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Why Make Quilts?

 

What a question! Does it make any sense at all to cut up perfectly good fabric into little bits, and then sew them back up again to make a whole? Why do it?

Many reasons come to mind, though perhaps the most compelling ones are for connection and self-expression. We could just as easily buy a blanket to sleep under, but a quilt is so much more. When we choose to make a quilt, it is our desire to have something unique that reflects our true selves. We can experience the entire process at our own pace in a world that doesn't always allow us that luxury.

 It is ours in the choosing and the making. The design may be simple or complex, contemporary or an old favorite, the colors bright or muted. We may follow a pattern, yet we personalize it in our choice of fabrics. If we design the quilt ourselves, it may reflect a love of nature, a respect for tradition, a look into the future, or support for a cause. It might be an experiment in form, a conscious choice to improve our technical skills or to use color combinations new to us, or a chance to challenge what we think we are capable of. With those multi-colored bits, we create drama, texture, illusion, design, and visual surprises.

Frequently when we make a quilt, it is to wrap someone we know in love and caring. It could be a beloved child going off to college, or a dear friend suffering the ravages of disease. The time spent stitching is time to reflect on shared moments, hope for the future, and the depth with which we care for this person. Sometimes, as we quilt, we feel the healing ourselves, though the gift is meant for someone else. Many a quilter has begun a quilt in mourning and found herself somehow stronger when it was finished.

 Quilts also mark joyous occasions like a wedding or an anniversary or the birth of a new baby. How many grandmothers-to-be immediately start planning a quilt as soon as they hear the news of a grandchild on the way?! A quilt can also mark friendship, as when a group of friends make a quilt for a dear friend who is moving away or retiring from an admirable career. What a pleasant reminder for someone to look at the quilt and remember those treasured people and good times.

 A quilt also represents the opportunity to give to a stranger something tangible and personal. Countless people donate many hours to make something to comfort someone they'll never meet who may be going through a difficult time. Some quilts are expressions of concern over political issues or social injustice; others are made to raise funds for an important cause.

 If we make a quilt on a sewing machine that also holds special meaning for us, the connection between us and cloth and machine is that much stronger. In its making, we find comfort and pleasure; satisfaction, and yes, sometimes frustration, too; peaceful moments and a sense of accomplishment. We spend our time, a part of our lives, on its making, so that in its giving, we give part of ourselves. And in the receiving of a quilt, a person accepts a gift like no other.

Why quilt?

We quilt to celebrate and commemorate and remember and hope and cherish and connect and dream and care and love.

 

Catherine Eith, © Copyright 2002

 

  Home
Invention of the Sewing Machine ~ Canadian Sewing Machine Manufacturers
Sewing Machine Values ~ Singer Dates ~ Willcox & Gibbs Dates ~ Needle Threading
Shuttle Identification ~ Common Problems ~ Why Make Quilts? ~ Sewing With Children
Packing a Sewing Machine ~ Paint a Featherweight ~ Favorites and Links

 

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