Almost every definition of modern quilting that I've read uses the term Negative Space as a strong characteristic of modern quilting......I keep failing on a regular basis. I just can't help myself.
A lovely fellow quilter/blogger once said to me "I'll keep talking until somebody shuts me up." She'll probably recognize herself, but hey I'm not naming any names or passing judgement.....I'm not exactly known for being a woman of few words myself. I'm the same way in the quilting world. I love negative space but I just keep adding more colours and fabrics....perhaps somebody should stop me.
I love silence but maybe I love words more.....I love negative space but maybe I love filling it more.
I spent my week working on my Not So Negative Quilt......hmm, does that make it a positive? Is it still modern with it's lack of negative space? Lets not put modern quilting in a box....whoops maybe we already have.
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Now, back to joining those rows together.....
Continue to enjoy your insight! I am drawn to Jacquie Gering's label - contemporary quilter. Quilting allows wonderful, expansive self expression - whatever your style, if you are passionate and enjoy the process, that is what modern, contemporary, your quilting is all about!
ReplyDeleteThanks...and I totally agree with you.
DeleteWhile I agree that many modern quilts use negative space effectively, I don't think lack of negative space means a quilt is not modern. You just keep on doing what you do!
ReplyDeleteI just think of modern as not traditional...traditional being using named blocks with precision. I like both...but prefer modern for its flexibility.
ReplyDeleteI love to look at negative space quilts, but I never seem to get round to making one... Its much more fun to keep filling the space isnt it!
ReplyDeleteLol I know what you mean. My quilts tend to be an expression of me, and I try to never be negative. Perhaps that is why I have yet to make a modern quilt.
ReplyDeletethis is 100% positive! more and more these labels piss me off. they are limitations in a world where we need to allow for more possibilities of what we embrace as the quilts of the 21st century. keep on keeping on, my sister!
ReplyDeleteThis is beautiful... More is more!
ReplyDeleteI can so completely understand. I made 2 quilts last year from ideas I had toyed with for quite awhile and thought they would fit into some of the QuiltCon categories. What I learned was that while I appreciate the compositions and use of negative space, I missed my large scale Kaffe prints, riots of color, pattern and overall busyness. I think it's a shame when labels begin to confine what we make. I'm not sure if I'm "modern" or "contemporary" but I don't really care as long as I'm making what inspires me. You have wonderful style that I've always admired. It's your style no matter what label is attached. Do what inspires you!
ReplyDeleteLove your quilts, just keep stitching what you love. I think your quits are Modern and Contemporary.
ReplyDeleteAfter viewing various blogs that were showing quilts that were accepted for QuiltCon, as well as blogs that were showing quilts that were not accepted for the show, I came to the conclusion that the word 'modern' (to the judges) means 'negative space'. Digging around more, I also decided that the quilt that I had entered would possibly be more 'contemporary' than 'modern'. But, to ME it is modern because it does not use traditional block piecing. Like you, I have a hard time leaving all of that negative space! And I really like your Not So Negative Quilt!! (as I love all of your work......!!)
ReplyDeleteThanks Deb...that word modern is hard to pin down isn't it.
DeleteI am glad you keep talking, just like me. I wonder where the term negative space came from as opposed to quite or neutral space? I love your quilts and they look like modern art to me. Surely modern quilting has room to include them too.
ReplyDeleteI love your sense if humor and the title of your quilt. Make the quilts you want to make and make them the way you want to make them! :) I'm trying to do that and sometimes it isn't easy to stick to it. But I'm almost always pleased when I do.
ReplyDeleteYou do beautiful work. Keep it up!
Xoxo
Why do you have to even categorize your quilts as a specific genre? When I see a style like yours I think - that's a Mariquilt style....
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