Quilts have long been made as family heirlooms, to mark significant events and as a means of demonstrating and passing on traditional craft skills from generation to generation.
I started making quilts during a period of illness and unemployment that left me feeling alienated from society. It became a way to feel like I was part of something bigger, linking me to my female heritage both inside and outside the family. Embracing “women’s work” which seemed undervalued when contrasted with traditionally male crafts such as woodwork or blacksmithing also gave me a different way to understand my situation.
My take on quilting also drew on my personal heritage and became an emblem of how being influenced by the punk scene while growing up had helped me to take more control of how I lived my life and the choices I made.
A lot of people in the punk scene sew fabric patches screen printed with band names or political slogans onto their clothes as a way of marking their tastes and opinions. I like to support diy culture so quilting with these also seemed like a good way to do this.
This project was dreamed up in the dreary winter of 2010/2011 and was completed in early 2012.
Materials: canvas patches stitched together with dental floss, cotton floral fabric, denim, synthetic wadding
Jessica Scott 