Blog Tour for "Modern Quilts: Designs of the New Century"

I'm pleased to let you know that "Self-Portrait, Year 2: Beneath the Surface" is one of the quilts included in a new book being published by the Modern Quilt Guild, Modern Quilts: Designs of the New Century. Here are images of the quilt from the Wisconsin Museum of Quilts and Fiber, where it recently hung in a show, "In Death." The curator made sure to hang the quilt in such a way that both sides were visible, and so you could see that the lavender side was something more than blank fabric.

The Modern Quilts book, which includes the work of 238 quilters, will be available later this month. You can pre-order it from the MQG, where all profits will go to the work of the organization; it's also available on Amazon. If you're not familiar with modern quilting, this book will be a great entrée to the field, and if you're already aware of this arena of quilting, the book will provide photos of the work of the big names whose work you already know, along with scores of others. You can see a sample of images on this page that describes the travelling show that is being created from about 100 of the quilts in the book (including mine); the first stop on the tour will be the Dairy Barn in Athens, Ohio, in April/May 2018.  "Modern quilting" incorporates elements of traditional quilting (with traditional blocks used in new ways, as in the quilt on the book cover above) and art quilting (which brings techniques and design elements from the world of painting/drawing/printing and applies them to quilts).  Many modern quilts use improvisation, but others (like the quilt of mine that's included) are thought out in detail before a stitch is taken. Most modern quilts are designed as functional quilts, rather than works intended for wall display only. You can see the Modern Quilt Guild's own explanation of modern quilting here.

I have written extensively about this quilt before.  An overview of the story is here, and a couple of blog posts: the making of the quilt here, and its reception at QuiltCon 2015 here.

Once accepted into the QuiltCon show, the quilt has taken on a life of its own, and it is gratifying to know that it will now have an even wider audience, through the book and the touring exhibition.  Although made only to give voice to my own unfathomable sense of loss, I know now that the piece can be consoling to others who have suffered loss, and educational to those who haven't.  I am glad to have it out in the world.

If you would like to visit other stops on the book's blog tour, you can find the schedule here.