Quilt Language

The aesthetics of quilt making can be defined by exploring three ways in which quilts speak: through their formal qualities, their use of fabric, and their social context. The discussion here is focused primarily on nineteenth‐century America, where quilts were important historical documents that transmitted information about women and their lives that might not have been available through other means and that otherwise may well have been overlooked. Quilts speak through their ‘graphic wit’, their use of formal elements, and their makers were adept at manipulating shapes, colors, and patterns to achieve dazzling visual displays. Fabric was also an essential element through which quilt makers expressed themselves. As well as providing the basic ‘palette’ of a quilt, the fabric was significant in its own right, whether it was purchased new or it was recycled for its emotional resonance. Additionally, although women made quilts, their significance often transcended the domestic realm. Finally, women used their quilts as a way of making utterances: whether to tell stories about the Bible, to collect images related to their lives, or to connect to other people, living or dead. The quilt aesthetic is still a thriving tradition and the transformative potential of using fragments to piece together a whole is especially relevant today

Aesthetics · Archaeology · Art · Quilt · Quilting · Realm · Social science · Sociology · Thriving · Visual arts · Art, Politics, and Modernism · Crafts, Textile, and Design · Fashion and Cultural Textiles · History

• Patchwork Politics

  Ebony O Lumumba•Women s Studies•2024

  Add to list