Back in the Studio
It's nice to be home.
Arrived from the Houston International Quilt Festival on Monday evening, exhausted but exhilarated and ready (after some sleep!) to get back to work.
It's always an interesting experience for me to teach at a quilt show. It often takes people by surprise that I do teach at quilt shows, because, as my friends and colleagues know, I. Do. Not. Quilt. Okay, true confessions - I have pieced a top or two, and my final project for my 2D design class in college was actually structured around traditional quilting motifs. I have even been known to include Seminole piecing in competition garments. But on the whole - working with small pieces of fabric drives me crazy. I love the end result but I take no pleasure in the process. And if you don't enjoy the process, why do it at all?
That being said, I think that quilters and apparel designers have a great deal to learn from each other. Quilters have an amazing scope and landscape for color play that would be difficult or undesirable in a garment design. The minute attention to detail shown in aligning pieces and precise cutting/stitching is something we should all aspire to accomplish. On the other hand, apparel designers employ a range of seaming techniques that add a great deal of architectural detail but are rarely, if ever implemented in a flat design. The ability to sculpt fabric and manipulate its inherent qualities (texture, for example) to create a garment that is not only beautiful to behold in its own right but also flattering to the body that is beneath it is a quality sadly lacking from many (thankfully not all) "wearable art" pieces.
So - sewing enthusiasts unite. Whether you prefer to create 2 or 3 dimensional sculpture, we all have much to share with each other to elevate our respective arts. Thank you to all those wonderful quilters out there who help me to understand color relationships better and to consider new ways to incorporate embellishment and surface design. You broaden my horizons, and I earnestly hope that in the course of teaching I help you to do the same.
That's why I enjoy quilt festivals.
Arrived from the Houston International Quilt Festival on Monday evening, exhausted but exhilarated and ready (after some sleep!) to get back to work.
It's always an interesting experience for me to teach at a quilt show. It often takes people by surprise that I do teach at quilt shows, because, as my friends and colleagues know, I. Do. Not. Quilt. Okay, true confessions - I have pieced a top or two, and my final project for my 2D design class in college was actually structured around traditional quilting motifs. I have even been known to include Seminole piecing in competition garments. But on the whole - working with small pieces of fabric drives me crazy. I love the end result but I take no pleasure in the process. And if you don't enjoy the process, why do it at all?
That being said, I think that quilters and apparel designers have a great deal to learn from each other. Quilters have an amazing scope and landscape for color play that would be difficult or undesirable in a garment design. The minute attention to detail shown in aligning pieces and precise cutting/stitching is something we should all aspire to accomplish. On the other hand, apparel designers employ a range of seaming techniques that add a great deal of architectural detail but are rarely, if ever implemented in a flat design. The ability to sculpt fabric and manipulate its inherent qualities (texture, for example) to create a garment that is not only beautiful to behold in its own right but also flattering to the body that is beneath it is a quality sadly lacking from many (thankfully not all) "wearable art" pieces.
So - sewing enthusiasts unite. Whether you prefer to create 2 or 3 dimensional sculpture, we all have much to share with each other to elevate our respective arts. Thank you to all those wonderful quilters out there who help me to understand color relationships better and to consider new ways to incorporate embellishment and surface design. You broaden my horizons, and I earnestly hope that in the course of teaching I help you to do the same.
That's why I enjoy quilt festivals.
posted by Katrina at
5:31 PM
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