Museum of the American Indian Wash. D.C

[Cheryll]

Today I visited the museum in Washington D.C. There was an exhibit of native women's dresses made for ceremonial and everyday purposes both old and new. I received a special message from one of the modern indian ladies. She was saying why she loved to make traditional costumes with a modern influence. She took the best of old and new materials to make beautiful things for her family. She felt proud when someone wore one of her outfits at a Pow Wow. She was also sharing her skills with her daughter and grand children. It was also a way to connect to her past relatives. It was a real wow moment for me in thinking about what drives me to do quilting. I really identified with what she was saying about why she loved making her native costumes and I think that is the same with our quilting. We are connecting with our ancestors and traditions. In our modern society there are few ways to do this in a concrete manner. I can think of cooking and gardening also going along with this. I thought it would be interesting to here what others have to say about this topic. Why do I love quilting and how does it connect me with my heritage or my family?

Cheryll

[quiltmonkey]

Hi, Cheryll,

Oh, that is so cool you got to go to Washington DC. I have always wanted to go there to visit the Smithsonian.

I can completely understand what this Native American woman was saying. Here in Alaska, we have the same issues with our many Alaska Natives and their cultures (Eskimo, Athabascan, Aleut, Haida, Tlingit, etc.) and passing down their heritage, traditions, language, stories, the whole way of life, to their children. Right now, it is recognized that all of this, or much of it could be lost forever if we don't try to keep it going. Modern world is here and a little tiny bit of the old ways gets lost whenever an elder passes away. Those stories; the knowledge, the skills from the elder are gone, and hopefully someone learned them and are repeating them forward to the future.

I am not American Indian or Native Alaskan, but I so very much love and appreciate their life, their traditions, and how they survived. Many of these Natives I am friends with. I love my Native friends! Their art and their dance is beautiful beyond words. I have started collecting the art, and I treasure their dance and stories. It's all so very cool. Sometimes, me being an average american white girl, I feel I have lost something deep-rooted in my traditions and cultures of my ancestors. It's gone. But, somehow when I look at these antique quilts, I have this small connection because I think I have the same love and appreciation that these women before me had. I have no quilters in my family, except for my dear MIL, Ingrid, who introduced me to quilting. I have a wonderful connection/relationship with her, and our quilting interest makes it even more wonderful. She is a jewel of a woman and I am so very lucky to have her in my life.

My mom was not a quilter but her sister, my aunt, gave me some quilt blocks of Sunbonnet Sue and these were made by my great aunts back probably in the 40's or 50's. She even gave me some old vintage fabric scraps to make even more Sunbonnets. I haven't put the blocks together, yet. I want to wait a bit to get a little more confidence. It's kinda cool to have these quilt blocks from a couple of generations ago.

Because I am the only quilter on my side of the family, my sisters and friends really appreciate the quilts I make and give to them. It is rewarding to me that they love (and use) the quilts as much as I loved making quilts for them to use. And who knows??? Maybe I am starting a quilting tradition with my sisters to pass on to their kids (the kids all have quilts from me, too...LOL!). That Auntie Shana...she is a crazy quilter...

[Stagecl]

None of my relatives quilted as far as I know. They crocheted and knitted. I have always loved learning crafts that connect me to the past. I spin fiber in to yarn, dye and knit it. I would love to learn to make baskets, weave fabric and build furniture. Unfortunately, I don't have time to do all these wonderful crafts. I have done needlepoint, counted cross stitch, sewed my own clothes and crocheted dollies...can't forget macrame either. I finally had to let go of a few hobbies because I got to diversified and wasn't accomplishing anything.

So now I still spin, dye and knit yarn. I ocassionally piece a top but it never seems to get quilted. Lastly, I love to dye fabric. I love to know how to do everything...LOL...I would love to be totally self sufficient....gardening, canning...etc. I realize that it won't happen so I choose my favorite crafts to connect me to the past...although I have canned bread and butter pickles this year...yummm!

I admire the men and women from the past and all that they created with such basic tools. Most of the time the workmanship was outstanding and made to last.

Cheryl

[Mary Beth]

My grandmother was the quilter in our family. However, because of eye problems her quilts are not beautiful to say the least. She could not see the colors well, and her seams were way off, so a lot of the seams have raveled over time and the quilts are much like rags. She did make a few that are still beautiful and I appreciate them so much. It was her quilts that made me love quilts so much. As a child, her quilts were on all of our beds. I loved nap time. I would run my fingers over the different blocks, or try to find two fabrics that were alike.

Now that I am a quilter, I love the older quilts even more. When you think of the tools we have to work with today, and the tools they had to work with back when...it amazes me that some of their quilts were so beautiful. And when I hear someone talk about the quality of quilt store fabric as oppose to fabric store fabric, my first thought is of those old quilts. Yes, a lot of them are in bad shape...but they have been loved and used over the years. You can bet they did no use quality fabrics in their quilts. Those quilts are just so special.

I wish I could say someone in my family taught me to quilt. I would love to be able to pass this love of quilting on to someone else in my family....so far no one loves it like I do!!

Mary Beth