"Quilter's Home" Magazine Article

*Don't read this if you are easily offended.  Just warning you now*

I just got my issue of "Quilter's Home" with so called controversial article.  My eyebrows raised a little at the quilts but I think Mark kept things within reason and tasteful.  There was nothing blatantly disgusting or revolting.  I even got a giggle or two out of it.  Jesus holding a gun made me laugh so hard after I got over the shock of "What??".  

The quilts are expressions of feelings that people can't always put into words.  One man does his quilts as he's a news cameraman and it's his way of dealing with what he sees everyday at work. Some are political statements and some are satirical.   

Mark did a good job of telling the story that goes with the quilts.  If I were to see it hanging in a quilt show, I'd be "Huh??" but understanding why the artist did the quilt made things more understandable.  I may not agree with the statement or think it's poor taste, but at least I understood what the quilter is trying to say.

Then there's the debate of whether or not they are quilts and if they even belong in quilt shows. Quilting is an art form.  It's each person's interpretation of what they like or want to say.  Each quilt tells a story behind every seam and and pattern.   Whether or not we agree or understand depends on how we see our own lives.  Do they belong in quilt shows?  For the most part quilt shows are conservative.  Most quilters would not enjoy seeing quilts like these.  If they are in a quilt show, I think they need their own special "gallery" so that those who want to see them can.  Those that don't want to can just walk on by.  I would not want to see these quilts.  They don't express my tastes or beliefs.  But they do represent someone else's.

For example.  My 3-D quilt has a story.  First I wanted to do a graphic style of quilt.  It's something I had never done before.  I liked the 3-d aspect of it and that the blocks appear to be floating.  The new technique of hooked feathers was new and I wanted to soften the hardness of the quilt.  The same with the butterflies.  

On an emotion level, floating is how I feel.  I'm holding on to the stability of the blocks, but I also know that I'm still floating through space and time.  It's a matter of perspective.  It's how you see things.  As a bipolar person and having epilepsy, stability is what keeps me sane in a world that to me is chaos because of what I deal with on a daily basis.  One block of stability is my family.  Another is the medications I take.  My friends, my hobbies and others are each represented in the blocks.  

The  feather quilting is an expression of peace and comfort.  Of elegance and sereneness. Knowing that despite my weaknesses, I'm still a beautiful person.  It's a reminder that I'm not a wreck or crazy.  The butterflies represent happiness and fun.  I love watching butterflies.  It's a reminder that I am happy.  I'm giving.  Designing a quilt that was chaotic, frightening or scary would not be useful to me in my life.  My life is not based on fear.

However; what appears to be a simple quilt with floating blocks has deep meaning to me.  The same with my other quilts.  I don't always say what they mean or need too.  We all make a particular style of quilt because it expresses us at the time we make it.