Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Why Quilts Matter

Have you seen, read about or heard of this wonderful new DVD Why Quilts Matter: History, Art & Politics recently published by The Kentucky Quilt Project?
The minute I saw it, I knew I had to purchase one right away for my quilt library.
I thought I knew a lot about quilts, but viewing this series gave me an even broader perspective of the the art and culture that have become such a big part of my life.

This 9-part documentary series comes in a 2 disc set, is packed full of images, and explores 2 centuries of the history of quilting in the United States.
Executive producer Shelly Zegart serves as host, taking us through 250 minutes of topics from Antique and Contemporary Quilts, including Gee's Bend (The Most Famous Quilts in America), on to Quilt Nation: 20,000,000 and Counting!

The DVD will be broken down into a series, and will be shown in segments on PBS for the next 3 years.
Wonderful representation for the quilting world.
But, if you are like me and can't wait to see the series over time, you can order the DVD directly from the Why Quilts Matter web site.
Their web site is very well done, and I'd encourage you to go over and see all the information they offer.
I've just added their blog to my side bar.
The DVD is also available on Amazon.com
Another motivation for me in purchasing the DVD, were the extra bonus features that will not be shown on TV.

One of the features I loved the most about the series were the vast amount of quilt images.
After all, what we want to see most are the quilts.
The web site provides a complete image resource guide in pdf. form that can even be downloaded to an i-Pad or laptop.
I've always known that quilts matter, but Shelly Zegart puts it best when interviewed by LEO:
WHY DO QUILTS MATTER?
They are women’s work. And over the centuries in America, women have told their stories through their quilts. Quilts are at the center of American culture; they speak to women’s empowerment, what is art, American history, material culture, art history and almost every other discipline. Quilts are bigger than you think. We felt the DVD was the next step (in telling the story)

3 comments:

Karen - Quilts...etc. said...

that looks interesting - I might have to check it out. I think a lot of people - quilters included have no idea of the history involved in quilting.
Karen

Quilt Monkey said...

I can't wait to see this! Paid members of The Quilt Show can see the whole series for free through the end of March.

em's scrapbag said...

Sounds interesting. I'm going to add it to my wish list. Thanks for sharing.