Scribbling
Melody Johnson and I had an interesting email conversation the other day about the quilting part of our artwork. I love to quilt my quilts. I love the process, the look, the texture, etc. I don’t necessarily love how much time it takes but I’m not planning on giving it up anytime soon as I feel it is an integral part of my artwork.
You can read Melody’s opinion about quilting her quilts at this point in her career on her blog along with some of my comments about it. Her reader’s comments to that post were quite interesting also.
Basically my thoughts are that many a quilter ruins a nice piece of artwork by scribbling all over the top of their quilt because they haven’t any ideas on how to quilt the thing, yet they feel obligated to quilt it. So they make all these fancy “free motion quilting” patterns all over a really sophisticated design. I think it looks out of place to do this unless the quilting patterns some how tell the same story that the composition is telling.
As I told Melody - if you don’t want to quilt the thing - then don’t! But scribbling all over the top with some fancy stitches showing off skill in free motion quilting isn’t going to make it a better piece of art. Fully integrated and thoughtful quilting that enhances and supports the quilt is what is needed.
More about quilting next week as I’m in the process of trying to quilt and finish up 20+ quilt tops that are ready to be completed pieces of artwork.
Posted by Lisa in: Quilting Process
Omega said,
May 31, 2006 @ 12:41 am
I wonder if a lot of it is to do with ‘being in a box’: if one uses fabric to make a quilt-like structure, one is a quilter and therefore the work must be quilted after everything else is done - no matter whether quilting is appropriate or not -? Perhaps if there were more art exhibitions which showed selections of mixed media work, or even textile mixed media - regional and national fiber shows that would lead up to such as the Fiber Art International in Pittsburgh next year, then not everyone would feel they had to produce quilted pieces in order to have them shown regularly.
Audrey Fouquette said,
May 31, 2006 @ 5:07 am
This is the first time I have ever read your blog. Just curious….do you quilt on a long-arm, home quilting system or sewing machine. I have only been quilting a year & just bought a home quilting system. I totally agree with your view on “scribbling” and I am obsessed with matching my quilting to the theme of the quilt….or quilting to “support” my theme of the quilt. Example: I recently made a racing themed quilt for my 4 year old and quilted it with flames in red/orange/yellow threads.
Love the oxy-moron comment by your son….bravo. I have 4 teenagers, there is nothing more entertaining than a clever teenager.
Deborah said,
May 31, 2006 @ 5:58 am
I often thinking of quilting as a composition all it’s own, layered on top of the composition created with the fabric. I think it’s interesting whether they relate or not. Sometimes that juxtaposition can really draw the viewer in.
Lisa Call said,
May 31, 2006 @ 7:54 am
Omega - I agree - there are so many good opportunities to show quilts in some really nice locations so the “need” to layer and add the quilting stitches is probably an issue for some. But I also think that juried shows are generally not going to get an artist very far so this is a fairly short sighted and limiting point of view.
Audrey - I quilt with a 14 year old pfaff 1475 (a home sewing machine). I’m going to talk about how I quilt in an upcoming blog entry as I’m in the prcoess of quilting 20+ quilt tops and it’s in the forefront of my mind right now.
Deborah - yes - sometimes a totally random composition on top of the quilt can draw the viewer in - and sometimes it makes them think “what the heck are they doing and how do all those fancy wavy lines and swirls and shapes and stars or whatever have anything at all to do with this quilt - it’s distracting and unrelated and I see no point to it”.
There are no absolutes but I’m thinking the more effort the artist puts into to enhancing the artwork with quilting lines (vs. just quilting it to get it over with) the better the artwork is in the long run.
Shan said,
June 1, 2006 @ 6:16 am
This happens with texture in paint too. I sometimes see artists putting texture in just because they like the look of it and not really thinking about how it affects the overall composition. I love texture, but think it should be used with a certain amount of intention.
Though there are times when one does need to throw caution to the wind and scribble like crazy–maybe as a studio warm-up.
Glad your back.
Shan said,
June 1, 2006 @ 6:20 am
Glad you’re (not your!) back. I hate it when I do that.
Lisa Call said,
June 1, 2006 @ 8:31 am
Shan - interesting that you feel the painting world has a similar issue. Sometimes I think quilters have a tendency to live a world much too small - thanks for expanding mine today!
And I agree - there are times that just playing and experimenting is very important to free up and push boundaries.