Thursday, January 2, 2014

New Modern Ideas

Just a few days ago I promised myself that I'd give myself and modern quilts a new opportunity.  My plan is create a quilt in a modern aesthetic and explain to readers why or how it fits as a modern quilt.  I started today.  It's a smallish quilt meant to be an art quilt or wall hanging.  


To be fair, I think I should begin by defining Modern.  According to the Modern Quilt Guild, "Modern quilts are primarily functional and inspired by modern design. Modern quilters work in different styles and define modern quilting in different ways, but several characteristics often appear which may help identify a modern quilt. These include, but are not limited to: the use of bold colors and prints, high contrast and graphic areas of solid color, improvisational piecing, minimalism, expansive negative space, and alternate grid work. "Modern traditionalism" or the updating of classic quilt designs is also often seen in modern quilting."  


I agree with the Modern Quilt Guild for the most part (who am I to argue with the pros, after all?) but there are a few problems with their definition.  For example, how many of the characteristics are necessary for a quilt to move from someting not modern to modern?  When or how does a quilter know that he or she is working in the modern style?  I tend to appreciate visual answers, so I turned to  photographs to answer my questions.  The Modern Quilt Guild has a Flickr page filled with photos. 


In the meantime, I'll continue working on my leaf quilt and hope that I end up with a modern art quilt that will reflect a few characteristics of the modern quilt aesthetic.  Feel free to comment and offer suggestions.  I'd love to know what you think.


Happy (Modern) Quilting,
Mary

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