Why Quilts Matter –
Question & Answer with Sue Benner

More recently, the methods of interpreting and designing quilts have taken a decidedly scientific turn. Chemistry comes in to play with encaustic surface design and fabric dying. We discussed more of those scientific influences with quilt artist and teacher Sue Benner, who also happens to be a molecular biologist!

Why Quilts Matter –
Question & Answer with Joan Schulze

Next up in our series of Q and A from the Why Quilts Matter Discussion Guide is artist Joan Schulze. Widely recognized on the national and international scene as a teacher and lecturer, Joan is a technique pioneer who decades ago began to experiment with fabric dyeing, painting and using Xerox transfer on her fabric. […]

Why Quilts Matter –
Question & Answer with Carol Ann Waugh

Some of the more popular and contentious questions from the Why Quilts Matter Discussion Guide have to do with the use of digital technology and machine quilting. Should those quilts be judged separately or differently in competitions? Have the new technologies helped or harmed the craft? Who better to give us a long-range look at the impact of technology on quilting than thirty-year fiber artist, published author, teacher and lecturer Carol Ann Waugh. Carol uses a wide variety of techniques in her work and shares her views on the subject.

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.

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Why Quilts Matter – Question & Answer with Martha Sielman

Why Quilts Matter – Discussion Guide Q&A series continues by taking a look at Episode 6: How Quilts have been Viewed and Collected. Who better to talk about the different styles of quilting and the challenges women face in getting their work in galleries than Martha Sielman, the Executive Director of Studio Art Quilt Associates, Inc. (SAQA). In addition to authoring many books on studio art quilts, Martha is the curator of Masters II – An International Quilt Event at The New England Quilt Museum.

Why Quilts Matter – Question & Answer with Denyse Schmidt

Many questions in the Why Quilts Matter Discussion Guide focus on the changes and future of the art of quilting. Who better to answer those questions than Denyse Schmidt, a quilter, former graphic designer, and graduate of Rhode Island School of Design.

Why Quilts Matter – Discussion Guide Q&A with Joe Cunningham

As part of our celebration of National Quilting Month we are pleased to present a series of blog interviews with people you have said you “follow”. First up in the series is Joe Cunningham. Joe began making quilts professionally in 1979 after a ten-year career as a musician in Michigan. His quilts are in the permanent collections of museums, as well as in numerous private collections, and has both authored or collaborated on numerous books on quilting.