Last Thursday evening, Bonnie Hunter -
the Queen of Quiltville,
the Queen of Quiltville,
came to our guild and gave us a wonderful trunk show.
She opened the lecture with her thoughts on those annoying questions she has been asked over the years about why she makes so many quilts. Her words ran soooooooo true to me. It's like she wrote from MY thoughts. I wrote her an email the next day and asked to post her thoughts here and she generously gave me permission.
How Many Quilts?
After having been asked how many quilts I've made, who I'm making this one for, or that one for or why, and how many quilts do I think I need....
I came to the following conclusion:
I am a creator, an artist, just as much as a painter is...
Does anyone ask a painter who he is painting for or why he is painting yet
another landscape? How many pictures/portraits he has painted?
How many canvases or paintings he needs?
NO!
Does a painter stop wanting to paint because he has reached some number
that symbolizes the end of his need to paint?
"Okay, that's number 100, I'm done now..."
I create because I am driven to create. My medium just happens to be fabric and thread, instead of oil or acrylics on canvas… but I create for the same reason… to express myself, to share myself, to experiment...
Even if the quilt doesn't have a purpose,
a recipient, a reason.
a recipient, a reason.
Quilting is my voice.
I Quilt, Therefore I Am!
*Ü* Bonnie Hunter May 9, 2004
Ironically, I was pondering all of this today while I was sitting at my machine. Thank you for sharing, Polly - I've seen this on Bonnie's website. I appreciate the reminder.
ReplyDeleteYeah!!! Thank-you so much for sharing!!
ReplyDeleteI once posed the same question on my blog and received the most wonderful reply from Latane Barton. She simply wrote, "You have enough quilts made when your soul is filled, your creativity satisfied and the fingers just won't work anymore."
ReplyDeleteWell spoken Bonnie! Polly, thank you for sharing her "voice"!
ReplyDeleteOh Polly how wonderful to have had Bonnie Hunter at your guild. What she says is so true, we just create quilts because we love too.
ReplyDeleteHow fun to have Bonnie visit your guild! I read her statement on her blog too~ so true! :-) Thanks for the reminder! :-)
ReplyDeleteI quilt, therefore I am. What a great thought. Thanks for sharing Bonnie's words of wisdom.
ReplyDelete