For several days now, debate has ranged back and forth on the Quiltart list in response to a writer who commented how disappointed she was that the well known magazine  Quilting Arts was so heavily technique and specific project focused (materials, patterns, instructions) rather than on the ‘art’ inspiration, design concepts, etc implied in its title.   I’m not a subscriber, but  from time to time when visiting the USA I have picked up a current copy to see what’s going on there, and have always known  it is not a magazine for me to take regularly.  However, it suits a lot of people, and so I went to the website Quilting Arts and found this mission statement: “Welcome to the online community just for comtemporary quilters.”   That seems fine to me – the magazine lives up to the expectations of the many contemporary quiltmakers who for various reasons are making quilts not only in traditional styles but branching out into other ways of working, some of which depend on modern technology, digital and mechanical.  Many of the articles are ‘how to’ use these new techniques.

The Quiltart list is “an internet mailing list … for contemporary art quilters – as a means for those interested in innovative contemporary art quilting to share learn and grow”    With around 3000 members,  naturally they represent the full spectrum of quilters from careful skilled technicians to exhuberant but possibly not technically gifted makers,  and everything in between.  As someone said, if Quilting Arts magazine is not for you, don’t read it – and the same can be said for the books, videos and tv programmes that the quilting industry makes available for people to follow and learn from current trends in this particular area of quilting.

So there’s a lot of hot air exercised over the ‘art’ in quilt making – and those of us who aren’t too fazed about this just get on with what we’re going to do, anyway!  But in all the hooha expressed this week, one of the silliest, vaccuous, reasons I read of why someone declared she was a proud subscriber of this magazine was  something along the lines of her rarely if ever actually reading her copy, but she continues her subscription as ‘an expression of  support’ .  Ye gods, with sentimental emotive claptrap like that flying around, I think the magazine and others like it have a good future – quilters as a group are very sentimental.    But, seriously the magazine is a good one if you are wanting to learn some of the popular techniques being used in contemporary  of  ‘how to’ publications.  I predict as long as quiltmaking thrives, so will magazines like it.  While the makers will stick with the innovative project articles, which do after all sell, more mature artists will probably drop such publications altogether as their vision grows – their need for technical information diminishes, and their works increasingly depend on  exploration, observation and reflection of the world around them.  Rather than read about what others are doing,  people who want to make make art will find some way to get the effect they want or need if it is really important to what they want to achieve.

POSTSCRIPT:

This discussion is settling down, and magazines such as Quilting Arts are part of the Quilting Industry in just the same way as quilt shops, pattern designers, assemblers of kits, people who design gadgets and tools to make the job of the  modern quilter easier, writers of articles and people who demonstrate and teach, historians, valuers, judges, fabric designers and manufacturers, event organisers, and many more.  Of course, all these people tend to have detractors from within the Dedicated Traditionalists Group – (by which I mean those who proudly declare they only ever piece by hand, and then make a delicate little sniffing sound to confirm their purist statements, LOL, as if anyone gives a hoot!)   The point is, there is room for all of them in the Quilting Industry.

Now, the Quilting Industry and all that goes on there is not necessarily anything to do with Art.  It can be of course, but isn’t necessarily.  Because of the traditional crafts background from which many modern quilt makers have come to the more innovative even artistically inspired quilted textile works, many motivated art quilters  still have angst separating, cutting the apron strings if you like, from ties that bind them to their traditional background.  If you want to make textile art, it can even be an advantage if you don’t have any quilting heritage at all in your background.

This is the remainder, about 2/3, of the antique handmade lace collar from which I snipped the little circular units I used in the Beachwork piece, see two previous posts, below.  Each is about 1.5cm or  3/4″ across.

The workmanship is impeccable.  I am sure I have a book or two back in Aus that would give the exact directions, but basically how I think they were made is:  with something like a #8 or #12 perle cotton, wind the thread around something handy like a finger, several times, and commence buttonholing that circle – every 1/8 distance around the edge, or perhaps that is every say, 10th buttonhole, cross to the other side and do 10 buttonhole sts there, then cross back, and repeat until 7 spokes are in place, on the 7th crossing wind the thread around over and through a few times then go over to the edge again to make the 8th spoke.  A final buttonhole, or 10 ?  finish it off, bury the ends somewhere, and voila.  They were easy to snip apart, and so were clearly separately made then sewn together.  Beautifully done – hard to find any ends at all.   Mind you I haven’t actually tried it yet!  – but will as I’m sure it would work.  They are so uniform that clearly some kind of rhythm developed. 

Anyway, they made perfect little round thingies for my beachscape!  and when I run out, I may need to make some more myself.  I’ll keep you posted.

The new work, tentatively titled " Beachwork" is now hanging in place.

Although  ‘Beachwork’ is now hanging in place (see previous post, below) this is a work that may always be considered unfinished, in that I could do more with the surface if I feel inspired to add to it sometime.  that feels Ok with me, since the beach itself is ever changing with every cycle of tidal action.  But for now, it just felt time to stop – to keep it all relatively simple, although heavens knows I have plenty more of the raw hide thonging, the other threads and the little circle-wheel thingies.

The next step in detail added was to free machine embroider these areas of stitch suggesting coarser sand or other small bits and pieces which become trapped in some places between the ridges of sand.

Detail of the hand made needlelace motifs from an antique lace collar.

The little round motifs I scattered onto the surface of this work are hand made units snipped apart from an old lace collar I found on a market stall.  On some of them I have cut away part of the circular rim.  I bought the collar last year as an interesting example of hand made lace – but it is ruefully stained in places and washing with stuff that normally removs stains didn’t… so as I am not a lace wearing person myself, I felt mentally free to cut some of these motifs off to use in this work.  I had to think about it for a while (all of 10 minutes) and you may not agree with the decisision I made to cut part of this object away, perhaps you see this cutting into something old, and ‘precious’ as sacrilege?    To me this is a recycling, and maybe I always saw it as a potentially useful supply of something to use in my work – perhaps that is why I was drawn to it’s pattern and texture on the stall there.  Anyway, no turning back now!  and the collar is still 3/4 intact … not that I’ll ever change my mind on this issue.

Rawhide thonging was either hand stitched , threaded beneath the couched thread, or through one of the circular motifs.

The whole work laid out flat on the grass, so that it can be seen in its entirety - not possible from where it hangs on the wall in its gently folded manner.

Tentatively the work is titled’ Beachwork’ but this could change sometime, too, and if so, I’ll come in and add to this post.