Monday 8 April 2013

Quaint Quilt

Look at this quilt top. This is just a small section of a huge cover that would fit a double bed. It's also something of a conundrum. I don't know who made it or when it was made. Or why. Some of the hexagons included in the design are made from worn material, others from clothing and others from soft furnishings such as cushions and curtains. A few materials have been repeated but on the whole almost all of the 700 hexagons are made from different pieces of fabric which appear to be from the 1950's and 1960's. Some pieces are older. I can't imagine where the fabrics came from, who donated them or how the maker or makers of this quilt got their hands on them.
Whoever started this cover didn't get to finish it and one of the things on my 'to do' list is to add a wadding and backing to it, get someone to quilt and bind it and make it usable.

People in my groups have used this quilt to write stories, usually from the point of view of a person who once owned one of the fabrics. Some have written poems. Some have loved the cover with its vintage quirkiness. Others have not liked it, saying it's odd, a lot of work for an indifferent result.

There might be hundreds of stories, real and imagined, connected to this quilt.

Find one.

It could be a mystery, a romance, a comedy.

It could be the story of the maker or makers.

It could be the story of one of the people who donated a bit of fabric.

Maybe the pieces of fabric represent events or incidents. Write about them.

Quilts can sometimes evoke work based on memory or historical events. Try to keep the work fresh and relevant. If you choose to write in the past, avoid whimsy or over use of nostalgia. Instead, if going into the past, create a world as real and vibrant as the world is now.

Do you have a quilt with a story attached to it?

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