Sign of the week

In the pub:

Modern quilting -- the show

I got a notice last week about QuiltCon, the big show sponsored by the Modern Quilt Guild that will be in Austin in February 2015.  I've written in the past about Modern Quilting and what it is, and my fascination with how MQ is different from what I do continues.  (I think it's different, but can't really tell.)

One clue to the things an institution values is how it structures the categories for its shows and awards, so I checked out the QuiltCon juried show info.

In addition to Applique, Fabric Challenge, Youth Quilts, and Group Quilts, definitions that seem pretty obvious, the show has categories for Handwork, Improvisation, Minimalist Design, Use of Negative Space, Piecing, and Modern Traditionalism.  You can enter only one quilt per category.

I can guess how they would judge Handwork, but the rest of them mystify me.  (Detailed category descriptions will appear on the website later.)  Much of my work, for instance, could easily be classified as piecing, improvisation, and minimalist design, and I guess most has some negative space.

More intriguing is trying to imagine the judges' thought process.  "Quilt A is by far the best in design, composition and color, but Quilt B has better negative space!"

The prize money isn't nearly as generous as at that other big quilt show in Texas -- $5000 for best in show, several $1000 prizes and $500 in each category -- but you might want to check it out.  Especially if you are good at negative space.

what do you think?  is this minimalist design?

Photo suite 128 -- bunches of boats

Sign of the week

Matching the sofa

Much discussion on the Quiltart list this week about art that matches the sofa, and not surprisingly the consensus is that matching the sofa is bad -- bad decorating, bad decision-making, bad art.  Opinions included remarks like this:

"People who really love art buy what they like and then paint the wall to show the art at its best.  The color of the sofa is immaterial."

"I say do what you want and let the world match their sofas to your art!"

"I personally don't give much thought to how any of my paintings or art quilts will fit in someone's decor.  That isn't a criteria for how or why I create."

"I like what I like, I don't worry if it matches anything in particular."

Of course, matching the sofa is one of the great cliche/metaphors of the art world, shorthand for philistine consumers who don't appreciate genius.  But every time I hear it I think of my own true story.

I don't often do commissions but took one several years ago to make a quilt for a newly remodeled dining room.  The client liked a quilt in my portfolio and wanted me to do pretty much the same thing bigger.  She chose some colors (blues and beige/yellow) and approved a pile of fabrics.  I started piecing.

She called me up a few weeks later and said she had just bought a new sofa to go in front of the quilt wall, with purple in the upholstery, and could I add some purple to the quilt.  And also could I please put in a picture of her dog.

My first reaction, stoked with plenty of self-esteem-building discussions on Quiltart and other artist forums, was to say NO!  How dare you ask!  This would violate my self-esteem, my artistic integrity and everything else I hold dear!  And as for your #@&*! DOG....

My second reaction, after I thought about it for a while, was why not make her happy.  I was only partway in to the intricate piecing, and I had some beautiful purple batiks right in my stash that would go quite nicely with the fabrics we had already agreed upon.  So I incorporated a few purples into the piecing.  Then I searched the web for a line drawing of a labrador retriever, got it the right size for one of the patches, and embroidered it in the same color thread as the patch so you could barely see it.

I thought the quilt looked even better with the bit of purple, and it sure looked great with the new sofa.  (The sofa was actually more purple than is apparent in this photo.)

The clients were so happy with the quilt that they added a $100 tip when they wrote my check.

So I guess the moral of this story is, it's OK to match the sofa if you want to.

Donegal tweed -- the real thing 3

Studio Donegal sells wool in many forms:  yarn, yardage, knitted and woven blankets and garments.  I didn't buy much, but I did walk around and feel the goods a lot.

And here's what I got for myself:  a scarf that perfectly matches the shirt that I wore almost every day of the trip, and a bunch of tweed scraps. The scraps were supposed to be sold for 10 euros a kilo, but the clerk who waited on me couldn't figure out the right price, so she gave them to me for nothing.