o
ne of the crowd favorites at
QuiltCon 2015 was the giantpixilated portrait of British actor
Benedict Cumberbatch, known
especially for his television role as
Sherlock Holmes. The quilt was
made by Kristy Daum, founder and
president of the St. Louis Modern
Quilt Guild.
But Kristy almost didn’t enter “Holy Sh*t
Sherlock” into QuiltCon 2015, because she
wasn’t sure it was modern.
The Sherlock quilt was actually the second
pixel portrait of a pop culture icon Kristy
had made. Before that, she had completed
a Doctor Who quilt (“Tenth,” at right).
But modern quilt shows, full of geometric
shapes and solid colors rarely include
portraits. “I was a little hesitant to call
them modern quilts, because to me, these
are more art quilts,” she explained. “But at
the same time, the method I used involved
software and because the subject was geeky,
that seemed modern.”
The QuiltCon judges obviously agreed, and
when Kristy unveiled it on her blog and
Instagram, “I got a resounding, ‘Yes, this is a
modern quilt!’ ”
Indeed, the Sherlock quilt wasn’t the only
pixel portrait in QuiltCon this year. Others
included a pixel version of the Mona Lisa
by Rowena Bayliss of the U.K. (It took a
minute to realize what you were seeing.)
And Canadian quilter Stacey Merton had
a powerful entry called “Little Brother,” an
extreme close-up of her brother’s face.
Pixel portraits beget more
pixel portraits
Kristy was inspired to make a quilt in this
style after seeing a pixel quilt juried into
“Tenth” • Kristy Daum
British actor David Tennant is portrayed in Kristy Daum’s fi rst
pixelated portrait quilt celebrating the popular cult TV series
“Doctor Who.”
65" × 95"
Opposite:
“Holy Sh*t Sherlock” • Kristy Daum
70" × 99"