In the Club is a recurring series in which the Scene explores Nashville’s social club offerings.
It’s show-and-tell time at the Music City Modern Quilters Guild’s monthly meeting. Each participant lifts their creation high above their head, letting the painstakingly sewn fabric fall in front of their bodies.
A chorus of oohs, ahhs and various compliments ensue. The 17 participants showcase a range of projects, including wall hangings, original patterns, repurposed family heirlooms, brightly colored prints and improv — or patternless — quilts. Some quilters cut out shapes to make a picture.
When they’re finished meticulously cutting out pieces of fabric and fastening them together, either by machine or by hand, most of the quilters send their work off to a longarmer — that is, someone who operates a longarm sewing machine ideal for large projects. They add the perimeter and batting to complete the quilt.
All the projects share something that makes them modern, whether it’s a color palette or a design.
While show-and-tell is a key part of the group’s monthly meetings, which are usually held at a library, the group also offers instruction. For example, members have given presentations on how to dye fabric or make a quilt coat. Some meetings, however, are left open for members to troubleshoot projects they’re stuck on and get advice.
It’s the breadth and depth of knowledge that brought the group’s youngest participant, Britney Singer, to the guild.
“A lot of my friends don’t do crafting projects and sewing,” she tells the Scene. “But here, there are so many people I can ask questions. Everyone is so friendly. There are so many different skill sets here.”
Many of the quilters learned from Instagram and YouTube, and they hone their skills with sew-alongs, where group members work on separate projects concurrently. For others, it was a grandmother or grandfather who taught them to sew.
Quilting involves a lot of math to ensure shapes line up flush with one another. Board member Jennifer Burke goes by the motto, “One time is a mistake, twice is a design choice.”
“I think that’s where the beauty of quilting comes in,” adds guild president Melanie Bontusa, “because how you respond to fuck-ups is what makes it cool and unique.”
Guild member Shannon Lookenott picked up sewing in 2020 at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Her husband had a heart condition, she says, and that made isolating particularly important for them. She started making masks, and eventually moved on to quilts. At one point, she was making about a quilt a month — that’s a lot in quilt terms.
Lookenott’s designs feature contrasting bright print-on-prints. One of her latest designs comes through a process she calls “rage-quilting,” along with “fussy cutting,” a quilting technique that involves framing a particular part of the print in her quilting shape.
Politics are often a part of quilts. The winner of the 2024 QuiltCon (a yearly event presented by the national Modern Quilt Guild, of which the MCMQG is a part) was titled “What We Will Use as Weapons: A List of School Supplies” and featured outlines of items that might be found in a classroom, as a commentary on school shootings. Several other winners had social justice themes.
Living in western Williamson County, Lookenott makes a nearly hourlong commute to Nashville to commune with like-minded progressives. The rage-quilting has helped her cope with her disappointment in the recent election outcome.
“It’s a process where you can escape from what’s going on and be a person for a moment and express yourself in a creative way,” Lookenott says. “It’s so rewarding to just have that brightness out there when it’s a little bit darker right now.”
The renowned quilt-maker takes the Scene through the exhibition of her work, on view at Sewanee through Oct. 13
The Music City Modern Quilters Guild is a decidedly progressive one, and moves in the direction of the national organization by hosting outside of the traditional quilting setting — churches. This group also caters to those who have conventional 9-to-5 jobs by meeting on Saturdays.
Members of the group also attend the yearly “airing of the quilts” in Gee’s Bend, Ala., where the Gee’s Bend quiltmakers are celebrated as some of the most significant contributors to American art history.
Music City Modern Quilters Guild is modern by design, but like the quilting circles of the past, it’s a way to create community.
“It’s hard to make friends as an adult,” says board member Megan Ellinger. “We all moved here at some point and didn’t know anybody. At least we’ll have something to talk about. Now these are all my closest friends.”
Just don’t ask them to make a T-shirt quilt.
