Women's Work

Techniques and materials: Machine pieced and quilted, appliqué, hand stitching. Reclaimed vintage embroidery and crochet fragments, hand-dyed cotton.

Artwork statement: As I was sorting my mother’s possessions after her passing, I came across her large collection of crocheted and embroidered pieces that were created by a number of my female ancestors at a time when such skills were highly prized. As I was growing up, several of these pieces were routinely cleaned and starched and proudly displayed. Luckily, my mother had labeled a few of the items with the maker’s name. Those examples have been distributed to her descendants for safe-keeping even if they will rarely be displayed. The maker of the others is unknown and many are damaged and worn. (I am taken with the careful repair on the central crocheted piece in Women’s Work especially because it was repaired with in a darker color.) Transforming these works into something new evokes mixed emotions. I only hope my ancestors would approve of my efforts to keep their hard work from languishing in a box in a basement (or worse), even if Women’s Work wasn’t the fate they imagined for their art work!

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