“What can you do with signature quilts such as a 50th anniversary quilt for parents that are now gone? Or birthday quilts etc.”

So I asked the Inner Circle for some suggestions, and this is what they said:

Regina writes:

The question of what to do with signature quilts is a tricky one – and definitely a case by case basis – but  you never know who might be interested unless you ask. Although immediate family might not be interested, there are those whose signatures are IN the quilt that might be interested in giving it a home.

In our situation, we have a wall hanging given to my mother that was made of appliqued hand prints of all those in the family. It’s a snapshot in time – some are no longer part of the family, some are deceased, and later grandchildren are missing. We are taking the wall hanging apart and turning each handprint into a throw pillow to go back to that family member. Cutting the quilt apart has the blessing of the original maker, but I don’t think there’s any shame in cutting a quilt. I think I’d rather cut and give it new life and purpose than have it hidden away.  But I know that’s a controversial opinion.

Libby writes:

As far as I’m concerned, the best thing you can do is USE it. If it means something to you it will bring back memories and comfort you with those memories. It could also bring up conversations with others and raise appreciation for our wonderful art. My husband has great memories of using quilts as forts when he was young. Yes the quilts are works of art, but they are meant to be used.

Elizabeth writes:

I am afraid that those type of quilts are going the way of great grannie’s china. Nobody wants them. That said document, document, document the background of the quilt and figure out a way to keep that with the quilt. At least that way whomever has to decide the fate of said quilt will have come context about what it means to the family. The other thought I just have is to have it photographed and along with the history of it, goes into the family photo albums. But then I have the family photo albums and I don’t know what I’m going to do with them either! Growing old sucks sometimes and “stuff” goes by the wayside.

BTW I am keeping 4 place settings of great granny’s china, make it the everyday dishes and going to figure out an art project or two with the rest of it. Because nobody wants it…even at auction 72 piece collection is going for less than $75.

Sandy writes:

A lot of people are repurposing quilts into coats/jackets to wear. I know that involves cutting them up but the result is something very useful.

Jennifer writes:

I often will purge my “collection” of quilts by donating to people experiencing a climate emergency… I do it as soon as I hear the call from stores/guilds, etc.

I also make quilts for students graduating from high school or college (I especially love to give to young adults/teens I have given baby quilts to!). There’s something so fun about giving a blanky to kids as they go off to face the dragons of life.

Finally, I have so many great nieces and nephews that I love to have them take one or two so will be happy when my favorite quilts will go to them—even if only for car quilts.

Janis writes:

I gave them away (while I was alive) to cousins who had children … and (at least) the possibility of keeping them in the family

Dianna writes:

What to do with old quilts: make bags, make coats, make purses mixed with other materials like leather or cork, make pillows, pillow covers. I believe it is ok to reconstruct them. Ask family members what they might like to have. Cut smaller pieces. Frame it and add pictures of your family to it with some adhesive, make Christmas ornaments. We can’t keep all the things forever and ever. Do take really good pictures of it and make several copies adding any history

Su writes:

On who may be interested in or actively wishes quilts, after we are gone, adding a handwritten list to a will is binding, according to my attorney who prepared our wills. I approve the term binding as appropriate for a list of quilts!

Dusty writes:

With regards to the question of what to do with signature quilts (or any item being passed down to people who might not understand their significance), I suggest you write a “letter” addressed to future recipients explaining both the item (quilt or any heirloom) and the person who made it and why. Include the circumstances of the gifting and how the recipient(s) felt about the gift.  It is the story that goes with the item that makes the item valued. Without the story it is just another quilt or another knick-knack. Make sure the recipient is the person who will understand the value and will keep the letter with the item.  Handwritten and on preservation paper will also add to the value of the quilt or heirloom. I have several things that my mother passed to me but I only have her verbal story which I plan to capture in a letter for my daughter and granddaughter.  he quilt I am referring to was made by my mother’s aunts for her when she left for college. That was eighty years ago.  I’ll also include how to care for the antique quilt.

Robin writes:

My husband’s gma cut up a quilt and put cut pieces in frames for all the children and grands. It is a nice memento for all the kids.

Linda writes:

If the family doesn’t have anyone who might want it, think about a museum. You know the story behind it, and who it was meant for. Maybe even some of the people who signed it! Something that has so much documentable history would be very desirable for a lot of places. Think how many times you look at something on display and wonder about why it was made/when it was made/who it was made for. It may not seem that big a deal right now, but if it is a good museum staff, they will appreciate how much it means to have it. I know I have things that I wouldn’t bother with, but because they are part of history I do. Give them a chance to enjoy sharing it with others!

Marilu writes:

My sister-in-law and I made her parent’s 50th anniversary quilt. It was a snapshot of time, it was a double irish chain pattern that we placed their original wedding photo in the center and then it was the six kids names, DOB and then the grandkids beyond that. Another sister-in-law has the quilt. I am sure it will get pass down to the next generation.

My husband’s aunt did a signature quilt for our wedding. Since we got married later in life and have no children, maybe a niece or nephew will take it for the nostalgic flair of it or at least place it among the quilts and blankets they or their house guest would wrap themselves in. Not a 100% that today’s generation understands that it is our love wrapped up in that quilt they received from us. I try not to get too tangled up in their shallow responses to my labor of love.

So that’s the wisdom from the Inner Circle! I hope it helps you find new ways to use the quilts!

The post Readers Answer: What to do with signature quilts? appeared first on Hunter's Design Studio.

I hope you check in on all the participants – see below for a list with links! So many people have some great solutions to working in all kinds of spaces – you’re sure to see a tip or trick that will really inspire you!

To see my studio cleanup in prior years, go here for 2015, here for 2016, and here for 2017. These post also containing links to many of the posts I’ve written about how I keep my studio tidy.

So, to my current space…

This was what was going on in my studio a month or so ago, when my friends Heather and Chris of RemnantPDX (a vintage furniture company) posted a picture of a fun and funky filing cabinet:

Just look at all that 70s color! And it had ORANGE doors too!

As it happened, I had been pondering how to get more shelf space into my studio, but I wasn’t keen on having another open wire rack. And as usual, the chaos was building up on top of my fabric drawers. This is always the catchall for heaps of studio stuff, and it makes me a little crazy (I don’t like working in clutter). I didn’t need a filing cabinet for paperwork (I keep as much as possible electronically) but the shelving possibilities it had were intriguing.

I was also feeling like the art on my wall was in need of a good shuffle. A quick measurement of the space showed me that the filing cabinet would fit, so I made an appointment to go look at it.

I absolutely loved it! And Chris kindly delivered it the next day!

The first task was to break down the wall art and move everything out of the way. And sweep behind everything I could reach while I had the chance!

The cabinet squeezed into the space available – I didn’t have to scoot the bulletin boards.

Then the fabric drawers went back in, and I started moving things into the cabinet. Note that I use flat-headed extension cords to keep access to the power sockets that always seem to end up behind things.

One of things I really like about the cabinet is that the doors swing up and slide back, out of the way. I also love that I can CLOSE the doors to hide messy piles if I need to, as I use this space as a dining room when I invite friends over to eat.

Lastly, I put the art back up on the walls, adding some new pieces and moving some to other places in my home.

This is the current view (I’m still secret #sewingatthespeedofsam for quilt market so I can’t show you the rest!) I’m really loving that bright pop of colors in the room, and the extra storage has been so useful for keeping my projects together while they are queued up for attention.

Another thing that got sorted out during this shuffle were my small solids boxes. I had everything crammed into 8 small boxes, and things were so tight it was painful to find anything in them.

I expanded them to 12 boxes, which allowed me to better group the colors, as well as pull one piece out without the box exploding at me!

Please stop by the rest of the blog hop participants to see how they are managing their studios!

April 23 – Lori Crawley Kennedy – http://theinboxjaunt.com/
April 24 – Jennifer Thomas – http://curlicuecreations.blogspot.com
April 25 – Robin Koehler – http://nestlingsbyrobin.blogspot.com
April 26 – Andi Barney- https://www.andibarney.com/
April 27 – Misty Cole – http://www.mistycole.com/blog
April 28 – Carolina Moore- http://alwaysexpectmoore.com/
April 29 – Heather Pregger – https://heatherquilts.blogspot.com/
April 30 – Linda Bratten – https://lindabcreative.blogspot.com/
May 1 – Lisa Reber – https://dippydye.blogspot.com/
May 2 – Teresa Coates – http://www.crinkledreams.com
May 3 – Lisa Chin – http://www.lisachinartist.com/
May 4 – Jamie Fingal – http://www.jamiefingaldesigns.com/
May 5 – Sam Hunter – www.huntersdesignstudio.com     <<——- you are here!
May 6 – Jessee Maloney – www.artschooldropout.net/blog
May 7 – Randa Parrish – http://www.sewartsyfartsy.com/
May 8 – Sarah Vedeler- https://meaningoflifedesigns.com/
May 9 – Jessica Darling – https://jessicakdarling.com/
May 10 – Melody Crust – http://www.melodycrust.com/
May 11 – Debby Brown – http://higheredhands.blogspot.com
May 12 – Cheryl Sleboda – http://blog.muppin.com

The post Spring Clean Your Studio Blog Hop 2018 – a vintage cabinet joins my studio! appeared first on Hunter's Design Studio.

Several friends and colleagues have ably commented on their perceptions of this statement by the MQG (and I will link them up at the end of the post). I found it heavy-handed, exclusionary, and sadly in opposition to what I perceive to be the role of any organization in quilting… that of promoting inclusion, and encouraging people to learn, and to enjoy making more stuff. I didn’t see the post as supportive or reflective of the membership, and I also question how it supports members who make a living through teaching when it’s scaring their students away. I have heard/read so many people who now believe they shouldn’t take a class or enter a work in the MQG’s QuiltCon show, based on their interpretation of the MQG’s statement.

And this really saddens me.

Instead of exuberant curiosity for new frontiers, I see a contraction of interest based in fear of the MQG handing down judgement. And I see the likely rise of a new type of quilt police (oh no!) helmed by people who are going to nitpick the definition of derivation to death and beat us about the head with it. Won’t that be fun?

While Fear is pretty much always Art’s companion (for a brilliant discussion on this, read Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic*), Fear should never be in charge of stopping you from making art. Fear also gets the upper hand if you let it keep you from learning more about HOW to make your art. Fear can be a real party-pooper, and frankly, we should push back on anyone that tries to use fear as a tactic to control us, in the arts or otherwise.

Taking classes from masters and copying their work is a time-honored tradition in art. Entire schools were founded on this principle during the Renaissance, and artists toiling in the masters’ studios don’t seem to have stifled innovation in the arts in any way for centuries. To assume such studying could squelch quilting is, to my mind, a disturbing vote of no-confidence in the abilities of our makers to continue to evolve. We haven’t failed yet, and I don’t see it coming anytime soon.

Few, if any, of us are born into any art or craft with a master’s knowledge and prowess. We gain mastery by practice. We figure out what to practice by getting curious about something that turns us on. We buy the book, follow the maker on social media, and take a class from them if we get the opportunity. To “copy” a master is to hope that walking in their footsteps for a day will give you access to a little of the magic that drew you to them in the first place.

Let me give you an example from my beloved photo professor, Larry Lytle. He encouraged every one of us to go sit on a hill, in the dark, next to a curvy road, and capture that long exposure shot of the headlights winding around a bend. You know this picture, you’ve seen it a thousand times. Well, so had Larry. He would have been happy to never see another, but he emphasized the importance in learning how to make it. To fire off an hour’s worth of exposures was to learn what you needed to do to capture it, and those lessons were the foundation of other things necessary to a photographic practice. I leaned heavily (and gratefully) on that lesson when I set out to take pictures of fireworks, because learning the skill was the point, not making the picture:

The same goes for us in quilting. Make the 4-patch and 9-patch while you are figuring out your basic skills. Graduate to more complex patterns. At some point, take that knowledge and graduate to making something that has no published pattern, if and only if you so desire. Keep learning. Keep making. Keep getting inspired by what you see.

KEEP ENJOYING. Suffering for art is a terribly tired trope. Have FUN with it, for heaven’s sake.

Should you enter it in a show? Maybe. Maybe not. If you’re worried that QuiltCon might be too judge-y for your modern quilt, then there are plenty of other venues to offer it to. The MQG is not the only game in town; there are larger, more established venues with waaaay more foot traffic that would love to see your work.

But consider this too: If you are only making your work for a competition, I think you’re missing the boat. Such fame is fleeting, and in the big picture, being Quilt Famous is to be a notable fish in a very small pond. Out in the big world we barely register. Making for shows can also unleash the Perfectionism Monster, a cousin of Fear, who likes to keep us paralyzed. Who needs this Dynamic Duo of Destruction?

Not me. Not you, either.

Why not, instead, make your work for the joy of expressing your vision? For the challenge of conquering an idea? For the victory of figuring out something that was really hard? To just make something beautiful?

Competition, schmompetition. Quilting is so much more than its blue ribbons. And so are you.

There is one upside to the MQG edict on derivatives though. It should mean we’ll see less of the “wonky improv log cabins in a field of negative space, matchstick quilted to death” quilts, right? Which, if you know your quilt history, are derived from Nancy Crow, Gwen Marston, and the ladies of Gee’s Bend. Just sayin’.

**************

Good posts to read:

Mandy Leins of Mandalei: You can’t break up if there wasn’t a relationship in the first place

Juliet, the Tartan Kiwi: Copyright/Copywrong

Weeks Ringle of Modern Quilt Studio: United We Stand

Lighthouse Lane Designs: Of Cabbages and Copyrights

*NOT an affilate link – and the audiobook is superb

The post Why You SHOULD Make Derivative Work: It Will Teach You Something appeared first on Hunter's Design Studio.