Quilts at the V&A

I had a really good day today with Jo and Christine, two of my friends who quilt, when we visited the Quilts Exhibition at the V&A. It was really good to see such a range of quilts spanning hundreds of years. An excellent exhibition that I would recommend not just to quilters but to anyone interested in art and textiles.

The one thing that stood out for me is the standard we force on ourselves today, or have forced on us. So many of the quilts that were two or three hundred years old were not "perfect" in that the patches may not have lined up "correctly" or the patterns were not quite "right" or the quilting stitches were no "small and even" but there they were, hanging in a museum as examples of a craft of their time. Why is it that today exhibits in shows are expected to be perfect and up the the scrutiny of the quilt police? Time we took a stand!

Yet again, having vowed never to make another quilt, I came home full of ideas of things to do, some of which involved making quilts! Watch this space and see if it happens. Another good thing is Jo and I have finally, after much talking over a number of years, made a date for a regular get together to mutually encourage each other and share and bounce ideas off each other so that we can be more focussed about our craft. I feel very excited about the future, just need to take myself in hand and make a regular time each week for creating.