QUILTING ART
- By Martha Mosher
I am a quilter. Well, technically, I am a piecer, which means I like to play with color and pattern and make quilt tops. I don’t do a lot of the finish quilting work, choosing to have others do that for me. I support a 3.7-billion-dollar a year industry, yes, billions, you did not misread that. The 2017 industry survey estimated there are 7-10 million quilters in the US. That’s a lot of spending power. Quilts are now being stolen and fenced. Why? Because they have value. One of my quilts was appraised last year at just over $1,200.00. That’s insurance value.
Quilts are commissioned. They hang in hospitals and corporate offices.
Quilts are art. The best-of-show quilt at the International Quilt Festival in Houston, Texas won $12,500.00. The American Quilters’ Society awards $10,000.00 for its best-of-show.
THIS IS ART
Quilters have our own language. We speak of jelly rolls and layer cakes, fat quarters, half-square triangles and monkey wrenches.
Quilters live in a world filled with math, especially fractions. We deal with 8ths – 1/8th of a yard, 3/8th of an inch. It’s Quilter’s Math, and, yes, there is an app for that.
Quilters have tools – rotary cutters, clips, specialized rulers, scissors and sewing machines. We repurpose tools from other professions. We rarely have only one of anything. Top of the line sewing machines from the big manufacturers are listed for $15,000.00
Then there is the fabric stashed wherever there is space—under beds, in closets, even behind ceiling tiles so a prying spouse or child will not find it. Fabric is our paint, our primary medium. However this has expanded to leather, vinyl, hot-fix crystals and beads.
Quilting creates community. Quilters meet in guilds and show our art in quilt shows. We attend classes, and national and international events. Quilters network. We also give our time and energy making quilts for fire departments and maternity wards. There is a national program called Quilts of Valor which strives to provide quilts free of charge to veterans and active service personnel. Quilters wrap our communities with warmth and love.
Quilters also use art to address important social change. There are quilts that address slavery, HIV, poverty, and fear. Name a social issue and there is a quilt out there making a statement about it. Remember the Aids Quilt? The Susan B. Anthony Museum is making one to commemorate the ratification of the 19th Amendment in August 1920.
Quilters Mend…
Learning anything new helps keep the brain healthy and decreases the risk of dementia. Medical science is beginning to understand this, at least anecdotally. Quilting reduces anxiety and your blood pressure, like petting a cat can. This is one of the reasons I quilt and what led me to this fabulous fabric art.
I contracted meningitis in the summer of 1978. I had two small children and a husband and was only 7 years into my pharmacy practice. When doctors in New London, CT couldn’t help, I was referred to a research project at Yale-New Haven Hospital where I became a research subject for seven years. My symptoms were treated with prednisone and I underwent three or four clinical trials and one hospital admission. My brain was mush and I had trouble reading and doing math. My handwriting deteriorated and strobe lights, or anything like them, made me black out. In 1983 another researcher isolated the bacterium that was making me ill and I received 10 days of IV antibiotic treatment. I was “cured”. It wasn’t that simple. While I could walk and talk and take care of my family and continue to work, there were still parts of “Me” that were missing. I was dyslexic with numbers – reversing 3 and 9. I couldn’t read for comprehension – I read Clan of the Cave Bear three times before I made any sense of it. None of this qualified me for rehabilitation as it was known in the 1980’s so I invented my own program. I turned to needle arts; first complex counted cross stitch and then quilting. Reading slowly and multiple times, I reprogrammed my brain to read patterns then translate those patterns into fiber. I used yardage calculations to reinforce math skills, especially multiplication and division. I converted fractions to decimals and back again. I chose difficult, complex patterns that made me focus. I fought my way back.
…and Heal Others
Now that I am retired, quilting brings me full circle, back into the world. I founded a startup called Quilted Care. Quilted Care is based on a program called Mindful Quilting for Mental Focus and works on restoring fine motor skills and mental agility. I have taught in quilt shops and have had private students. I have taught Alzheimer’s patients who learn repetitive tasks very differently. Using tactile art, we play and discover, or rediscover, ourselves. It’s adult play with learning on many levels.
Not yet a quilter? Come see one of the shows going on this year to learn more about this exciting art.
- Lake to Lake Quilt Guild – April 10 -11 in Geneva.
There are also many quilting groups that support members, and help us celebrate our challenges and victories. Some upcoming area meetings:
- Webster Quilt Guild – April 18-19, websterquiltguild.com/quiltshow.shtml;
- Perinton Quilt Guild – May 2, www.perintonquiltguild.com/; and,
- Irondequoit Quilt Club – September 26-27, www.irondequoitquiltclub.org/.
Interested in learning how to piece and quilt? There is probably a group near you. Check out the Quilt Consortium of New York State (qcnys.org) to find a guild, ask at your library or contact me at mgmosher@att.net. or martha@mindfulquilting.com. Come visit my studio, you will probably find me at my machine, stitching.
Martha Mosher is the owner of Quilted Care, a business she started to help others discover the benefits of “producing a tactile piece of art that celebrates the life experiences (including challenges) of the participant.” She offers quilting programs for not-for-profits and community groups and individual quilting lessons. She is also the founder of the Microbusiness Network at the Canandaigua Chamber of Commerce. Learn more about Quilted Care at: mindfulquilting.com/