On Quilting Being Dismissed as an Art Form

One of the things I dislike is when I tell someone that I make quilts they say to me in a dismissive tone "Oh yeah, my grandma does that" or something to that effect. Their blasé tone makes it sound as though it's not important work, because in their minds it's common.

What I hate about this is the idea that the things that our grandmothers do/did, that women do/did, that WE do is not seen as valuable.

Who is to say what our grandmas made wasn't difficult to make? What is it about a grandma making it means it has little value or that it was easy?

I don't hear a lot of people telling photographers or musicians in a ho-hum tone of voice, "Oh yeah, my grandma does that." Even though there are a lot of photographers and musicians in the world. I think it is that quilting has traditionally been in the women's domain that gives some people the idea it is of little value.

The type of quilting that I do is probably easy for other quilters. But that doesn't mean it is easy for anybody to do. Can it be learned by almost anybody? Sure, if they are interested and want to put in the work to learn how to do it. That's the case for almost anything.

I was many things before I became a quilter and an artist. I was a teacher at a college, counselor, University administrator, advisor, anthropologist, and a researcher. I was excellent at all of those things and they all had their own challenges.

Not everybody in the world is an anthropologist, although there are many anthropologists in the world. The world also has many quilters. And those quilters make AMAZING and BEAUTIFUL quilts! But what makes them beautiful is the work and excellence that they put into them. And many of those quilters (although not all) are grandmas.

So: not all grandmas quilt, and not all quilters are grandmas. But those who do quilt make beautiful art and that doesn't mean that the work they do is to be dismissed as easy.