Contemporary Quilts = Sloppy Quilts?

Today I picked up a book at Barnes from the discount area about contemporary quilts. While the designs were interesting I was again reminded of how many people seem to think because a quilt is "art" that it's okay to ignore the basic principles of good quilting.

I don't mean to be mean, I really don't. I understand that there is a learning curve. That's not what I'm referring to. I'm talking about the people that you know have been doing this for quite awhile, and still seem to have no desire to do things properly.

Quilting has been around a long time, and I think it's only right that we respect the traditional quilters of the past as well as today. Our fore-mothers would greatly appreciate it if we would learn how to execute the basics properly.

What am I talking about? Here are some examples:

• Saggy front due to not having enough quilting
• A very non-square quilt when you know it wasn't intentional - they just didn't care enough to square up the piece properly
• Poor quality binding - uneven thickness, poorly stitched on
• Unevenly quilted - densely quilted in a few areas then essentially ignored everywhere else
• Hanging threads - Both the non clipped threads from starts and stops, but I've also noticed areas that were "unstitched" but they didn't bother to pick out the little lashes left over

I don't mean to be a quilt snob, I really don't. But I do take it a bit personally, and find it embarrassing when I see art quilts where it's obvious the person didn't really give a damn at all. Fiber artists often have strained relationships with the traditional quilting world and in traditional shows, and I am put off by people who seem hell bent on perpetuating the idea that art quilts are just "slapped together". We are working very hard to earn respect as fine artists using a medium not readily accepted in the art world yet - please don't make it harder!

Just slow down and put some effort into it! If you are hanging a piece in a show, that piece is a representation of yourself. Don't you want to show your best "self" to all those people coming to the quilt shows? All it takes is a couple of classes on the basics; binding, quilting and tension!