Moda has just come out with pre-cut bias binding for quilters. I read that and my head exploded. I had a flashback to when I worked in a fabric store and little old ladies who last bought thread when Coats and Clarke cost a nickel would come in and ask for bias binding, the stiff, coarse strips of fabric tightly rolled on cardboard that wouldn't match any color that existed post-World War II which is probably when most of the crap was manufactured.
This latest development does match a current trend that disturbs me greatly -- the one where a quilter can buy a pre-selected, pre-cut quilt and go home and slap it together in an hour. Where's the fun or skill in that? Where's the heirloom in that? And more importantly, what's the point? If you're doing it for relaxation, how about a beer on the porch watching Duck Dynasty?
Some "modern" quilters have taken the stance that the three-color, geometric, art quilts are the future, and that we traditionalists are inefficient old geezers with too much time on our hands, and who, if not yet obsolete, should hie thee to oblivion as quickly as possible.
What I'm supposed to say here, in an age of political correctness, is that everyone's opinion is valid. I'm supposed to smile politely and nod with understanding to acknowledge that I hear them and accept their views with a kind and happy heart. But I don't. I think they're just plain wrong.
I have antique quilts that I pore over to admire the stitching, the embroidery, the context of history. These are quilts that have taken on a poetry; every time I look at them I find a new detail and wonder at the patience of the quilter who took such care and time choosing her fabrics and placing her stitches. I want my nieces to feel me in the quilts I leave behind. Quite frankly, I can't imagine a "modern" quilt having that kind of longevity. Who's really going to care about a quilt constructed quickly from a jelly roll five years from now, let alone twenty?
So, all you modernists, stop giving me static about my hand work. My embroidery was not done by machine, the edges of my applique are turned under (unless it's wool) and, yes, that is a thimble in my pocket. I've got a weird callus on the middle finger of my left hand which will confound a forensic scientist if I'm ever found dead in an alley, and I wear it with pride. I've hand quilted many stitches to earn it. It's my first official "old fart" badge.
