MAKING NEW WITH OLD QUILTS

First of all, I love the Selvedge emails! I love the glimpses of articles and especially the fine photography. The controversy about upcycling quilts is very real to me since such a piece hangs in my closet, a jacket, one of two, made from a very old, hand-pieced and hand-quilted patchwork quilt. And I wear it frequently, so frequently that some pieces have become thin and are shredding. I must now find a way of extending the life of this jacket.

Here is the story: In the 1950s, my mother won the door prize at the church bazaar. She never used it. In the 1980s, my parents moved to Orem, Utah. I lived in nearby Provo at the time, and in 1991, I discovered a quilt in the back of my mother’s cupboard, a quilt she had never used. It was colorful and with quite a random selection of fabrics. She told me it had been made by Callie Hollingshead who was in her 80s in the 1950s. Another church member Marjorie Ord had worked as a payroll secretary at a clothing factory in Los Angeles at that time and would bring bags of cut scraps to Callie for her quiltmaking.

Perhaps it will shock some people that I cut the quilt up and made two jackets from it, one for me and one for my mother. We wanted to give the quilt a life and have it be seen. I have received compliments wherever I have worn the unique jacket. I lined and bound mine in black and Mother lined and bound hers in pink. We made button loops of bias tape and used random giant buttons from her stash.

My mother made a label, typed on white cotton fabric and sealed with clear nail polish that I sewed inside the jacket. The label said, “This jacket was once a quilt all hand-stitched and quilted by Octave Callie Hollingshead in the 1950s. Callie donated it to the El Monte, California Ward Relief Society to be given as a door prize at the Relief Society Anniversary party. Kay Stockseth had the lucky number. The quilt was hidden away in a closet and cherished for almost 40 years. It was cut and made into a jacket by Jean Marshall in 1991.”

Okay so Ms Fons is passionate about her opinions but I share her view when I see beautiful Guatemalan huipiles, for example, cut up to patch and decorate trendy garments in high-end clothing shops. Any cloth that is made by hand carries not only the handwork of the maker but an energetic imprint that deserves respect. Handweavers have a saying; “honor the cloth” which means 1) use it, 2) enjoy it, 3) let it live. It doesn’t mean cut, trash or destroy for purely fashionista purposes. I think that is Ms Fons’ point.

Thank you for providing the link for Mary Fons you tube video. I completely agree with her passionate plea for not using vintage quilts for ‘cutting up’ and using for ‘trendy fashion items’, there are other ways in using the ‘quilt style’ without destroying years of heritage and social history. The argument re ‘upcycling’ doesn’t hold true, as Mary so eloquently spoke about. I do hope ‘Selvedge’ will support the great work that quilters have been doing over the years and that designers will find their own way of using their creative ideas without ‘appropriating’ the ‘creativeness’ of previous and current generations. Thanks for the opportunity to ‘voice an opinion’

I found the YouTube Video by Mary Fons from her composure, confrontational in scope. It seems to be a message that could cause some to disengage from the discussion. Should an individual be angry, there should be language that would appropriately express displeasure that would heighten the respect of the audience to the speaker that, in turn, would give heightened compassion and possibly support for the subject. The subject in this case is using quilts as upcycled projects, for whatever end result – is deemed inappropriate by Ms. Fons.

I have made Christmas Stockings for my Children from a worn quilt that I rescued from an Antique store years ago. It cost next to nothing or I wouldn’t have been able to afford it. I used areas that had wear that added to the rustic look of the stockings as that is my aesthetic. On the other side of the antique quilt spectrum I was honored to receive from my Grandmother an Antique Civil War Era quilt that was handed down in our family from that time. This quilt I have had it appraised and it is a part of our estate and my kids know what I want to have done with the quilt when I am gone. And it is not to be upcycled, given the historical significance to our family. But we know the history of this quilt and it will be handed down until it is of no significance, eventually. Some quilts are so disconnected from their history there is not a way to save them all.

To encompass all quilts (regardless of the condition or usability of that quilt) and say, NO-you can’t upcycle because, ABC – different reasons, is not justifiable or enforceable in my view. One person’s value of any quilt they own is not going to equal another. People value their ownership differently and any one of us cannot dictate that value for another person.
I say, I would much rather see a quilt made into another piece that is valued and used far better than allowing that piece to be discarded and not ever appreciated or used. Will high quality quilts be used, yes, most likely. Will the history and workmanship of the maker be honored by upcycling? I think that question is answered by each of us in our narrative when we decide to use a piece of a quilt, or an entire quilt to make into something else.