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By Danika Herrick on March 8, 2024
By Courtney Napier on February 12, 2024
By Arlette Hawkins on January 12, 2024
3 Makers Share Where Quilting May Head Next
There is a lot out there on the history of quilting, but what about the future of quilting? Who are the future’s quilters?
We asked three quilters, Sherri Lynn Wood, Keyana Richardson and Mathew Boudreaux, to share where they think quilting is headed next to learn more about what might be on the horizon. Each quilter also shared photos of their own work, along with the names of a few quilters who they think embody where quilting is going.
While quilting’s past is rich, varied and important, so is its future. And, we as makers, get to help determine that trajectory. Read to learn more about what that could look like!
sherrilynnwood.com
bravepatch.school
About Sherri:
Sherri has been improvising quilts as a creative life practice for 30 years. She is the author of The Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters, and the founder of the BravePatch.School, an online, conscious community for improv quilters.
…With the advent of online teaching, quilting students and teachers are coming together from across the globe with unprecedented opportunities to learn together.
My slice of the quilting world, improv and flexible patterning, seems to be growing, and, in my opinion, is the dynamic edge of a movement towards liberation, diversity, more sustainability and a palpable desire for quilting as an intentional means of truth telling and healing. The pandemic has shifted our life patterns dramatically, and quilt makers are turning towards their craft as a joyful vehicle for learning how to navigate fluid relationships in more flexible ways. People are awake to the deeper connections between how they create and how they live their lives as agents of change in their communities.
We will be seeing more diverse colors, patterns and techniques–old/new, abstract/representational, minimal/maximal, fixed/flexible, raw/finished, acrylics/silks, English floral/fairytale princess–mashed up in a single quilt (#sewglitch) to tell personal and cultural stories that reflect the sometimes messy, awkward and uncomfortable conversations of life. For many, the satisfaction of making a quilt comes from speaking truth from the inside out and collaborating with what is, and less from executing an external fixed ideal of harmony with perfection and efficiency from pristine storebought quilters cotton and someone else’s templates. The systems of white privilege consumerism embedded in so-called “Traditional” quilting with a capital “T” (actually, it’s a white euro-centric tradition, one tradition with a lowercase “t” among many) are becoming less tenable, and less fulfilling for many quilters, although not for all.
This new diversity and liberation in quilting has been building since the late 80s when black abstract piecers such as Rosie Lee Tompkins, Arbie Williams and company were introduced to white audiences, this liberation was furthered by the discovery of the Gee’s Bend community of quilters in the 2000s and sparked the Modern Quilt Guild. (Over time, it seems that the MQG has become more fixed and focused on Modern Traditional quilting, and hopefully will be wise enough to cultivate more diversity among their ranks and quilts.) Today as the Gee’s Bend quilters are gaining more direct access to audiences through social media, and other black makers’ voices are being heard, we are all benefiting from their bold expressions of freedom expressed in through their quilts.
Also, with the advent of online teaching, quilting students and teachers are coming together from across the globe with unprecedented opportunities to learn together. We are seeing a rise of handwork traditions from India, such as Siddi, Kwandi and Kantha. As well as other indigenous quilting and stitching traditions such as Boro from Japan, Pagoji from Korea.
AND we are seeing an unprecedented number of artists who are not quilters first, innovating within the quilting medium. Take a look at the artists in The New Bend, the current exhibition at Hauser & Wirth gallery in NYC. Even construction norms are being liberated. Maybe a quilt does not have to lie or hang flat. Maybe wrinkled and folded fabrics of all kinds will be incorporated into the surface of our quilts. Maybe quilters’ cotton will no longer fly solo in our quilted creations.
Precision quilting may no longer be the undisputed queen of the quilting world. Many quilters are waking up to the reality that perfection is a cruel taskmaster and are ready to make patterns in all of their human and delightfully unique, flawed ways. Many are already finding restoration and healing as they “defund” the internal voice of “the quilt police.” To quote Mary Margaret Pettway of Gee’s Bend, “You don’t have to go with mother’s patterns or somebody else’s patterns. You doin’ you at that point and nobody can do you better than you can do!”
About Keyana:
I’m the creator behind Collective Quilts! I live in small city outside of Columbus, Ohio, with my blended family of four and our beagle mix pup. I hope to inspire quilters in their creative quilting journey!
The future of quilting is YOU! It relies on you to continue to share your craft with others. The future of quilting is US!
What’s the future of quilting? I am going to speak on this subject in terms of modern quilting as seen through my lens.
Today’s quilters often come into quilting in unexpected ways. Historically, quilting methods and traditional patterns were usually passed down through familial generations; however, many modern quilters are learning their craft from friends, guilds, books, and are self-taught using social media outlets such as Instagram, Facebook and YouTube, to name a few.
Modern quilters are using traditional patterns such as Log Cabin and Irish Chain and giving them a fresh and new emphasis on rich, deep colors that are more saturated than older quilt styles. This is the future of quilting. It combines different fabric substrates and materials in ways that weren’t possible a few decades ago.
The future of quilting is ME! It’s diverse, inclusive and supportive. It’s looking at big companies in the quilting industry and seeing a multitude of quilters and styles represented. It’s joy and connection through textile art. It’s accessible. It provides makers with the opportunity to master self-efficacy, all while creating something with their own hands. It’s going outside of the box. It’s exploring new ways to use color and shapes/lines. The future of quilting is YOU! It relies on you to continue to share your craft with others. The future of quilting is US!
misterdomestic.com
sew-u.com
https://www.spoonflower.com/profiles/misterdomestic
About Mathew:
Mathew Boudreaux, AKA Mx Domestic, is on a mission to build an inclusive community that spreads love and joy through crafting. Starting in 2013, Mathew has leveraged their Portland State MBA and the power of social media to create an inclusive brand. Today Mathew is a fabric and pattern designer, sewing instructor and owner of the online sewing school SEW U. Mathew is also an inspirational speaker, consultant and global influencer with their TikTok, YouTube and Instagram accounts nearing 600,000 followers combined. (Mathew is also a 2022 Spoonflower Ambassador!)
A$AP Rocky's Met Gala Quilt brought quilting into so many homes that the sky is really the limit. And there's no telling where it's going to go because we are living it now.
In my fantasy, the future of quilting is an inclusive utopia of diversity and acceptance. The largest barrier for most non-quilters, considering the medium, is the perception that it’s just for older conservative white women. And the Mister Domestic community is full of humans who’ve had bad experiences of feeling excluded or unwelcome while trying to join existing meetings or going into fabric stores. But the beautiful part of the internet is that it’s connected so many of us together that we’re now all realizing how many of us there are, which is amazing because so many of us are starting to create truly inclusive spaces for quilters who share the values of inclusion and acceptance.
Now that these quilting spaces and brands are becoming more popular and present, different types of humans are going to be drawn to the medium. And with new humans, comes new forms and styles of expression and new applications of quilting into other niches like apparel. A$AP Rocky’s Met Gala Quilt [a quilt originally made by Mary Ann Beshers and repurposed by Zak Foster] brought quilting into so many homes that the sky is really the limit. And there’s no telling where it’s going to go because we are living it now. I get messages all the time from folks that are now quilters who never thought it was for them until they met me.
Imagine the number of humans who thought that when they saw A$AP Rocky. Right now, we see quilt clothes, quilt tops stretched on frames like canvas, mini quilts, art quilts, quilted toys, the list goes on. And with each application of the medium, a new group of humans become quilters. And from a business perspective, I see the more traditional quilter route being overtaken by these new iterations of quilt things. There will always be the traditional quilter, but everyone else needs to and will be more represented.
Betsy is a writer and stitcher who joined the Brand Marketing team in July 2021. In her spare time, she talks to people about their choice to make things by hand and related lessons learned for her project Dear Textiles. She also aims to befriend all the dogs she meets and is forever looking for the perfect dress pattern with pockets.
4 comments
This is a really nice article! Quilting is from way way back and it’s future is brighter!!!!
An interesting and enjoyable article! I loved the different perspectives and views for the future. My only moment of pause, is with Mathew and his axe to grind, about “conservative white women” and generalizing how we must all make him feel unwelcome and excluded at fabric stores and guilds. Is this a fallback topic when he has nothing of substance to contribute? I love the quilting community and our diverse lives and backgrounds are our future so I hope we can just move on and enjoy it without continuing to pick each other apart.
Thanks for your comment and I’m glad to hear you liked the post!
As far as to someone’s “axe to grind,” I will say that I’ve been around a lot of craft spaces for years and not all of them have been welcoming to everyone… despite craft’s rich history of being practiced by everyone of all backgrounds and experiences.
And I don’t see it as an “axe to grind” at all, but a valid point to highlight until everyone is welcome at craft stores and guilds.
I love the diversity found in the craft world too, which is why it’s very much worth talking about, not just moving on from. The more people who can enjoy craft now, the richer the entire craft world is for it.
Best,
Betsy
Spoonflower
Thank you for your thoughtful response. I believe that everyone is welcome but maybe just not the center of attention. As far as I see, it is talked about constantly, but it looks like it’s just fine to continue browbeating women who just want to read an article or attend a class are but now keenly aware of the labels put upon us. Go figure.
I hear that, but I also think that there’s opportunity here to open to the idea that talking about it allows more spaces to be more open to more people.
It can be a label, but it also can be an opportunity to realize that there’s more work to be done. It may seem like it’s talked about often, but then again, it wasn’t talked about by many, especially in group settings, for centuries.
Best,
Betsy
Spoonflower
I realize it is not good to exclude people from the quilting craft or any other craft, but when it started, it and other needle crafts were the main ways that were acceptable for women to express themselves. Times have changed. Though thoughts on many things don’t change fast enough. Some women may feel that they are losing out on what was their territory. There is plenty of room for everyone. Quilting is an ever-expanding method of expression.
Hi Kathy!
I totally agree that there is room for everyone in craft! 🙂
Also, I agree with you that quilting has given women a way to express themselves when perhaps situations to express yourself were hard to come by, but it’s also served that purpose for people of all orientations and identities too, precisely because the nature of sitting and making with others leads to connection and (quite often) good conversation!
And, in case you’d like to learn more like I always do when it comes to craft, history shows that quilting has been done all over the world by all people of all backgrounds, not solely by women! (However, depending on where you look, this history isn’t always easily talked about, known, seen or celebrated! See trench art/quilting at war/crafting at sea for starters! When it comes to making things and selling them, that brings even more people in to the mix!)
Best,
Betsy
Spoonflower