Quilting By Committee
I’ve started this blog post a few times, and have spent nearly two weeks really thinking about it. It’s a tricky subject because so many of us give our quilts away. The quilters mentioned are amazing people and I thank them for allowing me to share this story for us all to learn.
Recently, one of the groups I work with began a discussion about “quilting by committee.” One of the participants was making a quilt for her grandson. He picked out a pattern that he liked and then (accompanied by his mother) went to a quilt shop to select fabrics. The pattern uses a jelly roll, and the units make several variable stars that seem to be shooting across the quilt leaving a trail of 2.5” squares in their wake. The center of each of the variable stars is a 30 patch of small squares. Upon reflection, the grandson really didn’t like the star centers – preferring something simpler. Our well-intentioned grandma made three sample stars – each with a different center square while she waited to see what fabrics the child selected from the store. She discussed the stars with her husband, her kids, and ultimately with our group. Of course, all of us had a different view about what treatment worked the best. When the fabrics arrived, they were similarly valued in a combination of both warm and cool prints. The background fabric didn’t really work with the fabric that was selected for the stars. Grandma returned to club for advice. How would she reconcile these fabrics with pattern? What fabric should she use as the background? What additional fabrics should she look for in her stash? She wanted to honor her grandson’s wishes, but she was facing the question many of us have faced – how to make everybody happy and still create a successful quilt?
I get it. We all want our quilts to be loved and treasured for decades. Right now, I am making a quilt for my nephew’s dorm room, and I want him to be proud to use it. I want him to feel the love and pride I feel for him as he starts his new college life. We all want the special people in our lives to treasure the quilts we make for them. Unfortunately, unless the special person in your life is a quilter, most people have no idea how many design decisions we make when we embark on the creative journey of making a quilt. For many, picking out the pattern or the fabric seems like a simple task. Of course we know otherwise. Once, I had a lady (who had never made a quilt in her life) show up to club with a “Double Wedding Ring Template kit” and a stack of old t-shirts. Another time, a lady arrived carrying a log cabin quilt in Pepto-Pink, every block was perfectly pieced, but you couldn’t see the design because the granddaughter chose the fabric and knew nothing about value. “Can we save it,” she asked with tears in her eyes, “I really want her to love it.”
I think the key is in the kind of collaboration we do with others. I believe that true collaboration is good, superficial collaboration can be dangerous. When I was in grad school, theatre directors were required to take courses in how to collaborate with other design professionals. Theatre directors guide actors’ performances to create a cohesive story, inspire costume and set designers to create elements that allow the actors to tell that story, and work with stage managers and technicians to work out the logistics required for performance. Quilters work much the same way – we curate fabrics and patterns to craft a unified top, we choose the correct method and tools for working with those fabrics, and ultimately break down the steps required to finish the quilt. Directors and quilt makers both make design decisions at every stage of creation; and those decisions affect everything that comes after.
In theatre, we spend hours and hours collaborating with all of the different people on the cast and crew. In quilting, we rarely collaborate, except maybe with a longarmer at the end of the process or a shop assistant when we are choosing fabric at the quilt store. It’s important to note that I’m not talking about when you help a young person make their own quilt – or when you make a quilt with another group of quilters. In those situations, you are truly collaborating— deciding what works best, and making informed design decisions together. The danger is when you collaborate superficially.
Superficial collaboration, or “quilting by committee” is dangerous because you give up far too much creative control over the project. Those decisions made by other people back you into unforeseen corners that are sometimes impossible to escape. The child who picks the fabrics he likes, may not work at all with the pattern. The sample blocks that grandma made were in different fabrics pulled from her stash, and will look very different from blocks made with the final fabric. The ability to “see” a finished quilt in various fabrics is a skill that takes years to master. Moreover, one person’s opinion about what “looks good,” is totally subjective and will vary from person to person. Grandpa might like one thing, mom another, and finally the child, something else entirely. Grandma is left stuck with fabric that doesn’t really work, a pattern that doesn’t inspire her, and a sincere desire to make something that will be loved by her cherished grandson… the rock and the hard place….
In my role as a longarmer, I see many quilts that have been created “by committee.” The quilter gets so wrapped up in making the committee happy, that opportunities for good design are sacrificed altogether. I’ve longarmed many quilts where the fabrics or pattern were chosen by non-quilters, and lead to quilts that even the quilt maker didn’t like or even enjoy making. With pressures on our time, I want my quilts to be beautiful and fun to make. In the end, it’s the quilt maker’s responsibility to truly direct the quilt, but we also want some assurance that our quilts will be truly appreciated. So to that end, I’ve come up with some tips for making a quilt for someone else. I hope that they are helpful.
1. Ask broad questions about color. What is your favorite color? Give me an example of something in your life that is this color. Describe your favorite place to see this color. By giving the favorite color a context, you can search for an appropriate palette on your own. If you want to shop with your person, have them pick two contrasting fabrics that work well together, that they really like. Get them to talk about why they like them; what memories do these combinations evoke? This will help you make the final fabric selection that serves the pattern on your own. My mom loves “Tiffany blue.” It reminds her of of happy times, her bike, and bright sunshine. She especially loves it paired with bright white and gray tones. I did a search for “Tiffany blue, bright white and gray, happy color palette” and generated working color group (light, mediums, and darks) that I could print and take to the quilt store.
2. I pick three patterns that are achievable in the time I want to spend on the project and show those before starting work. Maybe I want to learn a new technique or practice something specific. In any case I only choose patterns that I am excited to work on Next, I save the pictures of those patterns in black and white. Most non-quilters respond to color and fabric before the pattern. Ask them to rank the quilts in order and ask them what they like about each one. Most non-quilters have never seen a quilt pattern before and have no idea how many different genres of pattern exist. Remind your person that these patterns are not necessarily the patterns you will be using and if they don’t like any of them, you can look for more. Do they like quilts that are more “old fashioned” or those that are more “modern and new?” Where will they use their quilt, and what is the design like in that room?
3. Ask them how their quilt will be used generally. Do they want a quilt they can hang on the wall? Many non-quilters have never considered having a quilt that hangs like art. Would they like a quilt for tv-watching on the sofa or for using on the bed? Would they like a picnic quilt to take to the park or a football game? By asking them how the quilt will be used and sharing with them the many kinds of quilts that you can make – you gain valuable knowledge about what kind of materials to use, and what size/shape is most appropriate for their needs.
4. A note for when they hand you a stack of fabrics (t-shirts, grandpa’s silk tie collection, novelty fabric with their favorite football team…..) it is perfectly okay to say that you will incorporate some of the fabric into the quilt, but you may not be able to use all of it. With kids, it’s helpful to allow them to pick one or two fabrics that work and you pick the rest. The same is true for the bag of grandma’s handkerchiefs – pick the ones that work well together – and don’t forget that you can always use some on the back or save them for another project.
A big part of growing as an artist is the ability to trust oneself. I really do get it. Quilts are a big investment of time and often of money, too. Humans often seek out reassurance and direction when we aren’t sure. It’s easy to seek this assurance from those closest to us only to end up with another opinion to factor into the mix; another person to satisfy. I always try to remember that important that no matter what my husband says about a piece, that I am the quilt maker, and it’s my art. One of my theatre mentors taught us that once the play opens, “it’s totally out of your hands.” She meant that after I finish directing, I can’t tell an audience how to interpret the play – or how to feel about it. It either works or it doesn’t. I believe that the same is true for the quilts we make.
There is no “appreciation guarantee,” that we can buy for our work. In my time teaching and longarming, I’ve learned the hard way that even though it may feel counterintuitive; it’s better to collaborate for real or not at all. There are no shortcuts for learning how to trust your own design instincts. Only with practice will you learn the particulars of your own aesthetic sensibilities and hone your craft. This in turn will lead to better quilts which are bound to be cherished for many years to come.
Don’t forget, I’m always around for an opinion if you need me.
-A