Unconventional Quilts and the Love of Breaking Rules

It's been too long since I updated my blog. Mostly that is because the academic year has started back up and I have a lot going on with my day job. I am teaching a new class that I absolutely LOVE. It is a theory class, which means it is pretty challenging. My students have been great and they are putting in the work to understand fairly complex ideas. It is also prompting me to think more about my own intellectual and creative inspirations, which are are varied and a little bit unconventional.

Some might even say they are 'heterodox' in that they defy orthodox practices, beliefs, and knowledge. While the term 'heterodox' is sometimes used to chastise individuals or demean particular perspectives, I use it as a reminder to think in new ways, using whatever tools are available to come up with new ways of approaching the world. This is evident in the ways I teach, especially through combining different theoretical traditions in new ways and bringing in non-scholarly materials to illustrate concepts. Not a week goes by that I don't reference multiple television shows and works of fine literature in my classes. I go high and low brow, all in the service of learning.

I'm also pretty heterodox in my quilting. My grandmother taught me to sew, but I am entirely self-taught when it comes to sewing for quilts. Because of this, I have had several run-ins with the quilt police. The quilters out there know who I'm talking about. The quilt police are quilters who are adamant that there are laws of quilting that must be obeyed and they feel empowered to educate everyone on those laws. Some examples: you must use a color wheel to get the right balance of tones and contrast; you must always wash fabrics before use; you must never wash fabrics before use; you can't use xyz stitch for abc block; you have to only buy fabric from independently owned shops; quilts are for using; quilts are for showing; pets should never lay on quilts; etc. The rules are often arbitrary and constantly contradict one another.

So, I've broken plenty of quilting rules on accident. I just didn't know what I didn't know. At times my lack of knowledge led to mistakes or quilts that didn't last as long as I had hoped. But, most times, the rule violation didn't mean much.

I have also broken plenty of quilting rules on purpose. I love using dark colors and monochromatic designs. Some quilters hate this. I use unconventional materials all the time. I experiment with different stitches and designs. I treat quilting like an art form, which means trying a  wide variety of things and changing my mind constantly. It's an art form that feeds my soul through constantly shifting stimuli and new things to learn.

One implicit rule for a lot of quilters is that "quilts should be pretty," which guides the selection of fabrics, designs, and end goals of the piece. I like making pretty quilts. But, I strongly disagree that this is a central requirement of quilts. I love the political quilts I occasionally see at shows. I'm moved by the ways people use textiles to say something uncomfortable. I'm starting a new series of quilts that have academic and political meaning. The first is my 'heterodox' quilt, shown above. I want it to be a reminder to myself (and others) to think in brave, unconventional ways. I am also working on a blue and white 'resist' quilt, a red and white 'radical' quilt, and have plans for several others. I'm not sure if these non-pretty quilts will sell as well as the others do, but art is about creation, and this is where my creative mind is right now. If interested, here is the Etsy link for more information.

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