A great good fortune happened with our guild yesterday as we spent a few hours listening to Weeks Ringle of the Modern Quilt Studio lecture and teach. For those who aren’t familiar with Weeks’ work, she is one half of the Modern Quilt studio, the other half is her husband, Bill Kerr. They truly are pioneers in the modern quilting movement and have authored books on the subject, as well as currently publishing their magazine, Modern Quilts Illustrated.
It was announced several months ago that Bill and Weeks would be touring the west coast along with daughter Sophie, to promote Sophie’s new book(!!). When we approached her, Weeks was all too happy to come and give a lecture or workshop for our guild. After much discussion, we decided that The Role of Color in your Quilts is what we wanted to explore.
We had SO.Much.Fun!
Weeks is dynamic and lively and the hours went by too quickly. We had several “explorations” to work on as Weeks would talk a bit about color and then be given a small task to work on. After a slideshow presentation on the role of color in our lives and in our culture, we were given copies of a painting taken from one of the great masters in art history. The challenge was to truly look at all the colors in the picture. Weeks had a huge assortment of scraps to choose from in every color. Sometimes a painting looked like it might only have 8-10 colors in it, but upon looking at the scraps and all the shading, you started seeing so many other colors. We went back for more scraps. We were really learning to spot so much more than first meets the eye.
Weeks also shared with us many new quilts she and Bill have made for their patterns and their magazines. Their work embodies so many of the principles of modern quilting and modern art generally speaking. Clean lines, vivid color combinations and negative space were at work in the quilts they showed.
Weeks also had books, magazines, kits and fabrics for sale, including their upcoming line with Andover, “passport”.
Weeks and Bill’s work isn’t interesting simply because it’s modern. Their work celebrates color and classic design principles. When they lecture, their enthusiasm for what they do is infectious. You get the feeling that they want their students to take whatever they can glean from their vast knowledge and make something great, something breathtaking. From the smiles we saw, and the energy we all felt, it seems like that’s just what may happen!