It was the fall of 2005 when I took a beginning quilting class. At the time there were few men interested in quilting. Heather was taking classes and making quilts. She’s done a number of art quilts and wall hangings. She does wonderful work. There is just something about the patterns, colors, and textures that I find interesting. I’ve seen some stunning work out there.
The classes that Heather was taking were all women. Quilting has traditionally been the domain of women. The notes that the instructor of my class had “Men Only” on the title of each page. There was a lot of basic information there that I assumed the ladies were expected to know. That is changing today and you’ll find more men involved in the art today.
One day Heather and I were in a shop buying fabrics when I mentioned that there should be a “Men’s” quilting class. The owners of the shop thought it was an interesting idea and a short time later they announced that one of their instructors was willing to get a class going for us guys. The class was five of us men trying to figure out the sewing machines in the classroom. We were given class notes that had on each page, “Men Only.” I still have the notes and the book we used in the class. I have to say that it was a fun time and I ended up with enough blocks to make a quilt top.
Sadly, I was also in my senior year of my English degree at San Jose State and time wasn’t something I had a lot of. Heather ended up taking my blocks and finished a wall hanging which is now in our guest room.
I made the blocks. Heather completed the top with banding and did the quilting.
After that, time seemed to blur, I graduated and went back to work. Time was still in short supply so I never made it back to a sewing machine. I would still go to quilt shows and would go with Heather to buy fabrics. I do help her from time to time with feedback on her designs as her “color consultant”. It’s fun to work on ideas for a new art piece she’s working on.
In 2010, I found a website on Marquetry and found that there was a local club. I joined and dived in. I loved being able to work with the veneers and making artistic things that used my sense of patterns and my woodworking skills. Over the years I’ve made a lot projects and have even ventured into scroll saw work.
After being exposed to both art forms I’ve noted a number of similarities. They both involve taking pieces of different colors, hues, and textures and combining them together to create a pattern or picture. Simple patterns are geometric and go by a number of names, nine patch, flying geese, log cabin, pinwheel, etc. In quilting the basic nine patch is the foundation of a marquetry checkerboard – the basic piecing methods are surprisingly similar between quilts and marquetry.
Louis cubes can be mystifying whether they are done in fabric or wood. I’ve made a Louis cube box top and it’s magical to watch the pattern emerge. Someday I hope to try this with fabric.
Even the tools share similar qualities. They need to cut long straight pieces and join them together with precision. I have two of those green cutting mats, one next to my sewing machine and one on my marquetry bench. Several of my marquetry hand tools I bought at quilt shows.
Look at a sewing machine and then here at a scroll saw and you notice that they have similar shapes – an arm supporting a tool that material (wood or fabric) can be pushed through. In the case of a sewing machine it’s to join pieces and with a scroll saw it’s to cut pieces, but how you push material through feels the same.
My new Janome machine. I’ll be using this for piecing. Right now the only thing I know is that the peddle goes on the floor.
One of the best marquetrains I know has often told me that she thought that women who sew are natural at the scroll saw because of the similarities between the machines. Heather has often told me that she thinks I’d be good at free motion quilting because of watching me at the saw and noting how those moves look like what she does quilting.
I’ve long held that both art forms share a lot. Sure there are differences. You don’t get the same range of colors in marquetry and things like seam allowances change the math between a quilt and marquetry pattern. Still, I see where there are commonalities.
One commonality that I am starting to see in both art forms is the mix of men and women is changing. Our marquetry group has seen a steady increase in women members and I see more men doing quilts.
I like to see how things can be combined and am intrigued by the idea of attempting the same picture in both mediums.
But first I need to gain some skill on the fabric side and get the sewing room fully set up.
After writing about this, I wonder if I should pull in my other artistic outlet and for each picture include a poem …
Andrew's View of the Week 
Your retirement is surely spurring on the creativity. Along with writing, I also sew and work with fabric. I never realized your comparison of the two art forms, in this article, had so much in common. Cool write.
PS I like the idea of writing poetry with your other art. The people in my old poetry group were each given a local artist painting and asked to write a poem. I was a satisfying experience.
LikeLiked by 1 person
all creative arts share some basic commonalities and I am interested in approaching the same subject from different methods.
LikeLike
Wow! You clearly have a talent for piecework!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love your quilt blocks – they’re so complex! And the colours are lovely. I enjoy the precision of quilting, but I suck at selecting colours. I guess I need a colour consultant, too! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I have a feeling that I’m better at color than precision, but we’ll see what happens on the next quilt.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I appreciate how you refer to them both as artforms. They really are!
Some people — not you, obviously — look down on any hobby that’s primarily done by women. I’m glad that attitude is starting to change.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve been happy to see gender lines start to fade with both art forms.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think you’re pretty darn good at both of these art forms. I’ve never tried quilting. Something tells me I wouldn’t be able to make it perfect enough to fit together properly. Both my mother and grandmother were avid quilters but they made every aspect of those quilts by hand stitching – no machine ever. Can you imagine? I can’t!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I once saw a demonstration of hand quilting – from piecing to quilting the top. Looked like a lot of work to me.
LikeLike
It is! I remember the countless hours my mother put into each quilt she made. All the piece work and quilting designs she marked on the top and stitched were done by hand. People paid her to make quilts and/or quilt the tops they made themselves. I treasure the ones I have that were made by her.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve watched Heather do art quilts and wow, the amount of time she puts into one is amazing.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That is pretty darn good, Andrew. My compliments!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you – I did have a lot of help on that one.
LikeLike
Such a beautiful quilt. You two should be selling those works of art. I would pay a pretty penny for a quilt with shames like that for my bed. Let me know if you set up an Etsy shop.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you. I was playing with blues and yellows on this one. I don’t know about selling. That’s a difficult thing to do and make money. But I’ve been told that after awhile you end up with so many quilts you run out of places to store them. Starting to have that problem with my marquetry pieces. Still, I think about it from time to time.
LikeLike
It’s great to see that another person in the world possesses a tool chest as well organised as mine!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I do my best to keep all the tools in the tool chest – that’s about as far as organized goes …
LikeLiked by 1 person
I never thought about the similarity between woodworking and quilting.
Heather and you are a talented couple. Heather might be amused at the fact that not all women have any talent in sewing. I’ve said many times that my mother could take a $1 worth of remnants and make it look like a dress worth $100. I, on the other hand, could take $100 worth of material and make a dress that looks like it’s worth $1.
One day, you’ll show us the masterpiece you create with that sewing machine.
LikeLiked by 2 people
And I know a number of men that I wouldn’t trust in the workshop. I don’t know about masterpiece, but I’ll come up with something.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well if you include a poem, then “Quilt” has “kilt” and perhaps “milt”, but you’ll struggle for a rhyme for “marquetry”
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah, I haven’t thought through the poetry part yet – that will be interesting to figure out.
LikeLike
My dad does both of these artforms, Andrew. He has made many quilts and tables as well as kitchen cupboards and other things.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I’m seeing a lot more men doing both. There are a number of skills that common to both – measuring, using tools, etc …
LikeLiked by 1 person
and an artistic streak.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love the quilted wall hangings. There’s a big one at the medical center in Denver — a landscape that must be at least 5 feet wide and almost as high. Mountains, trees, birds, clouds in a delightful variety of fabric patterns and pieces. It’s framed behind glass, and I stop to admire it every time I’m there. I’m guessing maybe a scene like that is easier to do than a geometric pattern requiring precise cutting, measuring, etc.
LikeLiked by 1 person
In marquetry it’s easier to do freeform work, but with fabric, a sewing machine likes straight lines – sewing curves is a real skill. But as with most art it’s really the vision of artist that matters.
LikeLike
Fascinating how you describe the two disciplines as being so similar. Looking forward to your first solo quilting project! And poems would be very appropriate…
LikeLiked by 1 person
I like to look for the common ground between things.
LikeLike