Quilt For The Unknown Maker
Quilt For The Unknown Maker, 52x80, September 2020, commercial and upcycled textiles
When no one could cite the makers of the quilts on John Lewis’s deathbed, I followed the Jewish tradition of dedicating a study session on African-American quilts to his honor. In “Bold Improvisations,” the catalogue of the Scott Heffley collection, there is an uncredited rolling wheels quilt that leapt off the page and kicked me in the kishkes because it was so good. Our community is weakened by this denial of credit. In making this quilt to honor these unknown makers, I backed it with a wax batik that was liberated from the mission fields of Wheaton College at the thrift store down the street, hoping to honor those makers who have been colonized and similarly kept from joining our textile community, to our detriment and theirs. #quiltfortheunknownmaker
Quilt For The Unknown Maker, 52x80, September 2020, commercial and upcycled textiles
When no one could cite the makers of the quilts on John Lewis’s deathbed, I followed the Jewish tradition of dedicating a study session on African-American quilts to his honor. In “Bold Improvisations,” the catalogue of the Scott Heffley collection, there is an uncredited rolling wheels quilt that leapt off the page and kicked me in the kishkes because it was so good. Our community is weakened by this denial of credit. In making this quilt to honor these unknown makers, I backed it with a wax batik that was liberated from the mission fields of Wheaton College at the thrift store down the street, hoping to honor those makers who have been colonized and similarly kept from joining our textile community, to our detriment and theirs. #quiltfortheunknownmaker
Quilt For The Unknown Maker, 52x80, September 2020, commercial and upcycled textiles
When no one could cite the makers of the quilts on John Lewis’s deathbed, I followed the Jewish tradition of dedicating a study session on African-American quilts to his honor. In “Bold Improvisations,” the catalogue of the Scott Heffley collection, there is an uncredited rolling wheels quilt that leapt off the page and kicked me in the kishkes because it was so good. Our community is weakened by this denial of credit. In making this quilt to honor these unknown makers, I backed it with a wax batik that was liberated from the mission fields of Wheaton College at the thrift store down the street, hoping to honor those makers who have been colonized and similarly kept from joining our textile community, to our detriment and theirs. #quiltfortheunknownmaker