Quilt Finished and "Why Quilts Matter"

Here's the finished Animal Alphabet quilt:

It has already reached it's new home! As a reminder, this pattern is from Don't Look Now: http://dontlooknow.bigcartel.com/product/animal-alphabet

I'm now working on needlepoint for a few weeks before I start on my next project.

In other news, I just finished watching the documentary miniseries "Why Quilts Matter" on thequiltshow.com.  And frankly I was incredibly disappointed!  I don't consider myself a "traditional" quilter per se, I am really interested in art quilts and can't wait to try making some myself, but this show was WAY too focused on quilts as a monetary piece of "art" that can be bought or sold.  I mean, there was an entire episode about appraising quilts!  The host isn't even a quilter, she's a "collecter."  I felt like the show rather disparaged traditional quilters (like basically poo-pooing anyone who had negative things to say about the Gee's Bend quilts-also I swear they found a way to mention Gee's Bend in every single episode.  There are other art quilters out there too!).  Basically I felt like it only focused on a sub-set of the quilting community (no, we don't all sell our quilts, and there's plenty of innovation going on within the people who still make quilts to go on beds!) and made it sound like all other quilters are backwards "crafters" who don't really deserve a second thought.

The only episode I liked was episode 8 ("Quilt Nation") because it was the only one that actually talked about quilters.  The rest were seriously focused on collectors and quilts that are bought and sold in galleries and museums.  Anyways, I'm sure many people loved this series, but I wasn't interested in the topics it covered and felt like it had some pretty strong opinions on what was right or wrong, what kind of quilt was "good" or "bad."  I think what is good or bad is all in the eye of the quilter that makes that quilt, and I don't really have an interest in other people judging whether my quilts are "worthy" or not.  I guess, according to one guy in this series, I'm a "Sunday painter." (yes, I'm miffed).

Blog-o-sphere drama!

Every once in a while, the whole quilting blog community finds something to get up in arms about. I find these situations very interesting to follow because quilters are generally a very polite bunch, so it's very interesting to see how everyone reacts to these volatile situations (I am reminded of last years "tradition vs modern" hullabaloo).

This past week, it has been an issue over copyright related to fabrics and quilt patterns. Here is my interpretation of the facts:

-Blogger Emily Cier published a book of quilt patterns.  One of the sample quilts photographed for the book was made completely of one designer's fabric line (Kate Spain).
-The book publisher, C&T Publishing, decided to choose that quilt to print on tote bags that they make up to promote many of their books.
-Kate Spain's lawyers asked C&T to not print the totes as it violated copyright.  Overreactions and miscommunications ensued on all sides.

Now there's plenty more to the story, you should read the following statements before you draw your own opinion:

Emily's posts:http://carolinapatchworks.com/blog/2011/11/17/an-interesting-read/
http://carolinapatchworks.com/blog/2012/02/14/resolution-to-an-interesting-read/
http://carolinapatchworks.com/blog/2012/03/22/more-sides-to-the-story/
C&T Publishing's post: http://www.ctpubblog.com/2012/03/26/a-few-thoughts-about-copyright-and-quilts/
Kate's post: http://katespaindesigns.blogspot.mx/2012/03/on-copyright-and-tote-bags.html

Many quilters are upset and are saying they will now boycott Kate's fabrics.  Kate points out that she is just trying to protect her livelihood.  Quilters are mostly concerned about where the line is drawn between what uses of fabric are copyright violation and what are not.

Here are my thoughts on the issue:

• Ignoring who is right or wrong, I am very confused as to where the line is drawn between what is copyright violation and what isn't.  Why is printing a photo of a quilt using a single line of fabric okay for a book but not for a tote?  Both items are mass marketed for profit of people other than the original fabric designer. 
• As many have pointed out, what are we to do when a quilt is composed of fabrics from many different designers?  Where is the line drawn that you need to cite the fabric designer? 
• And, most interestingly, the CEO of C&T posed a question that I will quote here: "Who is the copyright holder of an original quilt design? Is it the person who designs the quilt, or the person(s) who design the fabrics used in the quilt? Is it a percentage of both? Does the photographer who takes a photo of a quilt own the copyright to the photograph?"

All food for thought.

Here's another food for thought:  I'm currently reading Heirloom Machine Quilting by Harriet Hargrave.  In it she goes on a rant about people who don't quilt their own quilts: "A growing percentage of quilts at quilt shows are not quilted by the person who made the top.  Many are quilted similarly, on longarm machines.  Where is our guide and inspiration for quilting all of the tops we've been lured into making based on pattern, design, and color? So often, out of frustration, we neatly fold the top, and start another pretty project...What happened to turning beginners into quiltmakers, not topmakers?" 

Ooooh...them's fighting words! Anyways, this paragraph really made me sit back and think about how I'm approaching quilting. She really advocates for thinking about how you will quilt a quilt before you even begin with the pattern.