WHAT IS MODERN QUILTING
Have you ever asked yourself what makes a modern quilt a modern quilt?
Well I did and I thought I would share my thoughts with you.
Quilting is a very old craft going back at least to medieval times. Modern quilting didn’t emerge before the 2000s. In other words, modern quilting is a very young movement within the quilting community and therefore a clear and precise definition is difficult.
The Modern Quilt Guild defines modern quilting as follows:
Modern Quilts are primarily functional and inspired by modern design. Modern quilters work in different styles and define modern quilting in different ways, but several characteristics often appear which may help identify a Modern Quilt. These include, but are not limited to: use of bold colors and prints, high contrast and graphic areas of solid colors, improvisational piecing, minimalism, expansive negative space, and alternate grid of work." - The Modern Quilt Guild
Modern quilting is still evolving. Most modern quilts have some combinations of the following attributes:
Use of negative space
No borders or sashing
Large elements
Asymmetry
Bold use of color + vibrant and eye-catching colors; often solids
Improvisational piecing
Texture – straight line quilting
In the pictures above you see The Vienna Quilt, The Calvi Quilt and The Copenhagen Quilt. All quilt patterns are available in my ETSY-shop.
In modern quilts, traditional quilt blocks (like Log Cabin, Bear’s Paw, Ribbon Star, Ohio Star, Nine Patch, Greek Square and many more) are often part of the design. But these blocks itself are interpreted in a modern way – through the use of color, by playing with sizes and by the arrangment of the blocks.
To summon up it can be said: traditional and modern quilting are intertwined and cannot be cleary separated from each other. There is no clear definition of modern quilting and that's actually what makes it so exciting, lively and fun!