Have you heard about this new quilt guild? It's a relatively new organization - like a year old? - that is taking off across the nation and the world! If you visit the website (link here), you'll see, on the right-hand side, a long list of cities/states and countries that are organizing. Last night I had the privilege of attending a meeting of Kansas City's Modern Quilt Guild, the founding home of the organization. My blog-friend Carla of LollyQuiltz took me with her, and I had such a nice time! About 50 quilters were in attendance. I felt warmly welcomed, easily striking up conversations with a half dozen of them in my seating vicinity. You may wonder why I was impressed with their group. Here are three distinct pluses I see to this quilt guild:
- The overall "young-ness" of its members. It was quite refreshing to note the number of 20- and 30-somethings in the group. While I'd estimate that a minority percentage of them are surely over 50, me included, I didn't feel a bit out of place among so many young people. Their enthusiasm for quiltmaking is infectious.
- Because many of The Modern Quilt Guild members are relatively new quilters, they don't harbor pre-conceived notions about patterns and colors in quilts. Yes, some of them remember their mothers or grandmothers making traditional quilts, but they aren't so interested in replicating them. Rather, they want to put their own twist on simple and traditional designs. Mostly these new quilters are into modern color combinations and fresh prints combined with lots of light-colored - white - fabrics. You won't find a Thimbleberries or Civil War print among them - they told me so!
- I loved that, for the most part, this guild's members are familiar with and use technology to enhance their quiltmaking. Last night's member-speaker, Lauren, talked about designing her own fabrics and printing them on Spoonflower, giving her perspective on Spoonflower's various fabrics (cotton twill, sateen, silk) and the sale of her "Aunt June" fabrics and quilted items on Etsy. It was most informative, and I hope she's successful at getting a major fabric manufacturer to pick up her line of fabric designs.
If you have the opportunity to participant in the organization of The Modern Quilt Guild or attend a meeting of The Modern Quilt Guild, I recommend you do so. I think you'll find it a very refreshing place to hang out. I'm looking forward to more visits myself. Let me know when you do.
It was fun having you join me, Linda! KCMQG is a fun organization to be a part of! I'm going to hold you to joining me again when you are in KC!
ReplyDeleteI SO enjoyed visiting with you and can't wait until you're able to join us again. :)
ReplyDeleteI saw this on another blog several days ago and had a thought. I'm sure it's not going to be a popular thought, but I'm going to say it any way. On one hand I think it is nice that young women are getting together to share their modern quilting knowledge. and on the other hand separating them selves from other pre-existing guilds in their neighborhoods is sad. They are loosing the knowledge that is already there, and I am sure "re-inventing the wheel" as a very open minded friend of mine use to say. One of the reasons I join guilds is to learn from the members the things that have already been discovered. The other is to share the things that I am learning with them. Some may be open to the ideas, and some may not. In the 2 guilds I belong to there are women from late 20's to mid 80's, and one of our most adventurous quilters is in her 80's.
ReplyDeleteIt's good to remember to not throw out the old just because there is new. A combination of the two creates wonderful things. These younger women could add the new spark that is needed to a already established guild. I have greatly enjoyed learning about all of the traditional methods of quilt making, and have a firm grip on my rotary cutting tools :o)
blessings