This $5000 Quilt will Fall Apart in the First Wash. Here’s Why It Might Be the Coolest Thing You Ever Buy.

An art Quilter reveals her secrets

“Starman”. 45” x 57”. Sarah Spencer, 2023.

“It’s art, my friend. Like an oil painting, a ceramic sculpture, or a great melody, it can’t be thrown in a washing machine.”

Behold: the art quilt. Often confused for its sister, the quilt, the art quilt is the less practical, more extroverted of the pair. It’s designed to live on a wall, seen and admired by everyone, but, and I can’t emphasize this enough, never, ever actually used.

You might find yourself asking, well, why would I want such a contraption?

Pure and simple: it’s art, my friend. Like an oil painting, a ceramic sculpture, or a great melody, it can’t be thrown in a washing machine.

Here’s a behind-the-scenes (seams?) look at one of my most iconic pieces.

Starman, like all of my art quilts, consists of hundreds (if not thousands) of pieces of fabric, cut up and sewn, held together by seams. In certain areas of the design, it’s common for there to be more fabric holding everything together on the backside of the quilt than there is on the front. Because of the complexity of the designs, in order for it to physically work and lay flat, I have to aggressively trim down the seams on the back.

But wait… there’s more.

I often work with highly contrasting colors in my pieces. When doing fine line work, when I sew a dark fabric directly to a light fabric, I trim down the dark fabric within the seams so that it doesn’t cast a shadow through to the front side of the work. 

I spend a lot of time with a fine pair of scissors, carefully trimming down the seams on the back of my compositions. Creating art in this way is definitely a finicky and precise process!

Of course, when the piece is completed, the quilt top gets layered, stitched, and bound, and sometimes even stretched over canvas. 

So yes, throwing an art quilt in the wash would absolutely destroy it. Everyone would cry. You’d cry. I’d cry. Doves would cry.

So CAN you do anything in a dirty art quilt emergency?

Yeah, I get it. Parties happen. Kids happen. Life happens.

Now, I can only speak for my pieces here, but if something gets on it, do a gentle spot clean. Try spraying clean water on the area, and if necessary, a Tide pen can do the trick along with a little bit of friction. (They are made of cotton, after all.)

So, what do you think? Would you ever add an art quilt to your collection?

Let me know in the comments below!