Sunday, April 19, 2015

sunlight and shadow

This quilt is only about thirty years old but it is worn out.   Perhaps that's because I made it from sewing scraps and worn family clothing.  In the photo above, my fingers show where the chambray from a favourite skirt has practically disappeared.
 
I used to sew all my own clothes, and some of the girls' when they were small.  As I look at the fabrics in this sunlight and shadow quilt, memories flood over me of that time in my life.  The cloth is from skirts, tops, children's sun dresses, or scraps left over from baby quilts I made for friends. I find it interesting that the solid colours are harder to place in my mind than the prints.  At the time I made this piece, (early 80's) I only purchased new cloth for home decor, clothing, or baby gifts.  In a way, these are all 'found' fabrics.
I gave the quilt to my dad when he and my mother moved from the family farm to their condo in Kingston in 1987.
He used it.
He would 'go horizontal' on top of it in the afternoons, and under it during the night.
This year during some of my visits with dad, I've been trying to mend areas.
I'm adding newer fabrics, newer memories, patching them over the worn spaces.
I think that I'm adding strength.
Might as well try.
Dad turns 92 next month.

10 comments:

Liz A said...

Love "going horizontal" ... a much-used term in our household. And what a wonderful quilt ... so much love and the mending adds even more.

Ms. said...

Isn't that what quilting was about after all, the cloth remembering the life lived, and it's lovely to see you mending those lives for your father's horizontal comfort.

jacqueline said...

Beautiful quilt and beautiful story of lineage ........

Eke said...

What a nice and sensitive story, the same as the way you made the quilt and renew it now. Your dad must be a happy man with such a daughter...

Gina said...

How beautiful. Definitely worth repairing.

jude said...

92!
the mended quilts have become my favorites here. I love how they transform over time.

tierneycreates said...

What a wonderful article on you and your art in the Spring 2015 edition of the SAQA Journal, it will be great to check out your blog!

Judy Martin said...

Yes, Tierney. I'm so excited about that article. Martha Sielman is a very sensitive and thoughtful writer. I'll post about the article soon.
x

Margaret Cooter said...

How interesting to see what wears out and what lasts. And how that new layer of mending adds to the overall sense of the quilt. The old favourites and the new favourites.

Ulla said...

Very touching post! I'm in the middle of a similar project, mending my daughter's quilt filled with memories of four generations of women.