The Art of Quilting

I was watching a Bonnie McCaffery vidcast yesterday of the Houston Quilt Festival from the fall of 2007. What gorgeous quilts! But I noticed that all the ones she showed, which I realize were not all of them, were what I would call very "arty" quilts. They fell into one of two categories, firstly, a quilt done by someone who is obviously an artist, with the ability to paint and draw not only recognizable objects but absolutely stunning objects, faces, flowers, landscapes. They are quilts that are like paintings with fabric as the medium. I do not have the artistic ability to do one of those quilts. The second category is abstract quilts, quilts with swirls and twists and cubism, quilts that have no recognizable blocks, often no square edges, and often very unusual color combinations. I could probably do a quilt like that, but I really don't want to.

So I wondered, as I looked at these quilts, done with great artistry and certainly worthy of a ribbon or money or both, where I fit in in the quilting world. I would call my style more traditional certainly. I do like order and symmetry, but I'm not opposed to a little chaos. I like some of the modern fabrics, some of the reproduction fabrics, some of the batiks, some of the brights and florals and novelty prints. I enjoy piecing more than applique, I think, but then I love looking at quilts with really beautiful applique and fanatasizing about making one of my own. I really don't think there is a category that I fit neatly into.

Not that I am planning on entering a quilt into the Houston Quilt Festival any time soon, but I wondered as I looked at these quilts, what I would enter if I could. If money, time, and talent were no object, what would I create? I would do something stunning with applique and piecing, something with beads or some other embellishment. It would actually look like something recognizable and have some order to it. It would probably not be done with batiks or reproduction fabrics, either one. It would not be abstract or have faces on it or require me to dye my own fabrics. It would tell a story, some story that was special to me or my family. It would represent something close to my heart.

Well, don't hold your breath. It's easy to think about such a quilt, very difficult to create it. I for sure don't have the time and money right now, and, to be honest, I wonder if I have the talent or the ability. In my head it's absolutely beautiful, though, and it certainly deserves best of show at Houson Quilt Festival!