Going Away Quilt for S

In the eleventh hour, I decided to make a small quilt for my son, to mark the passage of him moving out after graduating high school.

Because of the tight timeline, the design needed to be simple, so I decided on some disappearing 9-patch blocks, and some random/improv patchwork. I used some of the same fabrics that I used in the quilt for Michael Brown. I also used some ice dyed fabrics from in a shop in Paducah, KY, from when we went down to see my quilt in the National Quilt Museum. I usually don’t like ice dyed fabric but I fell in love with these.

I put each of our initials on it (N, L, S, P) to symbolize us going with him, supporting him. I don’t think he noticed but it’s okay. I didn’t want it to be obvious.

Going away quilt for S, 49”x52”, completed August 2021. Final pictures by Mitch Hopper.

Going away quilt for S, 49”x52”, completed August 2021.

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Michael Brown Remembrance Quilt

In August 9, 2014, Michael Brown was eighteen years old, black, and unarmed. He was shot by a Ferguson Missouri police officer in broad daylight, his body left in the street for hours. Many weeks of protests followed. The event sparked conversations about police violence, militarization, and impunity. The protests received international attention and galvanized the Black Lives Matter movement.

Remembrance quilt for Michael Brown

I volunteered through Social Justice Sewing Academy to make a quilt for a family that has lost a loved one to violence. They have a long list of names they are working through. I was surprised when I was assigned a name that I recognized… at first I felt intimidated. It felt like a lot of pressure to make a quilt connected to such a well known incident. After sitting with this feeling for a while, I made a decision to set the wider significance of this event aside, and focus on Michael the individual, Michael the family member, Michael the young man with big dreams and a bright smile.

SJSA works with families to collect information that can help each volunteer quilter better honor the person they are memorializing. I was told that Michael’s favorite colors were black and red, that he loved his family, animals, art, taking things apart to figure out how they work, and making music. I did my best to incorporate all of these traits and interests through my fabric choices.

This project weighed heavily on me as I worked on it most of the summer. Michael was killed the summer after he graduated high school, the same age as my son when I made the quilt. This coincidence was not lost on me. It’s not right that this young man is gone. He should still be here. That’s all I have to say. Smarter people than me have said much on the subject. Read up. I recommend Caste by Isabel Wilkerson as a starting point.

This quilt now lives with Michael’s mother, activist and author Lesley McSpadden. I received an email from her stating that the quilt was remarkable and that she would cherish it along with the memories of her son. Hearing back from her was an unexpected gift and meant a lot to me.

It was a privilege and an honor to use my time and skills in this way. There are many ways to contribute to the mission of SJSA. You don’t have to make a whole quilt like I did. Contact them if you’d like to get involved.


Daisy Aschehoug of Warmfolk generously donated a set of acrylic templates for large curves and sent them all the way from Norway! Her templates brought my vision to life and made my work easier.
Audrey Esarey of Cotton and Bourbon volunteered to quilt this for me and I was very happy to take her up on that offer. I really appreciate both of these quilters! Their contributions helped me finish this project and I’m grateful.

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Dual Enrollment

This represents the last burst of a super productive period before I started my OT program. I had patchwork from workshops with Tara Faughnan in 2017 and Season Evans in 2018 that had been sitting around for a couple of years while I debated how to finish them as individual projects. Eventually I decided they could play together, so I combined them and built onto the composition and this quilt came into its final form.

I called it Dual Enrollment because it combines patchwork from two different classes, and also because it was made during a period when life was very heavy with demands from both school and parenthood.

Sarah Evans quilted a simple grid for me, and I added a grid of handquilting. During the first semester of my OT program at UIC, almost all of our classes were virtual, because of COVID, so I did a lot of the handquilting during zoom lectures.

Dual Enrollment, 61”x84”, completed September 2021

Dual Enrollment, 61”x84”

Dual Enrollment, detail

Dual Enrollment, detail

Dual Enrollment, detail

Dual Enrollment, back

Dual Enrollment, label

2020 Radical Acceptance Quilt

My Radical Acceptance Quilt for 2020 continued the theme of acceptance that I worked with in 2019. Highlights: a block for each month of 2020, a “log” for each day, an embroidered statement about what I was working to accept that day. Improv sashing with lots of tiny bits of goodness. Hand quilting. Pages from my sketchbook detailing why I chose the words I did, scanned and sewn into the back.

Of course I didn’t know when I started it in January that this quilt would become a record of such a unique and historic year. So I guess this is my Covid quilt in its own way.

This is one of my favorite quilts I’ve made in a long time and I’m pleased that it hung at QuiltCon 2022 in Phoenix because I feel like it needs to be seen in person to truly be appreciated! Radical Acceptance Quilt for 2020, 32”x43”, final pictures taken by Mitch Hopper.

Radical Acceptance Quilt for 2020, 32”x43”

Radical Acceptance Quilt for 2020, back

Radical Acceptance Quilt for 2020, detail

Radical Acceptance Quilt for 2020, detail

Radical Acceptance Quilt for 2020, detail of back

Radical Acceptance Quilt for 2020, label

Radical Acceptance Quilt for 2020, hanging at QuiltCon 2022 in Phoenix, AZ

Radical Acceptance Quilt for 2020, hanging at QuiltCon 2022 in Phoenix, AZ

Radical Acceptance Quilt for 2020, hanging at QuiltCon 2022 in Phoenix, AZ

Star Quilt for Jim and Deb

I’m not sure what prompted me to get started so early, but I began this quilt in January 2021, finished it in May, and finally gave it to my in-laws for Christmas. It’s double sided because I couldn’t decide between a solid version and a print version so I did both. The color palette came from a bundle of solids that I’ve had on my shelf for years (it’s Pond by Elizabeth Hartman). I tried to match the colors of the prints to the colors from the bundle. On the print side, I used a paint by number print and as many florals as I could cram in, both nods to my mother in law’s hobbies. I went with a simple sawtooth star pattern because I think it’s so classic and I wanted to make something that would look good in my in-laws’ beautiful house. I quilted it by hand, using a Baptist fan motif and some perle cotton thread. Jim and Deb have always been so good to me, and they’re the last members of my family who didn’t have a quilt from me. It felt good to finally give them one! Measures 48”x58”. Pictures by Mitch Hopper.

Quilt for Jim and Deb, 2021

Quilt for Jim and Deb, back

Quilt for Jim and Deb, label

Quilt for Jim and Deb, detail

Quilt for Jim and Deb, detail

Quilt for Jim and Deb, detail

Quilt for Jim and Deb, detail