About The Modern Quilt Guild
The Modern
Quilt Guild is made up of over 100 guilds across the country and world.
Our mission is to support and encourage the growth and development of modern
quilting through art, education, and community.
The MQG
developed out of the thriving online community of modern quilters and their
desire to start meeting in person. The founding guild was formed in Los Angeles
in October of 2009. Through blogs and the Internet, word spread quickly of the
fun they were having and soon guilds started popping up everywhere.
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!
No comments:
Post a Comment