February 18, 2010 – Quilters Never “Win” – they just quilt for fun!
We have a lot of sports idioms to describe a close race….a matter of inches, winning by a nose, too close to call, photo finish, down to the wire. In sports it always comes down to who crosses the line first, or performs the best on that particular day. And many times the difference between first and second is just a hundredth of a second or a fraction of a point. In this Olympics we have seen a skier win the bronze medal, missing gold by nine hundredths of a second and silver by just two hundredths of a second. But he competed and did his best on that particular day. If the race was held again tomorrow, the outcome may be reversed. Or he may fall and never finish the race. We’ll never know and it does not matter. The point is he put in hours of practice and honed his body to be fit and able to compete with the best athletes in the world. Isn’t that accomplishment enough.
So is quilting a sport? We work hard to cut out our pieces precisely, and to piece or applique them together into beautifully designed quilts. Much care goes into the fabric selection, into stitching precise 1/4″ seams, into carefully pressing the blocks and stitching the whole top together. Then we carefully quilt the top, batting and backing together, choosing a quilt design that complements the pattern. We spend more hours attaching and stitching down a binding and adding a label to identify ourselves as the quilter. If one were to compare it to a sport, quilting would be most like running a marathon, we pace ourselves and put in two or three hours a day to be sure that the quilt is finished by the deadline…be it our daughter’s graduation, or son’s wedding, or our best friends 60th birthday. In the end we are satisfied with our accomplishment.
There are many quilt shows, local and national. Some quilt shows are just exhibitions, some are major competitions. But how does one “win” a quilt show. What is it that makes one quilt better than another? Certainly quilts can be judged on quality of workmanship…but for really experienced quilters, who can say that quilt A is “Better” than quilt B? Should they be judged on fabric selection, or how well the points match, or the quilt design, or the amount of time it took to finish the quilt? All of these criteria are subjective and in a way meaningless. Like comparing a Rembrandt to a Picasso. The beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Quilts should be made to be loved, to be cuddled under on a cold night, to adorn one’s walls as artwork and to give one pleasure. This year I have entered my first quilt into a judged show…but I don’t care if it “wins”…I made this quilt as a gift to my daughter, for her to enjoy and use as she may. I sent it off to the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival, hoping others would see it and enjoy it. Quilting is not meant to be a sport, with winners and losers, quilting is a craft, which one learns and practices and passes on to the next generation. Quilts are meant to be shared not judged. Our local quilt guild Quilters Unlimited puts on a non-judged quilt show every year…the only requirement is that the quilter is a member of our guild. This year’s show will be held June 4 – 6, 2010 At the Dulles Expo Center in Chantilly Virginia.
Come visit and enjoy!
Betty Dietz