Using the F-word in Quilts! 

 

In February 2013 the Modern Quilters Guild had their QuiltCon conference in Texas. It housed all the usual quilt conference attractions, quilts, vendors, lectures and exhibits. So far so good until the viewing audience was a bit surprised by some of the quilts on exhibit.

The modern quilt movement participants consider themselves rebels. Resisting the overly   fussy traditional quilts and opting for simpler cleaner influences, these artists take their inspiration from color guru Joseph Albers' paintings and lean industrial inspired designs for their quilts.

Simply put traditional quilt making is to cursive handwriting as modern quilts are to texting. 

Wall Street Journalist Meg Cox wrote that "Chawne Kimber, a math professor, assembled the F-word blocks from many quilters. She said she was challenging the notion that some words must be censored from quilts". I can relate to her strong sentiment and people who shared her views including the 56 who contributed blocks for their quilt entry.

Kimber is expressing her point of view through quilting to highlight a message for change. 
Georgia quilter Jessie Telfair also expressed a strong sentiment with her F-word quilt. 
What surprised me was the date her quilt was completed. I would have hoped closer to 1880 not 1980 when her quilt was made. 

 

Freedom Quilt by Jessie Telfair 1980 from the collection of Shelly Zegart

One vote for F-words in quilts here! What about you?

                                                                                                   Happy Quilting,

                                                                                                                    Mary