Spike Gillespie - Quilting Art: Inspiration, Ideas & Innovative Works from 20 Contemporary Quilters

HORIZON X | Deidre Adams | 2007 | 25 x 25 | Cotton fabric, acrylic paint | Machine stitched, hand painted | This piece was made for the invitational exhibit Sense of Place, part of the International Quilt Festival in Houston, Texas, in 2007. Collection of Karey Bresenhan. Photograph courtesy of the artist.

IN LATE JULY 2008, I was in Astoria, Oregon, one of my favorite places in the world. This was my third trip to the little community that overlooks the Columbia River where it runs into the Pacific Ocean, the very place Lewis and Clark finished up their journey West. For me, too, visiting Astoria was part of a bigger journey, though not my final destination. I was in the midst of a whirlwind summer packed with trips all over the country to meet with quilt artists and interview them about their passion and their process.

Those trips were part of an even bigger journey, one that began for me many years ago when I stumbled into the world of quilting. As I detail in my book, Quilty as Charged: Undercover in the Material World, when I first wrote about quilting, I thought I was taking a quick, surface look at the art form. My goal at the time was simply to write a short newspaper article on the topic, collect my fee, and move on.

But as many people know, once you discover the astounding, compelling universe of quilting artswell, good luck trying to turn around and head back out the door. A friend took me to the International Quilt Festival in Houston as part of my research, and I was hooked. Suddenly, what started out as one article led me to write a whole book dedicated to passionate quilters from all walks, ranging from fans of traditional patterns to contemporary artists putting their own unique marks on the form. Along the way I spoke to everyone from dedicated hobbyists to some of the biggest rock stars in the quilting world.

That book, in turn, led to an invitation from editor Margret Aldrich to write this book, in which I narrow my focus to explore the works of artists who start out with the basic premise that a quilt is three layers and then, from there, they head off down the far less beaten path, utilizing all sorts of original techniques and concepts. From creating three-dimensional works to incorporating components one would sooner find in a hardware store than a fabric store, all of the artists I spoke to infuse their work with great originality.

OTTO (BILL),detail | Margot Lovinger | 2005 | 35 x 35 | Cotton, silk, velvet, netting, and tulle, with trim, beading, and embroidery | Hand-sewn layered fabrics | In this portrait of my partner, Bill, I combine a more formal, classical style of portrait with an honest and personal depiction of the man I love, says Margot. Photograph courtesy of the artist

This originality thrilled me. It also resonated because, though I am, admittedly, a poor seamstress and only occasional quilter, Ive been a writer for decades. In this art form, I have explored various avenues, working to find my voice and pushing what often felt like limits others wished to impose upon me, limits I had no interest in adhering to. In talking with quilt artists who have chosen to ignore rules and go their own way within a discipline known for deep tradition, I found myself in the company of kindred spirits. In fact, with each ensuing conversation, I was further inspired to remember how important it is to carve out time to pursue the passionate side of ones calling and to heed ones muse, both of which are too often too easily lost in the shuffle of doing what we must to get by day to day.

LIFE GOES ON IV, detail | Karen Kamenetzky | 2008 | 30 x 30 | Artist-dyed cottons and silks, yarns | Machine and hand stitched |Photograph by Laurie Indenbaum

One question I put to many of the artists was this: How do you feel about the word quilt? I brought the topic up because Id learned along the way that some consider the term a death knell when it comes to being taken seriously in the art world, while others had no trouble with it.

I purposefully posed the question carefully. I didnt do this to tiptoe around the topicthe artists I interviewed clearly werent interested in kid-glove treatment. But over the years at the International Quilt Festival, I noted what felt like a trend. Folks would look at a quilt, and if it was not the sort of work typically associated with quilts (read: reminiscent of grandmothers house), arguments over its merits ensuedIs it a quilt or not? I even read an article in the local paper one year where this question was put to a festival attendee, who deemed a work not a quilt because, he observed, it was nothing he could put on his bed.

Spike Gillespie, at home in Austin, Texas, showing the back of her quilt For Ori. Photograph by Ori Sofer

The way I see it, an article like that is setting up a false argument. Why ask an uninformed bystander to define a quilt? Why not ask a more pertinent question like,