"Life Under Quilts"
Jessica Alexandrakis
Westbury, NJ
"Where are the Japanese-mag-influenced-DSQ-loving-young-hip-quilters on the south coast of Massachusetts? I'm here if you ever want to hang out~"
5 years ago I wrote this on my blog, feeling desperate and alone. I knew I couldn't be the only 20-something quilter out there who didn't fit in at the traditional local guilds. Even though it seemed a strange hobby for someone of my generation, I have loved quilting since I was in junior high. I love being able to express myself with fabric, and I find comfort in the motions, patterns, and prints. Through flickr.com I found blogs and even though I had been writing my thoughts publicly online at livejournal.com since 2001, the thought of writing solely about quilting intrigued me. I left my livejournal community and started my own quilting blog, unsure if anyone would ever read it, but knowing I would have better chances of finding who I needed there than in real life. Heck, I met my husband online, why couldn't I find like-minded friends too? It was slow in the beginning, it seemed no one was reading me. Oh well, I just plugged away at it, writing to record my own quilting journey. Then, somehow, "Modern Quilting" appeared, overnight. At first I was standoffish-- I didn't like using solids or white, I couldn't be a "modern quilter". But then I went to the first NYC Metro Mod meeting at Victoria's place and there.. finally.. I found the quilters in real life that I had been looking for all these years. The accepting, non-judgmental, full of ideas, full of laughter, always up to the challenge bunch that propelled the Modern Quilt movement forward. Are we "modern quilters"? Half of us don't know and most of us don't really care. We love what we're doing though, and when there's passion behind the work, nothing can stop it.
My submission reflects my belief that blogland is an integral part of the Modern Quilt movement, and I am grateful for it. Modern quilters still make all kinds of quilts, and I don't yet see one common thread that is visible in all our work, but I think it is undeniable that the way we communicate, gather, share and stay connected with each other would not be possible without the internet. I think that is what we have in common and that is what sets us apart from the quilters that came before us. No one color, technique, or aesthetic goal, just being part of a larger community that accepts each quilter for who he or she is.
My quilt incorporates two of my current favorite techniques-- liberated pieced letters (a-la Tonya Ricucci) and English paper piecing. Both techniques make use of tiny tiny pieces, which I gravitate to because my scrap stash is HUGE. In this piece I had the challenge of making very small letters, and decided to try the "6 minute circle" for the round parts of the letters in the "I blog" portion. I found this was easier and had less seams than if I had pieced them from straight cuts. The colors reflect my home-- the blue-purple background of the bottom portion is the same color I painted my kitchen. The light teal on top is just a few shades darker than the color of my sewing room. Working with these colors and being surrounded by them makes me feel comfortable and at ease. I try to have my life and my sensibilities reflected in my quilts as much as possible. I don't want to make someone else's quilts, it's much more satisfying to make it mine.
“One of These Things is Like the Others”
Mary Bakija
Brooklyn, NY
I don't think there's much of a difference between "modern" and any other quilting. The base is the same for everyone: A desire to create something. From there, the varieties of quilters are endless.
I tried to express this idea with a repeating pattern of 48 pinwheels, all in shades of yellow. They're all the same at base, with slight differences. Then there's one pinwheel that, again, is similar to all the rest at base, same shapes, same shades, but slightly different, with a little burst of polka dots. That's the confetti of the "modern" quilter--the excitement that surrounds trying new techniques, sharing ideas, and encouraging friends. It celebrates each person's desire to create something, and their success in finishing it.
If there's any difference to "modern" quilting, it's the way we strive to celebrate anything different, while still honoring the things that make us all the same.
“In the Garden”
Helen Beall
Manhasset, NY
I claim to be a modern quilter because I am using modern materials - fabrics, threads, tools, embellishments. Although I have been quilting for many years, I am always taking classes and looking for new techniques and tools to add to my work. To me, modern quilting is about picking and choosing which skills and techniques to draw from, and giving myself permission to try new things. I do not wish to replicate the past, but neither do I want to break from it completely.
Tile quilts, a traditional form dating back to the 19th century, presented a new exploration for me personally. I took a class on tile quilts and created this needle-turn applique block. The pattern came from a new book, Tile Quilts Revival: Reinventing a Forgotten Form by Carol Gilham Jones & Bobbi Finley. It was a new canvas to work with some bold Kaffe Fassett fabrics and play with the effects of grays with brighter colors. In this way it represents what modern quilting means to me, so I chose to use this block for my quilt.
In contrast with the traditional roots of my block, the graphic background is a Japanese fabric I picked up at a recent quilt show. I liked the quiet, subtle shades that make the quilt "pop." To complete the effect, I have machine quilted with metallic thread.
The social aspect of quilting is important to me. I enjoy the collaboration of both quilters and non-quilters to help me put together design elements and celebrate the unexpected. I had originally planned to use the stripe fabric for a binding but wasn't happy with the effect it had. However, as I was showing my work-in-progress to my cousin and a friend who were visiting, they remarked on the similarity of the stripe swatch to paint chips or selvage color dots. That inspired me to include the stripe piece in my composition.
Although my quilts are a current expression of color and design thinking, they are a result of a long tradition. The quilting tradition is a continuum and I am....here now....
“Back in to-Day”
Earamichia Brown
New York, NY
When I first thought about what modern quilting meant to me, I immediately researched the word “modern”. I harkened back to my art history days in college, and remembered that Modern Art began with the Impressionists, Romanticists, and those genres that used bold colors and graphic patterns. As I researched the term modern quilters, looked at the conversations that were being had on quilt blogs and discussion boards, what modern is to me was born.
Modern is anything created To-Day/To-Date. It is any thing that is created recently, contemporaneously, that expresses our world today. In a world that is so fleeting and fad oriented, modern is anything current and may no longer be viewed as modern, in as little as a year from now. And thus the idea for my quilt was formed.
I became fascinated by the fabric that was used and the functionality of quilting in contrast to the way it is used today, as an expression and often times its own art form. That is when I searched the library of congress for photos from the U.S. Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information. I specifically looked for images of people quilting in this country in the 1920s through the 1940s. I found a number of images; however this one struck me the most: “Woman who has not yet found a place to move out of the Hinesville Army camp area working on a quilt in her smokehouse. Near Hinesville, Georgia.” Call Number: LC-USF34- 043775-D [P&P]. This woman did not have a home at the time and quilted in her smokehouse. I realized how fortunate I was to have a room that I can dedicate to quilting…my own personal smokehouse. It too has a dual purpose, as a guest room.
It is from here that the idea began. I wanted to show that she was modern in 1941 just as I am modern in 2011. I am depicted creating a modern quilt, just as she was making her modern quilt. I focused on using colors in the back ground that was more representative of the 1940s because they are still in use today, and can be considered modern because I am creating them in 2011. I created a mini quilt using bold and bright colors as symbolic of the fabric in use today and the evolution of the textile industry.
While working on this piece, I was most amazed at the way in which it evolved. I very rarely begin with a sketch, image or idea before hand, and I did for this piece. I originally thought that this piece would have more color and use more fabric that is indicative of the patterns, prints and colors used today. However, as it evolved, the piece spoke in its own way, and decided to remain a bit more neutral in scope. It developed into a framed art piece. As I began putting the images together, it started to look like the old photos that were framed in both of my grandmother’s homes. I remembered the photo of my grandmother that appears to be black and white with a hint of color, sitting next to the framed picture of me that had more color in the photo. This is what this piece began to remind me of. As I continued to work on it, I decided to keep some of the retro fabric and use more of the Japanese vintage printed fabric. The Japanese printed fabric reminded me of the feed sacks from the 1920s through the 1950s. I also like that this fabric depicts advertisements of sewing items from that time as well.
I found this piece to be challenging because I was filled with so many thoughts and ideas for it. However, I was limited by time and size, and knew that I needed to complete it. I was unsure of where I would end up in the creative process and had to remind myself that I must be satisfied with it no matter what it finally looked like. So I would work on it, step away a week, come back and work feverishly on it, then be forced to take another step back. As I reached the final stages, the real challenges began. I began to ask, “Is it completed? Does it need something more? Do I write on it? Do I add more color? How do I bind it? What do I use to bind it?” Finally, I just jumped in to finish it. I hope to continue working on this idea, perhaps on a slightly larger scale and play with some other ideas, embellishments and “modern” techniques.
I hope you enjoy what modern means to me…As I take a look “Back in To-Day”.
“Untitled: Red Bird”
Daniela Catrocho
Roselle, NJ
“Modern” quilting was my first introduction to quilting a few years ago, and I have since spent some time learning the history and tradition of quilting. I think of modern quilting as freedom in a tradition of telling stories through fabric. Yet it is this tradition of quilting that intrigues me, and continually informs and inspires my quilts today. For this challenge, I set out to highlight one of my favorite fabrics of a red bird using bold dark fabrics and use a few different techniques without any patterns or plan in mind. Since most of my sewing is done in my dining room with a fantastic window view of a large oak tree that houses many cardinals' nests in the spring and summer months, my red bird fabric naturally became the "view" from the quilt window. I modified a log cabin to frame around the bird (a nod to my first log cabin quilt). As I began cutting strips of black and red printed fabrics for the sides, I decided on a wonky striped pattern using the paper-piecing method, and the swirls on the red bird fabric were the inspiration for the quilting. I have had a personal tradition of “Untitle”-ing all of my paintings during my time in art school: this quilt is “Untitled: Red Bird,” in the spirit of continuing tradition.
“Serendipity”
Margaret Cibulsky
Port Washington, NY
We have all experienced the serendipity of finding something relevant when we were not expecting it. That, in a nutshell, is how this quilt was created.
I began with a technique called “making fabric”. This is the process of selecting and randomly sewing together small scraps. (You can see this in the four quadrants.) Could I use the “made fabric” to frame some free cut rectangles? Yes. Could I join four of them and contain them cohesively? Yes. This exploration, especially the last one in which I chose strong repetitive patterns for the joining strips, was a good start. The strips were “fussy cut” – meaning I cut these parts out of a larger piece of fabric. It was a conscious design decision. It was at this point that I thought this piece might be a good one for this show and I began to pay attention to the required size dimensions. Next I focused on the sunburst. What inspired this idea? The design elements and color in the joining strips simply morphed. For some symmetry but with some variation, I repeated the idea and the colors in the spikes at the bottom. The side borders fabric was chosen because it seemed to expand the piece. The multi-colored pieced header and corner blocks were leftovers from other projects and seemed to fit this one well. The most surprising aspect of this quilt was the binding. At first I couldn’t decide between light/dark and print/solid and so the piece sat for days. Then in a “flash” I knew it needed to be pieced with solids that complemented the borders. My last touch was to hand-stitch in a few places until it felt finished.
I equate the phrase “modern quilting” with pushing your own boundaries … trying something new in every new project … being committed to creating rather than re-creating. I consider my piece in this show “modern” because I made my own design decisions instead of buying a kit or copying a quilt someone else designed. My fabric choices were based on what I had on hand. I did not go out and purchase “x” amounts of a coordinated line of fabric.
What I like most about this quilt is the color and the color-interactions. I think that this piece is a joyful expression of a process that I find fulfilling and I am honored to share it with you.
“Stripe Study #2: Optic Diamonds”
Sue Erdreich
Berkeley Heights, NJ
Modern quilting gives me a new opportunity to express my artistic vision. I approach my quilting not as the traditional blanket making, but as a new medium that holds infinite creative possibilities.
For this quilt, I chose to continue exploring my fascination with stripes, and how they can be manipulated for visual effect. Depending on how the fabric is cut and sewn, many different variations in design can be achieved; often from one single fabric. This quilt uses two different fabrics, one with a narrower stripe in muted colors, the other with broader stripes in bright colors. The two fabrics work well together to create visual interest, while also balancing each other out. Each diamond in the quilt is created from four identical triangles cut from a strip of one of the fabrics. I chose to set the diamonds on point to enhance the visual impact. The quilting design also works to reinforce the linear nature of the quilt.
The biggest challenge with this type of piecing is making sure that corners and points meet up precisely. While I did not acheive perfection in this quilt, the overall visual impact is still cohesive.
"Stars for Lars"
Christa Farmer
Westbury, NJ
Quilting appeals to me because I love putting fabrics together in pleasing patterns. I particularly like making my quilts for someone in particular, and I often ask them to help me choose patterns and fabrics, so I know I am making something they will like. I really enjoy quilting when I find fun funky fabrics. I usually buy extra yardage of fabrics I really like so that I can use the "scraps" for other projects! Quilting becomes especially "modern" for me when it dares to be asymmetrical, incorporating something creative beyond traditional triangles.
The idea for this quilt came to me while I was nursing my son Lars, who was about to turn three weeks old at the time. I wanted to do something in blue and green for his room, and he happened to be wearing a nightshirt with stars on it- I was taken by the rhyme "Stars for Lars" and decided I wanted to make him some stars. I have made several "window" quilts, showing a landscape scene of some kind, as if you were looking out a window. With this quilt, I wanted to create a skylight looking out into the night sky.
I originally intended to "practice" my star design with these particular fabrics, planning to use two other fabrics in the final creation. I pieced the first star at night, when I couldn't see the colors too well- and when I woke up the next morning, I decided I liked this color combination better! Then I decided the scene needed some curves- and I have been wanting to learn how to piece curves better- so I turned to some instructions on the internet (how modern is that?) and started creating a moon using a technique I had never used before. Lars was born the day before a full moon so I decided to leave the moon a complete circle rather than the usual crescent. In the end, "modern quilting" to me means quilts that are being created now! When this show is over I look forward to hanging this quilt in his bedroom.
“Antiquated Updated”
Victoria Findlay Wolfe
New York, NY
In order to define what “Modern Quilting” is, I started by making 4 quilts. Each one of them only had parts of what I might consider modern, like making things up as I go, using up what I have, incorporating bold prints, adding in some odd element here and there. But not one of them had everything I was trying to express. Then I looked around my studio, and literally, grabbed a block out of a bed size quilt I was making. It included scraps, odd angle piecing, solids, prints, old and new styles of fabrics, brights, lights and darks. It had everything in it that defined “modern” for me, it was truly a piece that shows the way I work.
Every one of the quilts I make are modern. The process for me is modern. It reflects what needs to come out of me creatively. Everything I bring to the quilt, is modern. It reflects my history of learning to quilt, who I was inspired by and why I continue to quilt. Most of my work is based on my grandmother’s crazy quilts, and I think this piece shows, that all though the technique has been around for ages, it can have a bright new spin no matter what era it is.
“Good Boy, Cheddar!”
Ellen Foster
Flushing, NY
Modern quilting is the license to explore, the chance to step out of your comfort zone, to stretch and to try new things. I have seen the quilting world explode with wonderful new fabrics, exciting fabric designers coming from unusual backgrounds and many vehicles to acquire fabric. In addition, there is the Internet with its many creative and inspiring blogs. This is the new quilting community; this is the modern way to connect.
The idea for my dog quilt came out of a monochromatic block challenge to make a block using the color Cheddar – that warm yellow orange color. Right away I thought, wouldn’t it be fun and challenging to make a yellow lab in that cheddar color using non-traditional fabrics like dots, stripes and checks. It was a bit ambitious for the block challenge but an idea was sparked for future use.
I like the iconic (and tacky) nature of those dog paintings where the canine is king. I tried to translate that feeling into my quilt in a modern way. This was a true stretch for me: finding an image, drawing up my own pattern in the fractured Ruth McDowell style, and finding the right fabrics that would give the value, perspective and quirkiness I envisioned.
For the dog’s head I used 5 fabrics to create the values of light, medium and dark. Some appliqué and satin stitching was added for definition. With the background I used a group of intense blues and greens to create the foliage surrounding him. I wanted the background to be as powerful as the dog and to radiate out of him, suggesting the majestic nature of this being.
In this piece, I was able to design, sew, poke fun and stretch. All in all it was a great exploration and journey!
P.S. For the record: I don’t own a dog. I have one cat at home and he’s not too happy about this quilt.
“Practice”
Suzanne Gray
Portland, OR
"Practice” is a reminder to myself that the process of creating is more important than the result. It was inspired by a Hindu mantra that I try to remember while quilting:
This is perfect, that is perfect
Perfect comes from perfect
Subtract the perfect from the perfect
And only the perfect remains.
One thing I love about modern quilting is that it’s impossible to make a mistake. Flawlessness is not the measure of beauty; the energy and movement of a design is more important than precision piecing.
But that doesn’t mean it’s easy! Sure, you don’t have to worry about perfect points, but making a quilt without any rules can be intimidating. I spent months thinking about how to make this perfectionism mantra into a quilt, trying out several ideas on paper and on fabric before I settled on this approach. Even so, I didn’t know what the quilt would look like until it was done. As a newcomer to quilting, I found this a little intimidating—what if it turned out ugly?—but I think that by trusting my instincts and letting the quilt evolve it ended up being more dynamic and interesting than if I had planned the whole thing out from the beginning.
“Red Tree”
Nicole Gustafson
Jersey City, NJ
Red Tree is my fourth try on this small quilt. My struggle with this little piece was expressing a theme. Usually I would sew a few pieces together and see where it goes. That is what I like about the MetroMod guild. The members make such beautiful work using a freestyle method. They are making modern quilts. I realized so was I. With this piece, my daughter Avalyn was my critic. “No Mom, that is too literal”. “Humm, the colors aren’t right”. So Ava picked five fabrics for me from my stash. And I added an ombre which I just loved. One of the five fabrics is a purple mottled cotton. It is from an African traditional garment. A friend gave me her scraps. It’s special to me.
My process was the same, begin with the fabric and see what comes of it. I actually felt a surge of excitement while working on it, and I kept that feeling to the end. My personal challenge was not to make it bigger. To think, my first idea for this quilt was about pre-school children and I ended up with a tree.
"Square Spectrum"
Karen M. Haynes
New York, NY
For me, modern quilting is about color and having no traditional rules of quilting to adhere to. "Square Spectrum," was based it on a log cabin block, utilizing the colors of the rainbow and non-traditional binding. I have been quilting for less than 2 years. After taking classes and learning the general rules of quilting, I discovered the Modern Quilt Guild, which inspired me to try breaking the rules. Difficult as it was at first, I find modern quilting liberating, less intimidating and all around more fun. I wanted this piece to be colorful to express the happiness I felt through this process.
I guess I’m a traditional quilter, I plan, work with patterns, sometimes adapt them. I like points to match and re-sew seams when they're off. I just moved to New York City in the autumn and met Helen who told me about the NYC Mod Quilt Guild. I attended a few meetings and saw amazing works by very talented people! The quilt exhibition was announced and Helen asked if I was going to partake, this was out of my comfort zone, she said now was a time to try something new. At one Mod meetings, Rayna said to me "just cut" don't use a ruler, just cut and sew back together. Ok, I was going to try this. I met a few more quilters in the city and joined a small NYC Bee. At one meeting Barbara brought a bag full of leftover fabric; I decided to use a hand full of these for this project. I cut and sewed and cut and sewed some more adding the orange from my scrap bag. Still a bit uncomfortable with this approach, I decided to cut eight equal sized wedges with a new ruler from my piece of "original fabric". I showed this to my group, what next. Maria said add black. Judy said the wedges needed to vary in size. Deborah said play around with it like a puzzle. Lani was moving pieces around and said you need to quilt it with circles. Dotty added words of encouragement! No pattern, irregular pieces, frayed edges; this is not what I am used to. What I have done it is not new in the quilting world, but it was new to me and it was a surprising, sometimes challenging, learning experience! So many more ideas are now coming to me! So, thank-you ladies!
I was putting the binding on the quilt and I could have finished it by machine but the sun was shining so I decided to finish it by hand in Central Park. While in the park, a woman stopped and asked what I was doing. I soon discovered that she was a retired F.I.T. (Fashion Institute of Technology) lecturer. We had a conversation about quilts, she told me about how she worked with the Mountain Artisans in the 70's and how they had a shop selling quilts to aid the West Virginia coal miners. She told me about the quilt she had planned to make years ago with her husbands ties but was never able to complete it. We then discussed the Alexander McQueen exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum and Japanese fabric. She told me my quilt looked like shattered stained glass. When I finished I strolled passed the roller bladders doing their tricks in the park and bought an ice cream for the walk home. I then looked on the Internet and found the Mountain Artisans Quilting Book for sale for $1.00. I ordered it and look forward to discovering more.
Who knew that this little quilt would lead to new friends, new conversations, new techniques, new information about an old tradition and of course an ice cream! This is what makes quilting modern.
“Evolving Pathway”
Andrea Homer-Macdonald
New York, NY
Starting a quilt with not much more than a spark of inspiration and seeing what it evolves into is one of my favorite freedoms of modern quilting. Unlike the approach I learned when I began to quilt...start with a pattern and a palette, then sew endless, identical pieces into blocks...I see modern quilters choosing instead to improvise, explore and change directions throughout the creative process of a single quilt. This is just one part of what modern quilting means to me.
Modern quilting means improvising. Knowing where to begin presented my biggest challenge for this quilt. How could I visually encapsulate the modern quilting movement in one little quilt? I felt stuck...devoid of ideas. As a dancer, I've used improvisation to start generating movement for a dance. Moving seems to get things flowing. I see modern quilters I admire use the same approach. They just start sewing, getting bits and blocks out there to see what they like and what interesting combinations are being made. And so I began without any grand ideas (or really any ideas) of what this quilt would become. I began sewing little on-point squares unsure of whether they would even be included in the final product, but trusting the process would get my creative juices flowing.
Modern quilting means using both inspiration from others and my own creativity. Others influence my work through blogs, guilds and quilting retreats. As I pulled fabric from my scrap bin for this project, it seemed my favorites were those I inherited from friends at exchanges and retreats. The lace-like print reminded me of fabric Victoria Findlay-Wolf might use and sparked some of my color choices. Then I remembered the lovely strip quilts made by Karen Griska and started free-piecing using a method she once described to me at a retreat. Eventually, I shifted to my own approach. The original image from her quilts morphed into something else as I played with how I angled my strips to create curves that turn in different directions.
Modern quilting means letting a piece evolve. With one curving, raggedy-edged piece and a bunch of little squares, I didn't know what to do next. Unsure whether they belonged together, I started playing with backgrounds and layouts. This process always means auditioning many fabrics and being open to unexpected ideas. For example, the lace print in one of my fabrics reminded me of the doilies my great-aunt crocheted me. Suddenly an appliqued doily seemed to be a necessary element for this quilt! (Don't worry...I didn't cut up one of hers for this quilt!) Gradually, a layout evolved that included all of the parts I'd created.
Modern quilting means thinking outside the block. In this little quilt, my "blocks" filled in the corners rather than being the center focus of the quilt. Modern quilters often chose to use blocks in new ways, changing their size, shape, proportion and placement from project to project, or even within the same project. Modern quilters may also throw the idea of blocks right out the window to find a new kind of design all together.
Modern quilting means using traditional techniques when they serve your purpose. My curving pathway was free-pieced and cut to size free-hand. However, once I knew the layout I wanted with my corner blocks, good old-fashioned pattern drafting was used to fit the pieces together smoothly. Those traditional skills do come in handy!
At the end of the day, I see modern quilting as an evolving process...one where the rules and methods are changing as quilters explore new possibilities in this art form. The past influences us whether we embrace specific elements from historical quilts, selectively use traditional methods or consciously choose to do something in direct opposition to quilts made before us. Against that backdrop, quilters develop new ideas and forms, changing the quilting landscape forever. I love being a part of this evolving process as a modern quilter!