When it's in a frame it's art ... Do you agree?

The people at Sacred Threads led me to this video hinting at the healing power of quilts. I love the beautiful art, yes, but ... OK, I am warped ... what really catches my eye is the way they are displayed. In frames. And I've got to watch it again, but I think I saw a glint: they're glassed in!

I love the tactile quality of quilts. I think it is part of their power. You do not se El Anatsui's massive textural pieces under glass, and quilts shouldn't be trapped by glass either.

I like to consider ways to display quilts. I suppose it's a phase and will pass; I will settle on one or two ideal for me. Frames are great. It's the glass I hate.

To bind, to face, perchance to Zigzag

How to finish this?

Once, at a craft fair in Asheville, NC, I visited a booth with vibrant abstract quilts. They were framed and under glass -- negating the sensual "touch me" quality I love about fiber art. "Why do you DO this to your gorgeous work?" I asked the artist. "I'd never sell them if they weren't framed," she told me. "That convinces people they are art."

I don't want to put my fiber art under glass, but I do want it to appear professional -- or, better -- beautiful. There are many ways to do this, and I'm looking for finishing techniques that work for me. As I develop my personal style, it becomes easier.

For now, I'll be finishing my art quilts like this:
1 with zigzag or straight stitch
2. mounted on a simple base quilt after edge-stitching
3. faced
4. unobtrusive binding

Here is a how-to using fused fabric binding from Cynthia St. Charles' blog, "Living and Dyeing Under the Big Sky." I like how she prints the binding to extend the quilt print. That way the binding doesn't stand out.

Laura Wasilowski has a slightly different method for fused binding.

Collage on Wood Panel

What do you think about framing and displaying your work?
I am convinced that mounting work makes it look respectable, to the artist as well as prospective owners. And I do make my work to share and sell.

For a couple of years I've been taking notes on how I see art displayed.  I take photos of mounting methods whenever I see something new, and I've filled files and folders. Maybe now I can select a couple of ways that work for me, most of the time. Maybe my research will save you time. Here are two useful sites.

Julie Fei-Fan Balzer shows step-by-step How to mount a collage.

In this YouTube Jane Davies demonstrates a similar method. She does not decorate the sides of the wood panel, while Julie does.