A whole new animal?

"Marvelette" 2012, with linear long-arm quilting by Tomme Fent

The American Quilt Study Group has recently been having a discussion among members of the "Yahoo!" group, and the topic is the Modern Quilting movement. What is Modern Quilting? And is this quilt, "Marvelette", a modern quilt?

I'm very interested in the topic. There is a Modern Quilt Guild in Portland, and they meet monthly at the Pacific Northwest College of Art in the Pearl District. I gave a lecture to the group last year, and also attended a 1/2-day textile conservation workshop they hosted this year. It is a diverse group of mostly women, but I do know one man who has recently joined, and I think I'll join, too. Of course, I'm also a member of the Northwest Quilters. I like both groups, but each has its own dynamic.

To answer the question, "What is Modern Quilting?" I have to rely on the information from the Modern Quilt Guild website. Here's what they have to say.


What is modern quilting?
Modern quilting is a new and rapidly growing movement in the quilting world. A group of quilters applied their current tastes and points of view to this traditional craft and shared their work online.  Their fresh approach and new designs attracted sewers and quilters and the modern quilting movement was born.
Modern quilting, like all art, changes, grows and adapts from quilter to quilter as they find their own voice. Modern quilts reflect each quilter’s personality and personal style, and as the movement has grown, a modern quilt aesthetic, a set of principles that define and guide the movement, is beginning to emerge.
Modern quilts and quilters:

• Make primarily functional rather than decorative quilts
• Use asymmetry in quilt design
• Rely less on repetition and on the interaction of quilt block motifs
• Contain reinterpreted traditional blocks
• Embrace simplicity and minimalism
• Utilize alternative block structures or lack of visible block structure
• Incorporate increased use of negative space
• Are inspired by modern art and architecture
• Frequently use improvisational piecing
• Contain bold colors, on trend color combinations and graphic prints
• Often use gray and white as neutrals
• Reflect an increased use of solid fabrics
• Focus on finishing quilts on home sewing machines

Modern quilting has its roots in rebellion, in our desire to do something different, but simultaneously its feet are firmly planted in the field of tradition.  Modern quilting is our response to what has come before.  We are quilters first, modern quilters second. There are however, characteristics that set modern quilters apart from our traditional and art quilting friends.

Modern quilters are a diverse group of woman and men, young and old, experienced and novice, yet each of us feels the need to differentiate ourselves as modern quilters by how we work, the fabrics we choose, and the aesthetic of our quilts. We create in a way that supports our individual creative needs and our lifestyle preferences.  Modern quilters resist the imposition of hard and fast rules for making a quilt.  We pick and choose traditional techniques and methods that work for us and at the same time feel free to redefine or reinvent what is possible and allowable in making quilts.

Modern quilters have embraced the new options available in textiles: bold colors, graphic prints, larger scale prints, and Japanese fabrics.  Much like the Amish quilting tradition, many modern quilters are also exploring quilt designs made exclusively with solid fabrics or with just a hint of print.

The Internet has played an integral role in the development of modern quilting.  Through blogs, online tutorials and social media the modern quilting community interacts, providing inspiration and friendship for each other.  This has helped the community grow at an astounding pace, providing feedback and support at a moment’s notice.

In many ways, modern quilting has taken us back to the basics of the early quilters, when women of the day used the colors and styles of their time to express themselves creatively while finding friendship and community along the way.  Welcome to modern quilting!

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Very interesting! So is "Marvellette" a modern quilt? It wasn't really done with that intent, but it's almost a cross between an art quilt and a modern quilt. The dense, linear quilting gives it a certain stiffness, which I like in an art quilt...but not so much in a functional quilt. It does use white and gray as neutrals, but it doesn't include solid fabrics. Some of the prints are bold, but others are small-scale. There are also batiks.

The quilt wasn't finished on a home sewing machine, it was long-armed by Tomme Fent, who also happens to belong to both the Northwest Quilters and the Portland Modern Quilt Guild. It does use improvisational piecing, relies less on the repetition and interaction of blocks, and it is inspired by modern art and architecture.

Sylvia Gray did a great job with the pieced binding

Some people look at it and think crazy quilt. Others see elements of Gee's Bend. It isn't really either. So, it appears "Marvelette" is on the fence. Were all the rules broken, not knowing there were any rules? Maybe it is, maybe it isn't...or maybe it's a whole new animal. What do you think?