Quilting & The Power of Storytelling - Start Your Own Legacy
Can you figure out this quilting tale? It’s a love story about a couple that met in the 1960s: she wore floral patterns, and he preferred paisley. Sewing a selection of their old garments so tastefully requires a flair for matching colours and history.
It’s just one way of preserving a legacy of family members or friends who have passed on, or maybe grew into other fashions. Perhaps these aren’t even sections from a single article of clothing they ever owned. What’s preserved here is a gorgeous document about style and the couple who had it. Intimate and personal quilting like this shares stories, building family and community lore. It doesn’t have to, but it can.
A Tale of Two Sisters
Jessica loved abstract paintings. Phillipa was into organic farming. Growing up, their mismatched tempers caused arguments when they were younger. One summer, their grandmother introduced them to quilting, giving them turns on her sewing machine.
The girls were as expressive as they were competitive. The moody goth and the exuberant hippie loved their new creative outlet. It bridged the troubled waters of their relationship. Grandma enjoyed some peace and quiet. Their quilts told a story of two distinct personalities finding common ground.
Jessica and Phillipa’s own grandchildren discovered these quilts many years later. They saw elements of themselves and in their many elders stitched into these quilts, a historical connection reinforced by familial bonds.
The girls were as expressive as they were competitive. The moody goth and the exuberant hippie loved their new creative outlet. It bridged the troubled waters of their relationship. Grandma enjoyed some peace and quiet. Their quilts told a story of two distinct personalities finding common ground.
Jessica and Phillipa’s own grandchildren discovered these quilts many years later. They saw elements of themselves and in their many elders stitched into these quilts, a historical connection reinforced by familial bonds.
What Sort of Story Should a Sewer Sew?
When you’re quilting, a chronicle is inevitable, whether it’s deliberate or not. A panorama of random hues can be perfectly enjoyable and look fantastic. It also depicts your instincts, whether they’re chaotic or orderly.A cat’s face varied slightly across sixteen panels- why not? It’s your mood, a record of your temperament. If you don’t have a fancy concept, you can still execute a tame vision brilliantly. Your frame of mind is captured either way and is itself a cozy memory capsule.
What if it’s just fun? That’s a fabulous way to provide an account of your uncomplicated relationship to quilting. Why should it be complex? If an involved quilt concept evolves organically, that’s lovely. So is a peaceful, simple one. Or geometric, or childlike.
What’s the Story Behind This Glory?
Nothing at all, and yet it’s glorious. It’s half a dozen different cloth samples stitched together without rhyme or reason. Can you take your eyes off it? Probably not, and the quilter who made it wouldn’t part with this quilt for the world!Inspiration cannot always be easily decoded, nor should it. The important thing is that you give yourself an opportunity to tell your story through a quilt of your own creation.