One for the quilters – a whole new world

For those of you who aren’t into quilts, please skip over this one. I’m about to get a little bit quilt geeky.

Today the road led to Paducah, Kentucky – one of the quilt world’s two Meccas, Houston being the other. Paducah is home to the Museum of the American Quilter’s Society, and its yearly quilt show. I’m sad to say that no pix were allowed, and the show was policed by sharp-eyed retired quilters that were protecting the quilts as if they had made every stitch themselves. You’ve met the type at the guild: so ferocious they intimidate you into straighter posture and better manners.

I haven’t been into quilting much in the last few years as all of my artistic attention has been distracted by the work I needed to make in my quest for a seat in grad school. So it is through out-of-touch eyes that these observations are made.

YIKES! What quilts! They had the winners from the last couple of years on display. I sure hope the magazines have been showing close up pictures because if not, you wouldn’t understand the complexity of therm. (Here’s a link to some pix of the 2007 winner: http://www.patsyterrell.com/2007/05/sharon-schamber-of-payson-arizona-won.html). Every last nook of these quilts is quilted to within an eighth-inch of its life. Entire secondary designs in the white space, some as complex as an actual quilt, but only in thread. Perfectly even, tiny machine stitches (the makers have either stunning coordination or stitch regulators). These new quilts are so complex that they make Caryl Bryer Fallert’s winners from the 90’s look like warm up exercises. And stuff from ten years ago looks like best of show from the local county fair now. The backs are stunning also – dang them!

They are almost too perfect… what ever happened to the humility block? I realize that wavy borders don’t deserve the $20 grand prize, but these were so perfect that it was beyond intimidating.

Makes me glad I’m not running in this playground anymore (once upon a time I was getting into the occasional big show) – frankly, I’ve always been more interested in color rather than the actual quilting stitches. These days I seem to be happy making simpler quilts, putting my colors into other peoples’ patterns. Dare I say that making a quilt that can be touched and snuggled under seems so much more relevant to me now. As I said… a whole new world.