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Why Make Quilts?
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.
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?
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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2003 sew2go.com_________________________
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