I recently had the chance to see Stitched, the documentary film about Hollis Chatelain, Carol Bryer Fallert, and Randall Cook’s preparations for International Quilt Festival. I did see all three of their quilts in Houston last November, so it was interesting to see them working on the pieces and talking about them. The trailer for the film is below.
My mom wanted me to see it because she said they talked about nudity in the film…well, they do. Cook’s work I Remain features a muscular and naked man (from the back), as do a few of his other quilts, and apparently the quilt caused a fuss a few years back. I remember the Quilter’s Home issue (Jan/Feb 2009) that had shocking quilts in it (hmn. not very shocking, of course), which they also talk about in the film. I loved Karey Bresenhan’s discussion of quilters not being shocked by a bare bottom.
I liked hearing the artists talking about their work and their hopes for it…each of the three artists came into quilting differently and it was interesting to see how the three connect and how they react to winning and not winning prizes. I totally enjoyed the movie itself. Hopefully it will get some play on some national TV (PBS, are you listening?), because it’s an interesting take on the exhibition side of the quilt world. You can buy the film…see the website above. I noticed some of the larger quilt shows were screening it at the shows…so that would be one place to look for it. It’s a little over an hour long.
Kathy Nida 