Modern Women, Modern Quilting.

Earlier this month Crystal of Two Little Aussie Birdies invited me to join in the conversation about Modern Quilting, Modern Women. This was shortly after I went on a rant on Facebook about Family Feud questions. The show asked about women's jobs and men's jobs. I'm rarely vocal about feminist issues. In fact, as an engineering and computer science student in college, I shunned women's groups or women's scholarships. I was of the mindset that it was better to just go out and proof your worth - regardless of gender - than sit around talking about it. The Family Feud question irked me though. I couldn't understand why in 2014 we needed to ask about gender roles. What does a woman do? What's a Modern Woman to me? She's a person and she does all sorts of things. 

1. Tell us about how you started quilting and how you found modern quilting.

I am an unexpected quilter. I fell into sewing during a hiatus from working in feature films and games. A friend had been participating in Thing A Day, a daily creative challenge over the course of a month, and I enjoyed seeing what she was making. She and I had worked and studied together - both nerds, both in our mid-thirties, both mathematically inclined. On her encouragement, I decided to venture into online crafting and blogging. After launching myself into beadwork, failing and loathing it; I moved on and bought a sewing machine.

Almost instantly, I developed a love of textile and pattern. At first, I was drawn to feedsack reproduction and mid-century American styes. After a bit of experimentation, the crisp modern style is the one that stuck. It sat well on me. I felt comfortable in the minimalism, the intentional pops of color and the highly dynamic nature of the quilts.

1b. Did you learn from your mother/grandmother/aunty?

I wasn't exposed to quilting as a child. My mom was into other crafty things - string art, ceramics and cross-stitch. We had a sewing machine, but I don't ever remember her using it. My uncle's wife LeAnn was (and is) the quilter in our family, but she lived in another town.  

Although my mom and LeAnn both made clothes for me, my first tangible memory of patchwork came from my babysitter. One year at Christmas, she bought a doll-faced patchwork backpack for all the girls she looked after. The backpack could be inverted so the head and legs tucked inside - making it suitable for a young girl and then something we could grow with. This was around 1979 and the backpack was made in the tiny calicos of the era. The faded polaroid doesn't capture the kind of kitsch and craft that married in its seams.

But look at all those patchwork triangles! I'm not sure if this came before or after my Holly Hobbie phase, but it was through this bag that I came to understand what patchwork was. Years passed, I shunned the frills and most things girly. I played with hot wheels and robots, not because I needed to fit into a boy's world but because those were the things I liked. I rolled my eyes when people talked about quilts. 

1c. How has technology and social media helped you become a modern quilter?

Technology and social media were a huge driver for me in becoming a modern quilter. If it weren't for the internet and my involvement in it, I'm fairly certain I wouldn't have embraced quilting as a creative outlet. Seeing my friend Cindy post her Thing A Day projects and then giving it a try myself. Through blogging I found creative friends. Through friends I joined online quilting bees. Through quilting bees I got to experiment with all types of fabric and styles of blogs. I dove in - at first eager to learn and then eager to share. 

Social networks like Facebook and Flickr made it easy to exchange ideas, learn new things and completely immerse myself in all things sewing. Quilt-alongs and swap groups helped push my limits. They bring together like-minded creatives who encourage each other to try new things. Because of social media, I was a doer, a maker and a joiner.

...and then one day I had to stop. I culled my blog reader to a handful of blogs. I stopped reading Twitter. I shunned Instagram. I stopped engaging. I'm not sure if it happens to others, but I found my own creative instincts slipping away because I had engaged too much. I was making lovely things, but they lacked my voice. I mimicked others and lost my edge. I felt lost and deflated. I needed time to find my own voice again. 

If it weren't for social media, I wouldn't be a quilter. I've re-engaged again - slowly and carefully. I follow sites and people who lift my game. I remind myself not to get lost in the awesome of others. It's tricky to maintain the balance - finding communities that suit you and keeping yourself in the process.

2. What does it mean to you to be a modern quilter and a modern woman? Before you were a quilter, did you imagine that these two could sit next to each other? Do these titles sit comfortably or naturally with you?

Honestly, I don't think often about being a modern woman. Rarely do I think of myself as a woman at all. It's not a label that I let define me. I grew up in a house with only women, gender roles were rarely mentioned. My mom was handy and resourceful. She was better at repairing the sink than putting on makeup. She didn't like to wear dresses and she was comfortable with who she was. I was fortunate to have her influence in my life. I was told that I could be or do anything I wanted. Gender was never considered a barrier. 

I don't think of myself as a modern woman. I'm just a person muddling by attempting to stay true to her own passions in life disregarding pre-conceived notions. It is only on rare occasion that I think about women's issues - days when Family Feud pisses me off or posts from Anne about being creative in a male-dominated industry.

Being a modern quilter though? I have a lot of thoughts on that. Rather than being labelled as a modern quilter, I think of myself a quilter who works in the modern aesthetic. I think the adjective modern gets volleyed around in too many ways. It doesn't describe the person. It describes the work. It doesn't mean that it's of today or brand-spanking new, rather it is of the aesthetics found in the modern art movement.

As a community, we are getting new textiles in new colors and a mix of scales, but that's not what makes our projects modern. We make them fresh with new layouts, alternative gridwork or by adding a new spin on an old classic. It isn't the fabric that you use, but how it all comes together. We aren't modern quilters. We are just quilters and some of us work towards elements in the modern aesthetic.

What's harder though is not automatically assigning value to quilts and quilters because of their artistic style. Are modern-aesthetic quilts necessarily better than art quilts? Are Amish or Gee's Bend quilts more interesting than civil war monochromatics? It's too easy to think in these labels. Too easy to dismiss a host of interesting ideas, unique layouts and unconsidered techniques because we are too busy automatically and unnecessarily assigning value to things. Take each quilt you see on their own merits. If you don't like something, challenge yourself to understand why -- think beyond the fabric or the colour. Look at the shapes, consider the techniques. You might surprise yourself and find yourself embracing something new. It took me a couple of years to understand this, but I'm so glad that I got there. 

3. Which quilt that you have made represents you and why?  How does this quilt make you feel? Did anything surprise you about this quilt? 

Choosing a singular quilt that represents me is the hardest part of this post. 

Surprisingly, the quilt that most represents me is not the biggest or the most difficult. It's not one that I feel represents my biggest contribution to the online community. It's small and simple and came from the heart. Inspired by a flyer I saw in Tokyo, I gathered fabrics - teals, greys, hot pinks. The flyer was trying to promote train travel past radiation-affected areas to get to the north - regions cutoff and suffering economic side effects due to the tsunami. No one was traveling. The colors and excitement of the poster moved me. I held onto the fabrics until one night I saw London on fire on TV. Senseless riots, mountains of chaos - people were destroying things. At that moment, I needed to create.

It's simple. Unfussy. The colors are amplified by the surrounding grey making it pointed and loud. It isn't complex or overdone. It's a lot like me  ...in patchwork.

4. How do you connect with other modern quilters? What does it mean to you to have this sisterhood of modern women? Do you belong to a guild? 

We've recently moved to Melbourne and I joined the Melbourne Modern Quilt Guild in October. I'm still a new member, but I've found the group to be highly engaging. Both in person and on social media, we have insightful discussions about color combinations, dynamic layouts, the scale of quilting, negative space and so much more. I feel fortunate to have found a group of people who are interested in the modern aesthetic like I am. I've been in other craft groups before, but I find I get more out of them when I meet with people who have similar interests. That's what I like about this group.

In addition to the Modern Quilt Guild, I also am part of a Quilt Design A Day on Facebook. #QDAD is a daily exercise group aimed at stretching your creativity through daily practice. Each day, an image is posted along with a palette. Members then make a digital quilt design from the inspiration. It's here that my modern-aesthetic most often springs to life. From this group, I've developed several close friends who I regularly chat with and bounce all sorts of quilting and creative ideas off of. We lift each other up daily - both creatively and emotionally. My mother has passed away and I don't have children of my own. I'm an expat living overseas with my closest friends spread globally. If I've formed any sort of sisterhood through quilting, it would be the relationships that have formed with this group.

So am I a modern woman or a modern quilter? Not really. I'm a person who quilts and appreciates the principles of modern art. I'm good with that for now and I know one day that might change.

Do you think about Modern Women and Modern Quilting? Visit Two Little Aussie Birds all month for interviews and thoughts on the topic. Write up your own blog post and link up on Crystal's post..