our members, and the only significant difference between our booth and the others was color and fabric. The modern quilts read crisper in color and value, while the traditional quilts read more muted. Many of the blocks were repeated in both styles, but translated differently in fabric choices.
As other before me have stated, if it weren't for like-minded younger quilters to help me along this journey--I may not have ever sewed my first seam. The reason I realized I COULD quilt is because of the young bloggers who brought me tutorials online. I certainly have no one in my life who could teach me. So, perhaps my skills are not perfect and my points are a little off. With more practice, those things can resolve. At the end of the day, there are young, bright, creative people trying to keep the art of quilting alive.
As with all parts of our civilization, evolution is part of growth.
First, I'm not sure anyone has made the distinction between ART quilting and MODERN quilting.
Art quilts are usually smaller, often embellished, irregularly sized/shaped pieces that are decorative in nature.
Modern quilts are made in modern fabrics, using a variety of patterns--often an interpretation of a traditional block. Modern quilts are made to be used, are mostly quilted on home machines, and frankly--there are no rules.
A misconception I want to speak to is: negative space is for fancy quilting? Not so, IMHO. Most modern quilters pride themselves in quilting bed sized quilts on their home machines. The quilting is to hold the layers together and highlight the great fabric choices. Straight lines, SITD, echoing, etc.
As a modern quilter, the biggest difference I can identify between traditional and modern is in color/fabric choices. Our QDO was yesterday, and my modern guild had a booth. I'm not sure it was coincidence that the modern guild booth was dead center in the room, but, in every direction were booths of traditional guilds. While we did display some abstract wall hangings and such (some of the traditional booths had smaller artsy pieces, too), we hung quilts made by our members, and the only significant difference between our booth and the others was color and fabric. The modern quilts read crisper in color and value, while the traditional quilts read more muted. Many of the blocks were repeated in both styles, but translated differently in fabric choices.
As other before me have stated, if it weren't for like-minded younger quilters to help me along this journey--I may not have ever sewed my first seam. The reason I realized I COULD quilt is because of the young bloggers who brought me tutorials online. I certainly have no one in my life who could teach me. So, perhaps my skills are not perfect and my points are a little off. With more practice, those things can resolve. At the end of the day, there are young, bright, creative people trying to keep the art of quilting alive.
As with all parts of our civilization, evolution is part of growth.
03-16-2014, 11:50 AM
#178
Super Member
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Illinois
Posts: 9,018
Quilting of any kind interests me. Modern, traditional, tribal, utility....all have beauty and various levels of difficulty in design and construction. I particularly like Waggas (traditional Australian utility quilts), these are made with a variety of fabric finds, certainly not beautiful quilting cottons
and all vary in style and construction. I just think it's important to keep quilting alive and evolving....I have a Wagga in progress, as well as an EPP GFG, and a string quilt.....so a bit of everything.
and all vary in style and construction. I just think it's important to keep quilting alive and evolving....I have a Wagga in progress, as well as an EPP GFG, and a string quilt.....so a bit of everything.What is a Wagga? New word/acronym for me!
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