Let’s Talk About Fabric, a Bear Paw Quilt Co. Blog

I recently went to “Quilt Odyssey,” a major annual quilt show held in Hershey, Pennsylvania, famous for chocolate bars, and near the epicenter of American quilting. As I walked around and saw one exciting quilt after another, with intriguing designs and dazzling colors, I got more and more excited, and I realized that there was a quotation buzzing around in my mind so fast that I couldn’t get it. Finally, I took a deep breath, and succeeded in recalling it. I should have known. It’s one of my favorite quotations about creativity, from Emily Dickinson. She once said, “When I read great poetry, it feels like the top of my head is coming off.”

So I walked around some more, and got still more excited by what I saw. I was thinking, “I haven’t had a visual experience that excited me this much in a long time.” I wondered why this was, and again had a nagging sensation that a thought in the back of my mind was trying to break through into my consciousness. When I turned a corner and saw a quilt called “Matisse Revisited,” something went WHAM in my consciousness, and I realized what it was. This quilt, a group effort inspired by Matisse’s “Red Interior,” from 1947, was so mesmerizing that it made me realize that “Quilt Odyssey” showed more creativity, more imagination, more ingenuity, than all the recent art exhibits I’ve seen in the last decade combined. There’s something important to be understood here, something to be said about both modern painting and modern quilting.

Critics generally agree that Pablo Picasso was the dominant painter of the twentieth century, and that his “Demoiselles d’Avignon” and subsequent cubist works called into question the painting styles established in the Renaissance. Picasso’s competition with his long-time friend and rival, Henri Matisse, resulted in great paintings by both Picasso and Matisse. While they remained committed to figurative painting, an understanding of twentieth-century painting is incomplete without the greatest abstract artist, Vasily Kandinsky, any one of whose canvases from the thirties makes the work of the Abstract Expressionists look pallid.

My point is that it may be time to say that Picasso, Matisse, and Kandinsky were not just hard acts to follow, as the show business cliché has it, but that they were impossible acts to follow. Their visual inventiveness that poured forth decade after decade took art, representational art, and abstract art as well, as far it could go. It may be time to say that this mighty trio of artists left subsequent painters at a historical dead end that was not of their own making, and that doomed them to fail when they tried to compete with them.

Take Roy Lichtenstein, for example. Sometimes he would include a reproduction of a Picasso in one of his own works, and the result is that you’re more interested in the Picasso than in what Lichtenstein painted around it. That’s surely not the result that Lichtenstein was going for.

What do these art-historical musings have to do with quilts? Everything. Quilters work very much as the artists of the Renaissance did. The Italian Old Masters were both artists and craftspeople who ground their own paints and made their own frames. In the same way, quilters have to have an acute design sense and also have to enjoy working with their hands. They’d better enjoy working with their hands, because making a quilt usually requires hundreds of hours of handwork. They put in these hundreds of hours because they know they are making a unique object—just as Renaissance artists did. No quilter ever worries about the death of the original, as so many postmodern artists do.

Notice that the relationship between conception and execution is reversed between quilters and postmodern artists. For radical conceptual artists, there is no execution at all—it’s the thought that counts, and the thought is best described in a manifesto of some kind. The conception of the design may take a few hours or a few days, but the execution can take months.

The closest contemporary analogy to quilters would be cabinetmakers, who make custom furniture that can be admired as art and also used to store dishes. Similarly, quilts can be used to keep you warm at night, and also to beautify a bedroom.

Or not. “Quilt Odyssey” also featured some wall quilts, of which “Matisse Revisited,” the quilt that stopped me in my tracks, is one. As the name indicates, wall quilts are meant for display on walls—they’re often too elaborate to be used on beds—and thus they have close European precedents in tapestries. Of course, they’re smaller than tapestries because we display them in middle-class houses, not castles, but their function in an interior is essentially the same.

Whether you think of wall quilts as tapestries or as fiber art, they are still art. So it’s not surprising that there is an Art Quilt Network, some of whose members have a fine arts background. I suspect that some of them may have migrated from painting to quilting because they sensed the greater potential for creative expression in quilting.

There are two other historical factors that come together to explain the sustained creative energy of quilting. First, quilting has a long and honorable history among American women. Even in the unlikely arts center of Gee’s Bend, Alabama, not far from infamous Selma, African-American women have long been making quilts whose designs have startling similarities to those of modern painting. Second, the appearance of great women artists is one of the great stories of twentieth-century art. Beginning with Mary Cassatt, many American women from a variety of background have had brilliant careers in the arts.

Article Author: jcurtis

In The Big Scheme of Things, my life has been devoted to bringing together high culture and popular culture. I have a Ph.D. in Russian from Columbia University, and was professor of Russian at the University of Missouri for a long time. …

Delores Flynn / The Detroit News

DETROIT — DeVonte King prays for a day when youths will relax their fists and put down guns when trying to resolve their conflicts.

“In order for us to become better people, we have to start using our words in a positive manner and not just our fist,” said the 16-year-old junior at Detroit School of Arts. “Youth have to understand that we have power with our words, and we have to start thinking on a higher level.”

Teen violence across Metro Detroit has prompted the youth services organization King is a part of to step up its efforts to help youths understand their behavior has consequences.

The Reach Project unveiled this week “The Senseless Project” — a 6-by-4-foot quilt that includes artwork from 15 students expressing their feelings about violence in the community and making pleas to find alternative solutions to conflict.

The quilt, compiled by mixed media artist Ziwadi Majiisa, depicts scenes of guns and cemeteries, trees with teddy bears around the trunk as a memorial, and pictures of hope depicted by houses with flowers outside and children playing in safe neighborhoods. King’s graffiti art of a stop sign is on the quilt along with the word “love.”

The project has been a year in the making, said Deborah Franklin, executive director of the Reach Project in Detroit.

The organization was established in 1992 and provides drug, gang and violence prevention programming and academic enrichment.

“We have lost several young people to this madness, and it must stop,” she said. “We wanted to do something to reach kids on their level and show them how violence is devastating our community.

“We want to teach them to find a different way to solve conflicts; otherwise, their dreams and futures are going in the cemeteries. And it’s senseless.”

The quilt makers hope to prevent tragedies like that of 16-year-old Christopher Walker, a junior at Henry Ford High School. He was killed Oct. 16 in a shooting near the school. Three teenagers have been charged.

On Sunday, Dewayne Smith, 15, a sophomore at Henry Ford, was shot and killed on his front porch while talking on a cell phone.

The quilt can be seen at Eric’s I’ve Been Framed gallery in Detroit. Officials also plan to ask Detroit Public Schools to allow the quilt to tour schools and to hold discussions on conflict resolution.

Detroit resident Eric Vaughn said it’s a project that needed to be done.

“The quilt is amazing,” Vaughn said. “I wish we really didn’t need something like this in the community, but it’s definitely going to raise awareness about violence. I just hope people really take the message to heart.”

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My Elna sewing machine

I love my sewing machines. (Yes, machines, plural.) Without them I never would have become a piecer or a quilter. I started off with a simple Kenmore sewing machine, purchased many moons ago.

I used that machine to make curtains, pillows, clothing for me and my then-husband, and later on, quilts. Once I started taking classes, and then attended my first quilt show I decided I needed something a bit fancier. There was nothing wrong with my Kenmore. It was a great machine and I could have continued using it for many years. Instead, I sold it to a friend and traded up.

I bought an Elna Quilter’s Dream. This machine has a few advantages over my old one. It has an automatic needle-down feature that I use every time. This feature forces the needle to stop in the down position so that I can easily turn my work (for example when turning a corner) without skipping any stitches. It has an auto-stop on the bobbin winder so that I can’t overfill my bobbins. It also has an assortment of decorative stitches, and digital controls for stitch length and width that let me string different decorative stitches together for unique patterns. It also came with many special presser feet, the most important of which was the walking foot (also called an even-feed foot), which lets me sew multiple layers together without worrying about wrinkles and puckers on the back. I even do my piecing with the walking foot in place. It’s a little bit noisy because of the extra moving parts, but it guarantees my pieces won’t slide.

I still have and use my Elna, but it is pretty heavy and I managed to throw my back out while trying to load it into the trunk of my car for a trip to a class. After spending weeks in physical therapy, I started hunting for a smaller machine to take to classes, bees, retreats, etc. I lucked out and found a lovely little 1953 Singer Featherweight at a local antique shop.

The electrical cord was frayed and held together with electrical tape, so I ordered a brand new cord/foot pedal assembly from Featherweight211. I bought a pretty brocade carrying case to replace the original musty-smelling box, and bought the user’s manual and service manual so I could give it a little tune up. It only weighs 11 pounds and it’s adorable. I just had it serviced at a local quilt shop and it’s humming right along as well as it did 55 years ago.

You can find machines in a variety of styles and price points from under $100 to well into the multiple thousands of dollars. My advice is to try them out. Go to a reputable sewing machine dealer who will let you actually sit down and experiment with all the machines. Let them tell you all the features and make sure you tell them how you plan to use it so they can help you choose the best one.

Talk to other quilters in classes, retreats, at your guild or bee or online, and ask them what machines they use and why they like them. If you do a particular technique over and over and there is a machine that will make that easier for you, so much the better!

Don’t rush your decision. A machine is a big investment for most of us and if you think how many hours you will spend with it, you want to make sure it’s comfortable to use and has all the features you need.

Many dealers offer classes to new owners so you can get the most out of your machine. Take advantage of them. Also take advantage of any maintenance services they offer. A clean, well-maintained machine will make for a sane, happy quilter! A regular tune up will cost between $40 and $60 dollars depending where you live and what kind of machine you have. That’s a small price to pay to make sure your machine is always purring along as it should.

Do you have a favorite brand of machine? Let us know why you love it in the comments section below.

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HOSPICE patients will be wrapped up warm this winter after the donation of handmade patchwork quilts.

The Bear Paw blog is going to become a main hub for sewer/quilter/what you want to call yourself news, and related goodies. But to become a successful information producer we need to know what you would like to know.

It could be new fabric lines from your favorite distibutors, new andvances in sewing machings, beginners tips, new craft ideas, or anything else you would like to know. We will be making weekly posts on diffrent topics, but we need topics to write about. So throw us your suggestions, and we will throw you some articles.

Phew!… It’s been way over due since we’ve posted on here, and that is mainly due to the insane pick up in business. We are in the middle of our holiday season peak, and its just been crazy here.

This past Saturday we added fuel to the fire, with our biggest sale of the year, 15% off from the 15th of November to the 15th of December. So the insanity will just increase to chaos, but fear not we have our sand bags ready to weather the flood of fabric enthusiasts, and our nets ready to fend off the swarm of fleece fanatics.

But I must go back to the madness!

A literal quilting bee. Photo from http://www.nanduadesign.com/

The traditional notion of a quilt bee is a bunch of women sitting around a large quilt frame, all working on the same quilt. I think people typically imagine these women as pioneer types in simple homespun dresses, in a log cabin, sewing away while the menfolk raise a barn.

The modern-day quilt bee is far from the stereotype. A bee is any group of people who meet regularly to quilt. They can work on their own projects or a joint project. They can be any age or race or gender. They can quilt by hand or machine, with a hoop or without. They can create any kind of quilt from elaborate art quilts to simple tied quilts.

Mainly what a quilt bee is, is a lot of fun. I first joined a bee in 1998 after stumbling upon one by accident in a very friendly quilt shop called Grand Quilt (now closed, sadly). I’ve been with this bee every since and the women I met there have become some of my closest friends. We travel to shows and shop hops together, go on retreat together, and have an annual Christmas party.

We normally each work on our own thing, but every couple of years we make a raffle quilt for the West Michigan Quilter’s Guild show. The money from these raffle quilts goes to families with infants in the neo-natal ICU at Spectrum Health. Sometimes we’ll get together and teach each other some new technique, like the day we spent wearing gloves and masks while I taught everyone how to hand-dye fabric, or the day we spent out on the lawn sun-painting fabric.

A bee is like a very tiny guild in that they provide camaraderie and companionship for quilters and a source of artistic inspiration and learning. Where they differ is that bees are usually closer knit and meet more often. They normally don’t have dues and don’t usually take on large endeavors like shows or guest speakers.

Where bees are better than guilds (in my experience) is in the friendships that develop. I moved to the US in 1997 and didn’t know anyone in my new city aside from my boyfriend. Joining the bee gave me a set of friends who I already had a lot in common with.

When my boyfriend and I decided to get married in 2008 my bee made us a gorgeous quilt. Each woman made one or two blocks, one woman quilted it, another bound it, and another made the label, incorporating poetry and ribbons from our invitations! Here’s a picture of us wrapped in our wedding quilt.

To find a bee, ask at your local quilt shop. If there are none that meet during the time you have available, find some other quilters (at the shop or a local guild) and start one of your own! Happy quilting!

http://www.examiner.com/x-858-Quilting-Examiner~y2008m10d1-Quilting-Bees

The Simcoe County Quilt, Rug and Craft Fair 2008 was held at the Simcoe County Museum recently.

Every year, visitors are invited to view the displays of quilts, wall-hangings and clothing items produced by quilters from across the county. Visitors were asked to vote on their favourite item in select categories. The winners of the Viewer’s Choice awards for 2008 were Jeanne Wallace for quilting, Rose Currie for wall hanging, and Nancy Trott for clothing.

The Simcoe County, Kempenfelt, Georgian Bay, Orillia, Slope to Shore and Quilting Corners Quilters’ Guilds wish to thank everyone who voted in this year’s competition.

The museum is located at 1151 Highway 26, minutes north of Barrie. The fair takes place on the third weekend in September every year. For more information, call the museum at 728-3721.

Its time agian for the fabshop hop!!! So here is your bunny,

HINT:The bunny is going to the World Series in style, and WARM!

COUPON SALE! – 10% off every item we have online when you use this discount code: ewg6d
This code cannot be used in conjunction with any other discounts, coupons or offers. Code expires 10/6/08 at midnight. (Code is case sensitive use all lower case)

September New Arrivals! We have received dozens of new prints and some that have never been available before including, Superman, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Dora The Explorer, Vintage Mickey Mouse, My Little Pony, Bratz, Spongebob Squarepants, My Little Mermaid and many more!

NEW COLLEGIATE PINK FLEECE PRINTS! The highly requested pink collegiate prints have arrived just in time for our fleece sale. Order today and receive $1 off all fleece prints including these brand new collegiate prink prints. Order today while supplies last!