art quilts and toenails...

No 3 and I took a trip to a local museum to check out an exhibition of the Quilt Art group

As much as I can appreciate the talent/inspiration/craftmanships that goes in art quilts I feel somehow ambivalent about them.  I think quilt by definition should be 'used' and not simply hang on a wall... but that's just me.  And I'm happy to be convinced otherwise... I mean... they're definitively 'art'... and they're definitively 'quilted'... but are they really 'quilts'?

Anyway, we saw some really special and wonderful stuff:

This by Sandra Meech.  Arent' those trees simply amazing?  I think they're printed on but then the quilting somehow makes them 'pop' out to you.

I love 'text' on fabric, this was part of the next panel

This one was the one in the advertising poster (which I tried to get... but they'd ran out... sigh)

And this was my favourite (by Elizabeth Brimelow).  So many things going on

so many layers,

so many shapes

so many stitches

Apologies if the photos are not brilliant... it was really hard trying to take a picture and at the same time keeping an eye on a toddler who wanted to touch everything and kept asking "mummy made this?" "mummy made that" "that's wicked" "that's yucky"

Speaking of certain toddler... last night, under the cover of darkness, when his 'nana' thought him asleep he crept into my bathroom and gave himself a pedicure.

Yes, a pedicure.

And my bathroom carpet looks like the set of the chainsaw massacre.

Comments

[amandajean]

I'd agree. I'm of the opinion that quilts should be used and not hung, too. (although I do have one hanging in my house...)

[Ali]

Incredible quilts - I love that pebble-y one. And remind me never to ask your young son for a pedicure! Hey, at least he didn't do it on his new quilt.

[janet clare]

I'm impressed he even knew what a pedicure was- practically unheard of in our house and long overdue!
I agree with you about the art quilt thing.

[Judy M]

I'm with you: Quilts are meant to be used, cuddled, and snuggled in. They're means of comfort, not just for display. That somehow makes them cold and takes away their appeal (in my opinion). And that pedicure -- lovely! My littlest gave herself a pedicure with blue, sparkly polish. I'm working on getting it off of the hardwood floors without damaging the wood.

[nicolette]

Maybe we shouldn’t call them quilts, but textile art. I can see what you mean. Thanks for sharing the pictures, I love the Elizabeth Brimeslow piece.
The toenails are gorgeous!

[Jade]

LOL! How funny! Which reminds me to place the nail polish up real high.....And agree with you on the quilts, too. They should be on beds, not on the wall. I just keep thinking of the amount of dust it'll attract. Yuck!

[Lieve Huys]

I love your pictures. I am so glad that the show also comes to Ghent, Belgium. I can't wait to see the work of Elisabeth Brimelow.
But I agree that it is art ans something completly different of what I think of as quilts.

[tracey petersen]

I don't have a problem with the term art quilt. I guess it is the difference between art and craft that is always a bit sticky, but I don't think that is exclusive to the world of textiles.

I'm pretty sure that carpet marked with nail polish can be considered as textile art.

[Angie]

Those quilts are amazing, thanks for sharing!

[Mirre]

Oh dear, those toenails!
Did you have to throw away your carpet?

[dottycookie]

The quilts are amazing - but as for the toes - yikes! My litle one got yellow nail varnish on one of the quilts I made for their beds. I am not sure I stayed completely calm ...

[Tiel]

oh no! how terrible...how bad...how funny. I used to draw in bed as a child and the sheets would be covered in scribbles. Great colour choice though!

I'm with you on the art quilt and also with your favourite choice...love those colours and shapes.

I like small mini quilts on a wall..but the ones that are less abstract and larger in size just don't do it for me.

[Jacquie]

So...where is the picture of the bathroom floor? Such cute decorated toes! Interesting quilts. Art is like that...is it isn't it. Maybe quilts are like that too...is it, isn't it?

[Dragonfly]

I like the dotty quilts, but I love the toenails more! Will your carpet recover?

[polka]

a quilt is three layers sewn together. the act of quilting is the same no matter what the final product is and i find that i have a deep connection with that traditional act whether or not the quilt is functional or not. I do, however, use household linens, dishtowels, etc in my quilts which give it the used, domestic connection. What I don't like in the is the art quilt that is just like every other art quilt bright colors in abstract shapes, huge appliqued flowers, portraits of someone and their dog...There can be different kinds of quilts, the history of quilts is very interesting as quilting has taken different forms and serves different purposes. Isn't it interesting how the function of the quilt has changed as our technology and society has changed? We do not need to make a quilt to keep warm when we have the department store's line of "quilts"...we have all sorts of fabrics designed for the purpose of quilting now instead of using worn out clothing...I go to the fabric store and I am ovewhelmed with all those fabrics probably made in other countries whose people may not have the same luxury of this hobby. I have stopped buying new fabrics and now use thrift store fabrics and household fabrics because it is a waste to produce new materials when the landfills fill up with usable materials (it takes something like 1,000 years for a plastic bag to distegrate in a landfill). I find the gleaning of materials and the creation process much more fullfilling, resulting in a unique object with a history though it may be hung on the wall and not used in the traditional sense of the quilt.