Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a good weekend. I had a wonderful weekend--I went to New York! My friend Melissa and I attended Quilters Take Manhattan (I won tickets last month) and drove up I-95 to hear Denyse Schmidt speak about her inspiration and background.
The event was held at FIT, which I've never visited, but now I need to go back and see the museum--the posters in the building's windows showed some gorgeous clothes! After we checked in and put our things down--and checked out the goodie bag, which was full of Chicopee and charm packs--we took a look at the display in the hall. Denyse's quilts from
Modern Quilts, Traditional Inspiration were hanging along the sidelines, and we were free to photograph and touch them. What could be better?
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| My Compass |
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| Crazy Star |
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| Shoeman's Puzzle |
One thing Melissa and I both noted is that the stitches aren't perfect. While many quilters would be appalled at this--myself included, at least in my work, but especially if it were on display--it made me feel so much better about my work. I don't want you to get the wrong idea: I'm not anywhere near Denyse Schmidt's level of quilting/patchworking (if she worked in the penthouse, I'd be the dumdum toiling away in the boiler room), but knowing that her stitches and her stitchers are able to just be themselves is incredible freeing.
Two things I learned from this is a) these quilts are quilted by someone else and b) these quilts are hand-quilted. I believe the figure-eights above are machine-stitched, but the Mariner's Compass, the Tobacco Leaf (below)--most, if not all, others are done by hand. Good god!
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| In front of Shoeman's Puzzle |
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| Tobacco Leaf--hand-quilted! |
For the
Quilter's S.O.S. interview, Denyse was asked to bring in a touchstone piece that exemplified her work. She created this quilt for an exhibit in New Mexico about ten years ago, and yep, I'd agree that this is clearly Densye! I'm not an improviser because I like a little more structure, or at least guidance. However, I was mesmerized by this. I kept staring, mentally ripping the seams to figure out how the pieces came together, how they were determined.
Denyse also talked a bit about her background. She started as a graphic designer, but found herself looking for a creative outlet (that wouldn't just be thrown away) and a community, because she was far away from family and friends. Wow, do I know that feeling! Those are both reasons I started sewing in early 2011. She didn't begin quilting until her 20s--again, it was so good to know she wasn't a child prodigy, releasing Flea Market Fancy when she was fresh from grade school. The whole interview was incredibly inspiring.
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| Improvised piece from 2003 |
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| Denyse Schmidt's interview |
After Denyse's interview concluded--and I suggest you all listen to it once it's posted!--Jennifer Chiaverini spoke about her Elm Creek Quilts books. These are fictional books about a group of quilters. I've never read them, but when I spoke to my mom and aunt about them, they were familiar.
The Quilt Alliance gave away some wonderful prizes--none of which I won. Who do I speak to about that? (Just kidding. Kind of.) Melissa and I saw the new Brother quilting and embroidery machines in action. We also saw Liesl Gibson of Oliver + S sitting behind us! As much as I wanted to say hi, I was too nervous. Besides, I had introduced myself to Denyse Schmidt merely hours earlier. How much excitement could my heart handle for one day?!
After quick trips to the City Quilter and M&J Trimming, we headed back to D.C., completely inspired and wondering why we don't have these resources closer? We have so many ideas for our Modern Quilt Guild, but it's too early in the game to see where it will go. If you live in D.C., Maryland or Virginia and want to hang out with some cool quilters, please let us know! We're dying for some more interaction.
Anyway, see you next time, New York!
This morning I got up early and started working on this week's projects. Yes, that was an "s" you saw--I have three quilts of various sizes in the pipeline. It's going to be a busy week but I feel good, like I said before!
How was your weekend? What has inspired you lately?
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