One of the great things about QuiltCon was the possibility. Did I want to wander the floor? Did I want to talk nothing but technique? How about take classes? Go out to eat? Drink? Get a tattoo? Talk quilts and quilting and the future of modern quilting while doing all of the above? One of the things I miss most about being in academia was the ability to fully immerse myself, use all of my brain and think so intently it felt like every part of my body was contributing to thinking so much and so deeply and so hard about something. QuiltCon supplied that need for me, and it was a heady experience.
I’m looking forward to the next chance to do just that again, except this time at the New Englad Quilt Festival. I’ve got all the classes I want (Angela Walters! Lisa Sipes! Dawn Cavanaugh!), and I will be able to immerse myself entirely for three heady days in my work and craft. I’m also excited because this combines everything for me: traditional and modern, art and craft, business and pleasure. I’ve always found the divide between “traditional” and “modern” to be rather discouraging, and I’ve gotten to the point where I just don’t care that much any more. We can always learn, and some of the most surprising, useful and profound lessons come from areas we would never consider. Why limit yourself to one thing when you can have it all?
I, too, wish traditional & modern quilting could exist more harmoniously.
I actually blogged about it a while ago.
I’m not buying into it.
I like some, not all, modern quilts.
I like some, not all, traditional quilts.
But I appreciate ALL quilters and quilting styles.
So, I’m with you.
I have it all.
You know, I was all stressy about it just after QuiltCon, and I think it’s just a matter of letting it all be water off a duck’s back. If it’s not one thing, it’s another, and the more I think about it (and I’ve thought about it a great deal), the more I think I will just do my own thing and it will all sort itself out. From a business standpoint, it doesn’t make any sense to keep oneself to the strict definitions, and being able to do a bit of everything is a help, not a hindrance. From a personal standpoint, I will keep on making the things that appeal to me, which just happen to be Classical in nature because that’s how I roll.