09/20/2026
Shannon Reed and I made our annual trip to the Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza this weekend, and it was filled with beautiful and varied pieces of quilt art as always. However, this year was extra special because they had a display of quilts by Harvey Fierstein which blew my mind.
Having followed Harvey's Instagram feed this past year, I expected to see impressive quilts, but the photos on social media do not compare with seeing these incredible pieces in person. First of all, they're huge! Then as someone who is obsessed with free-motion quilting, I was awestruck with how every inch of these enormous quilts was filled with beautiful, funny, transgressive, completely original freehand designs. On top of that, his use of couching elevates these designs to true works of art.
It's almost galling to think that someone who has achieved so much success in theater and film could also be deeply talented in a whole different realm of the arts, but these quilts are just too frickin' good to feel anything other than enormous admiration for an artist who will surely go on to achieve just as much success on this new journey.
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