i for one am very happy about the turn this thread has taken as it caused me to sidetrack from my tasks at hand and go read Lisa's blog, find out more about the quilt and find completely couchy. definitely worth the time it took me - and i don't really care that i'll be at work till the security guard throws me out!

yes, i do agree that we should try to get the whole picture before we act - however sometimes we just don't feel we have the time - and as it in this case - the follow-up can turn into a very informative and lively discourse giving a whole bunch of us the opportunity to learn more.

congratulations Lisa!

Talk about a rabbit trail! I asked a simple question about a quilting aid called the Supreme Slider and now we are onto the topic of modern quilts, censorship, etc. LOL and Yikes!
So here's my opinion on the aforementioned trails. 1. There is plenty of room for all kinds of quilts. 2. There is plenty of room for all kinds of quilters. 3. There are plenty of reasons not to judge someone based on their appearance. 4. I can appreciate individual aspects of a quilt even I don't like it as a whole. 5. I can appreciate your style of quilting even if I don't aim to emulate it. 5. If I don't like any part of your quilt, I do not have to look at it. 6. And finally, if I don't like a quilt and feel the need to express that, I can do it politely.

All that being said, I do have to add that when my girls were young, I frequently took them to quilt shows with me and I would not have appreciated having to answer questions about a quilt with words on it that I don't allow in my home. There's that fine line again between rights to free speech and not purposely being offensive. That will never be agreed upon. It is my personal choice to avoid certain language and actions.

Now about that Supreme Slider.......
Still lovin' the Sew Slip II and I imagine the Supreme Slider would work just as well, it's just more expensive.

I'll try to keep my humble opinion to myself in future... or express it more clearly. Hooray
for survivors every where !

LOL!! We could probably all learn a LOT from a color-blind child!

Pink hair - so what (although I am delighted for the reason behind it) Now I had better go & have a look at the blog....

In UK The leading teacher of embroidery at Goldsmiths College and one of the leaders of 'Modern Embroidery' from at least the 50's onwards was a lady called Constance Howard and she always had green hair. She was a HUGE inspiration to hundreds of students and is one of the major names of the British embroidery & textiles world for the 20th century. http://www.gold.ac.uk/constance-howard/constance/

An interesting side story was that a lady who was attending one of CH's lectures had to take her small son with her, and to avoid any loud embarassing comments about her hair colour, explained to her son that there would be a lady with green hair there. Well the time came, and her son asked 'Where is the lady with the green hair?' - it turned out that he was colour blind and nobody had realised until then.

Lisa, congratulations on your awards at Quiltcon. Beautiful quilts. And congrats on your pink hair and your reason for it. Happy days.

Lisa, thanks for your insights. I agree with you that anyone who chooses to piece/applique/quilt is part of this big family of quilters. Personally, I find modern quilts to be very appealing, and I welcome the influx of a younger group of quilters into the fold. Innovative art pushes the boundaries to places that some find uncomfortable, and that's OK. We all just need to be respectful of the effort and emotion that went into the creation of ANY quilt, even if it's not our cup of tea. I know this is a good reminder for ME before I head to Paducah next month. You never know when the maker of a quilt is within earshot!

Hugs to you Lisa! And congratulations on your anniversary!

On your PHONE?? :shock: Holey Moley! I love your convictions and the fact that you aren't afraid to kindly say what you think!

And thank you Margo once again, just for being you.i apologize for typos and whatnot. It's not easy doing this on my phone!

idaho wrote:
I'm sorry you feel that way based on one blog. And if you actually read the entire post I would hope that you realize that what I was saying wasn't about a quilt or quilt shows or quilters at all. All of that was just a nice segue into the real point which was simply that words and how we use them are important.
How we treat people is important. A lot of times, we say things - often on the Internet - thinking that the people at which it's directed will never see it. Perhaps you thought I would never see the quote above. Regardless, people have feelings and that should always be taken into consideration in any conversation we have.
While I can apologize for you maybe taking what I was saying or how I was saying it the wrong way, I will never apologize for asking people to be nice on a fundamental level. And that's exactly what I was doing. I believe the title of the blog post is a good indication of that.
And if you read a bit further back, that will realize that being nice is basically the theme of my entire blog, my life, my being.
When I see something wrong, I will not under any circumstance sit by idly and just watch it happen. I will always step up and defend the underdog, minority, anyone being wronged. Because for me to not say something indicates approval or me condoning the behavior and I absolutely just can't do that. It's not who I am.
I do not regret writing that post. And I wish that if you had some sort of differing opinion, you would've hit the "comment" button and told me so. I'm a big girl, and I welcome and encourage discussion from all view points. And I believe I actually stated in the post in question that I was wanting to have a discussion. You would have been welcome there. You could have told me how you felt and why, and I would have respected that and told you the ways in which I agreed or disagreed with you. Unfortunately that is not how these things usually work. And I would like to try my best to change that. I would like to encourage as much as possible having adult and intellectual conversations regardless of differences in opinion. You might be surprised the lasting friendships you can make when you open yourself up for conversations like this.
I wrote that blog because I was hurting for someone that was being hurt for no reason.
So in summation, I'm sorry you didn't like the blog. But again, I will not apologize for writing it.

As far as negative reviews of QuiltCon, I actually have not seen any negativity directed at the actual show. That quilt? Yes. The negativity was BEFORE the show. Because people have a very skewed idea of what modern quilting really is if they aren't a part of it or haven't taken any time to actually research the deeper meaning behind it. It is no different than traditional quilting in that regard. It is simply a different means to a different end. And I am willing to defend the modern quilting movement though I don't necessarily consider myself a modern quilter. I'm a quilter. I do what I like. That may me "modern" or may just be... Whatever. I don't know. Part of what I love about this community is how awesome it is as far as the incredible friends I've met. It hasn't been easy being "different". I had to prove, and hopefully continue to prove to others that I deserve to be heard, I actually know what I'm doing, and I deserve to be taken seriously. Most that don't know me likely think I'm just a nutty pink haired crazy kid. I am a bit nutty I suppose and I'm not ashamed of it. The pink hair is a celebration of my being cancer free thanks to an amazing surgeon. Today is the three year anniversary of my hysterectomy by the way. YAY LIFE! And regardless of what I look like or how old I am, I do know what I'm doing. I have an incredible amount of respect for the tradition and history of this art of quilting althought preconceived notions of the person people think I am, versus the person that I really am, may lead them to believe that isn't true.

Reetzbobeetz wrote:
I was not aware of unkind reviews, but I saw the Modern Quilt display and was duly impressed! There were so many quilts available for viewing in Houston, I can't imagine people complaining that one special display was taking up space that should have gone to another collection!

Then again, you can't please all of the people all of the time!

Margo I am sure there are still traditional quilters out there who think the only kind of quilting is hand quilting! But I think there is plenty of room for us all here on this planet and in this quilting world. I love what the modern quilters are doing and I welcome the shake up. Lisa is very emphatic and open in her blogs - that takes courage and I admire her for it. Were there unkind reviews of the show?