QuiltCon Best of Show

Melissa Averinos: My brother's jeans

Icame across a strong critique of the Melissa Averinos ' "My Brother's Jeans" quilt which won Best of Show on Katie's Quilting Corner blog and posted the following comment. There were many previous comments, measured and by no means vituperative, but few who approved of the judges' choice.
QuiltCon16 was my first QuiltCon. I have been to Houston and Paducah. I recognise the amazing technical and artistic skill required to make the winning quilts at these latter events but I feel they are very laborious and ticking lots of technique boxes to the point of deadness in some cases. I have found the Modern Quilt world to be a breath of fresh air with newer younger women exploring our craft from a standing position but making quilts out of their heads rather than a book or picking up on piecing ideas on the internet and using fresh modern fabrics to make them. As time has gone on I have noticed a  tendency for the quilts to move off beds onto walls and for people to bring a high level of skill to the making. Please don't make the QuiltCon judging a matter of squareness and binding corners - let quilts be about our life as women (or men)  in this world today. Setting the back story of the BOS aside this quilt had resonance because of the worn and recycled materials, its restraint and it's size. The rain and cloud quilt (on Katie's blog post) had graphic impact because of its directness and simplicity but one would soon cease to look at it while the BOS quilt would yield new things for years to come and respond to touch as well - definitely one for the bed. It stood apart from the rest. I like the fact that non quilters but with other takes on the visual world are included in the  judging as they are less likely to be less distracted by technical details but see the quilt as a whole. I liked the fact QuiltCon is a celebration of the modern quilt movement as a whole; I'm sure many excluded quilts were technically better than those that got in. But let not all the entries aspire to one thing, technical excellence, box ticking and catching the eye of the judges. Let them be quilts we have made because we wanted to and needed to regardless. I thought Victoria Findlay Wolf's  technically assured, joyful and very original quilt an understandable and very deserving winner of the Viewers' Choice award too - there is room for both.

Victoria Findlay Wolf: Mr Swirl E. Bones

On display at the show