Why Quilts Matter –
Question & Answer with Bill Volckening

Regular readers of the Why Quilts Matter blog will already be familiar with recurring contributor, Bill Volckening. His background as a student of the Rhode Island School of Design, School of Visual Arts, New York University, and the International Center of Photography all worked together to create the foundation for a Bill’s appreciation of quilts. He humorously refers to himself as a “quilt magnet”! Bill has been collecting, studying and appraising quilts for more than twenty years. When responding to an earlier Q&A with Kate Spain, Bill expressed a wish for continuing the conversation on how technology has impacted the world of quilts. We wasted no time sitting down with him to discuss that very subject.

Why Quilts Matter –
Question and Answer with with Valerie White

Freshly inspired from her recent trip to Italy, Valerie White joins us to continue the conversation about Why Quilts Matter. Prior to becoming a full time artist, Valerie took her Howard University degree in general art and ceramics and spent over 20 years working as an art educator, retiring from the District of Columbia Public Schools in 1999.

Why Quilts Matter –
Question and Answer with Mary Pal

Just back from teaching at the Birmingham Festival of Quilts is Canadian studio art quilter, Mary Pal. Even without knowing her name you are probably familiar with Mary’s distinctive cheesecloth portraiture, a technique she lectures on and shares with fortunate art quilters across Ontario, Canada.

Watch Out World, We’re Streaming on Amazon!

Rent it. Own it. Buy one episode at a time.   Why Quilts Matter: History, Art & Politics is now available on Amazon streaming so you can watch right from your tablet or phone! We’ve rolled out the first four episodes to get you started, each approximately 26 minutes in length. Start off with a […]

Why Quilts Matter – Question and Answer with Thomas Knauer, Part 2

Part two of our Q&A series with fabric designer and quilt activist Thomas Knauer continues with an exploration of handwork vs. machine work and just how a quilt arrives at the place where it is considered “museum worthy.”  Part 1 of our dialog with Thomas was published on August 26, 2013, read it here. How […]

Why Quilts Matter – Question and Answer with Thomas Knauer, Part 1

For the next two weeks, the Why Quilts Matter Q&A series spotlight will shine on quilt aficionado and fabric designer Thomas Knauer. Thomas caught our eye earlier this year when he blogged about the importance of supporting those institutions that exist to record the history and work toward the preservation of quilts: “As much as […]

Celebrating the Success with Bill Volckening

When creating a large project like Why Quilts Matter: History, Art & Politics, we relied heavily on the support of many people from those who provided photos for the series to those who generously gave financial support to get us up and running. We’d like to highlight one friend in particular, who continues to support […]

Current Promotion for Our Facebook Fans

Receive free shipping on Why Quilts Matter: History, Art & Politics DVD set: Visit our Facebook page, click on “Like,” and receive a promotion code for this offer!   * Note: Current promotion ends on 8/18/2013 at 11:59PM EST.

Quilts – Art or Not?

Episode #4 of Why Quilts Matter asks the question – “What is art?” How does the question relate to quilts? Are they purely functional objects? Are they works of art? Do they fall some place in between, and can the function evolve over time? Does a functional object become something else once it includes decoration, or as it ages? What role does context play?

Why Quilts Matter – Question and Answer with Lynne Bassett

“Since quilts were made—not by artisans—but by ordinary women whose lives they closely reflect, they are fonts of information about the people and periods they represent.” Why Quilts Matter: History, Art and Politics   Who better to talk about Episode 2: Quilts Bring History Alive and the great stories behind quilts than quilt historian and textile […]

Why Quilts Matter –
Question and Answer with Angela Walters

Have you seen the June/July issue of Quilters Newsletter? If you have, you probably recognize the free motion quilting handiwork of Angela Walters. As popular teacher and fabric designer, Angela didn’t start out quilting. Rather, she arrived at it through her love of sketching. “For as long as I can remember I have always loved […]

New York Beauty Quilts at an Exhibition in San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles

It’s been busy lately. My exhibition, “Collecting New York Beauty Quilts” opens on July 31st at the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles in San Jose, California. The exhibition will run through October 27th and will include more than 30 quilts made between 1850 and the present, all variants in the New York Beauty genre.

Why Quilts Matter – Question and Answer with Kate Spain

More and more of the 20,000,000 quilters that make up Quilt Nation (Why Quilts Matter: History, Art & Politics – Episode 8) are finding themselves taking a digital approach to quilting. While quilt-designing software is not new, the abundance of resources found on the Internet has multiplied exponentially. Online communities enable far-flung quilters to connect with each other, share their projects and create electronic libraries of patterns, blocks and techniques. Fabric shopping is no longer limited to shops within driving distance. Quilters have their choice of fabrics from all over the world and designers are able to reach a broader audience than was previously possible.

To learn other ways technology has changed quilting, we spoke with Moda fabric designer Kate Spain to explore how her embrace of online communities has influenced her fabric, rug and decorative pillow designs.

Why Quilts Matter – Question and Answer with Bari J. Ackerman

Next up in our Why Quilts Matter – Discussion Guide Q&A series is Bari J. Ackerman, better known as “Bari J.” She is a quilt pattern, embroidery and fabric/surface designer and the author of Inspired to Sew. Her background in graphic design and copy writing transitioned naturally into designing fabric. The Lilly Belle and Splendor […]

The New Vintage – by Bill Volckening

When I first started collecting quilts, anything made before 1900 was an antique and 1930s quilts were vintage. Today, there’s a new vintage, and it’s a trend seen in the last decade with other collectibles. There really wasn’t much interest in quilts from the second half of the 20th century until recently, but the market is quickly heating up. Interestingly, the quilts of this period don’t necessarily adhere to the style commonly known as mid-century modern.