Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Back Home After QUILTCON - So Much To Think About!

I have returned home from QUILTCON.  What an amazing experience - thought provoking, overwhelming, uplifting, controversial, hectic, inspiring and much more.

 
 
 
 
 First, I must say that the organizers (the board) did an amazing job and should be commended for how well this first time event ran.  The classes and teachers were wonderful.  The quilt show could have used a little polishing (many, many comments and questions about the categories that quilts were in and the criteria for the categories).  The lectures ran the gamet from thought provoking to inspiring to controversial.  I am certainly thinking about my voice as a quilter and where I fit in.

As a result of one particular lecture, I have thought a great deal about the concept of Modern Quilting.  I hope that Modern Quilting will focus on inclusion rather than exclusion as it finds its definition.  It was disturbing to listen to a lecture on what Modern Quilting is and hear a view point that was exclusionary and rather demeaning towards other quilting styles.  It felt all rather highschool-ish and clique-ish in a mean girl sort of way.  It certainly was controversial and blogs are alive with discussions related to that viewpoint.  If it had been presented as this speaker's personal viewpoint, I think that would have helped.  Unfortunately, the talk was presented as a definitional, factual lecture - THIS is Modern Quilting.  THAT is not Modern Quilting.  Again, it was thought provoking!

Jacquie Gering gave a moving lecture on her quilting journey.   I loved her description of her family as "Makers".  She was followed by Denyse Schmidt who was the keynote speaker and gave a wonderful presentation on her quilting and design journey.   

I'll finish today's blog with just a few photos of quilts in the show.  More to come, I promise!







Aaaaaanyway, that's it from the Robertson household.


6 comments:

  1. Kathleen, are you going to the Sew Day this weekend or the BAM meeting this month? I would love to hear about the Modern Quilting definition lecture. I see references to it, but haven't seen anything that gives more, specific, information.

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  2. Well said, Kathleen. So much fun spending time with you.

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  3. Who gave the lecture What is Modern Quilting? I don't think that one got picked up by Craftsy... I keep seeing people talking about it but no one has said who the speaker was.

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    1. Sorry I didn't respond as quickly as I would like - it was Heather Grant. It was definitely not on Craftsy.

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  4. I too would like to know more about the What is Modern Quilting lecture. Who gave it?

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    1. It was Heather Grant. With some perspective, I now believe that this lecture has caused many people to think about "what is modern quilting" and more importantly, who am I as a quilter - so the lecture had value beyond my initial negative reaction. I know that I am not willing to be dogmatic about modern quilting. Some quilts should have borders and are still modern. Some quilts don't have borders and maybe it is a modern quilt, or maybe not. I still don't agree with Heather's message but I recognize it is her message, and not mine.

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About Me

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I'm a grandmother, a lawyer, a quilter, a cook and the human companion of Boo, the labradoodle. I am also a collector/hoarder and ultimate consumer of fabric. Can't resist touching and/or buying it! I also love sharing every day with my doodle. Please look at my work and let me know what you think. I plan to share my thoughts and experiences with you and hope you will do the same. Boo sends his tail wagging greetings to all. If you meet him, you will know exactly what I mean!