The Quilt Show's Daily Blog features U&U

It was great to chat with someone just as excited about quilts as I am. It's always a pleasure when someone sees these quilts as I do -- as "bridges between the traditional quilts of the past and the new modern quilts, which are coming to the forefront of quilting." There is a recognition of the soulfulness in these quilts. Thank you!

 

Read the feature in The Quilt Show's Daily Blog here.

“Did they run out of fabric? Did they want to use up their scraps? Or perhaps they were accepting a personal challenge to create something beautiful out of chaos. In many cases, he is as interested in what they used for the back of their quilts as much as what they used on the front.”
— The Daily Blog

Janneken Smucker weighs in

“I had the pleasure of interviewing Roderick for my research for Amish Quilts: Crafting an American Icon about his role as a quilt dealer in the 1980s. Although Kiracofe and Kile did not specialize in Amish quilts, they bought and sold many of them, and convinced corporate buyers of their significance. In fact, the first substantial article I read about the Esprit Amish quilt collection was by Michael Kile, published in the 1983 Quilt Digest. The accompanying images of Esprit’s corporate headquarters filled with Amish quilts helped me build my argument about Esprit’s vital role in the promotion of quilts as art objects.”
— Janneken Smucker
Janneken and I at AQSG Seminar 2014, Milwaukee. Image courtesy of janneken.org.

Janneken and I at AQSG Seminar 2014, Milwaukee. Image courtesy of janneken.org.

I was so pleased when my friend and colleague Janneken Smucker agreed to write the "quilt history" essay for the book. She is doing an amazing job as part of the next generation of quilt historians. I have always enjoyed following her writing and projects. Be sure to include her newest book, Amish Quilts: Crafting an American Icon, in your quilt library.

Her blog post about Unconventional & Unexpected really captures what I hope people take away from U&U as she concludes: "I hope you join me in looking, reading, and thinking, and then behold these quilts as completely unexpected, yet just what you’ve been looking for."

Read her blog post here.

Unconventional & Unexpected in the world!

It's so exciting to find Unconventional & Unexpected out in the world! Friends have been sending me images of the book in so many different places. Thank you for sharing, and please keep sending them!

 
At the de Young in San Francisco. Thanks to Kristin Shields for the image. The de Young has carried every book I have done since The Quilt Digest.

At the de Young in San Francisco. Thanks to Kristin Shields for the image. The de Young has carried every book I have done since The Quilt Digest.

U&U at the de Young. Image courtesy of Leah Thomason Bromberg.

U&U at the de Young. Image courtesy of Leah Thomason Bromberg.

U&U in the gift shop at the International Quilt Study Center & Museum in Lincoln, Nebraska. Image courtesy of Leslie Levy, Executive Director at the IQSCM.

U&U in the gift shop at the International Quilt Study Center & Museum in Lincoln, Nebraska. Image courtesy of Leslie Levy, Executive Director at the IQSCM.

Having a new book is too much fun. Image courtesy of Luana Rubin.

Having a new book is too much fun. Image courtesy of Luana Rubin.

I found U&U on the new arrivals table at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City!

I found U&U on the new arrivals table at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City!

Amazing company for U&U. Note Janneken Smucker's excellent book, Amish Quilts: Creating an American Icon -- I highly recommend it. Gift shop at the International Quilt Study Center & Museum in Lincoln, Nebraska. Imag…

Amazing company for U&U. Note Janneken Smucker's excellent book, Amish Quilts: Creating an American Icon -- I highly recommend it. Gift shop at the International Quilt Study Center & Museum in Lincoln, Nebraska. Image courtesy of Leslie Levy, Executive Director at the IQSCM.

Ames Gallery booth at prestigious San Francisco Fall Antiques Show

Ames Gallery booth at prestigious San Francisco Fall Antiques Show

 Cooperfield's Books in Napa, CA. A thank you to Tony Spleen for this image!

 Cooperfield's Books in Napa, CA. A thank you to Tony Spleen for this image!

Autographed copies of U&U at the booth for Julie Silber's The Quilt Complex, #937 at the George R. Brown Convention Center. Thanks to Deborah Turner Ursell for the image!

Autographed copies of U&U at the booth for Julie Silber's The Quilt Complex, #937 at the George R. Brown Convention Center. Thanks to Deborah Turner Ursell for the image!

Mary Kay Davis of The Quilt Show sent this picture from Houston Quilt Festival

Mary Kay Davis of The Quilt Show sent this picture from Houston Quilt Festival

NEW+NEXT Tastemakers of Traditional Home features U&U

Traditional Home kindly features Unconventional & Unexpected in their October 2014 edition. They featured my yo-yo quilt by Laura Otto that pops beautifully. I'm excited that they too see that.

“…Now is the moment to chase these bold, graphic quilts by mostly anonymous makers working with patterned fabric scraps.”
— Traditional Home

Q&A on why quilts matter via the Kentucky Quilt Project

The Kentucky Quilt Project featured me in a Q&A about why quilts matter. We talked about having "off-beat" quilts and questions like:

“What do the quilts in your own collection say about you?”
“Is it important to present the collection in the way the original collector envisioned?”
Quilt featured in Why Quilts Matter Q&A article

Quilt featured in Why Quilts Matter Q&A article