It’s funny when connections are made, and pieces fit together – sometimes when working on something completely unrelated to research, or any specific project.
That happened recently, when doing something as obscure (and many would say ‘eccentric’) as patchwork quilting.
I have often seen handmade quilts, and marveled at the fine craftsmanship, the beauty, and the fact that each is a very personal artistic expression that is also utilitarian – it has a useful purpose beyond mere display. Layer this with the resurgence (at least anecdotally) I have seen with consumers of all ages, genders and backgrounds, in ‘handmade’ or ‘homemade’ things. During many in-home and other contextual research projects I have become aware of the increasing trend in revisiting this old-fashioned, traditional craft.
We had recently redecorated a room in our house, and were looking for the perfect centrepiece – we were not sure if it was a painting, or perhaps even a small sculpture. We wanted it to make a statement. At around the same time, coincidentally, we were visiting my sister, and her in-laws were there. They were chatting about the beautiful quilts the mother-in-law had made. We saw pictures, and we were inspired. We knew that a hand-made quilt would be exactly what our new room would need. We expected at the time we would commission one to be made (to make it our own ‘perfect statement’), but as we explored possibilities, I knew I wanted to make it myself.
I have already spent a lot of hours on our quilt – and I must say it is becoming quite beautiful. I have many hours to go – and though a great deal of work, it is also the kind of work that lets my mind wander; lets me think.
This is where the ‘a-ha’ starts to come in.
As you sew each individual square, you only get a glimpse of the whole. Though intricate and beautiful in its own right (and sometimes you become obsessed by the little flaws that end up being lost within the total quilt), the real beauty is when it is all pieced together: the whole is certainly greater than the sum of its parts.
I was working on a particularly troubling research project when my patchwork quilting suddenly provided a much needed perspective.
Sometimes in research we become so obsessed by the small ‘square’ we do not see the context of the larger quilt. It is in the overall that the beautiful insight is revealed. The same is true of the various cultures in the world – individually we are all unique and so different – each beautiful in our own right. When cultures are pieced together, only then can we see a richer, deeper beauty that the different ‘squares’ provide.
And though a very different outcome than I expected, this patchwork truth has begun to enlighten my other projects, and provide a new perspective. And as I sit and painstakingly sew the top layer, through the thick batting, to the backing, I now smile a bit more – and see the overall quilt in a completely new way: no longer just a statement for our room, but an important life/work lesson.
I can’t wait to start the next one!