Stephanie's Quilt

STEPHANIE'S QUILT

2001
51"x 70"
NOT FOR SALE

cotton, tulle fiber reactive dye, textile paint metallic and rayon threads glass seed beads, glass leaf beads, charms painted and printed fabrics commercial batik fabrics collage construction machine quilted beaded by hand

This piece was made for my dear friend, made at her request. Stephanie had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. A beautiful, generous, vivacious person, she first asked me to create this piece when she was 37. I was overwhelmed, but I immediately agreed. It became a collaborative project, strengthening and deepening our relationship over the course of the six months it took to make the work.

One of the first things I knew must be included in the work was the small composition Stephanie made during a class with me in the summer of 2000. It is at the top center of the quilt. After making this small panel, she realized that it was the image of a gravestone; how prophetic.

Stephanie told me that she wanted to have a large tree of life image in this quilt. She wanted the quilt to represent her life, not her death. There are several additional symbolic images: the blue house, the world, the Jewish star, Moose, their dog, the large heart, which symbolizes her grandmother, the lines of people (her family).

She sent me a package of beautiful batik fabrics to include in the work. They were perfect for leaves, which are scattered over the whole surface. I added the stones, symbolizing our journey from and return to the earth. There is a tattoo image on the tree trunk, "I love my Stinko" (Stephanie and her husband call each other by that, very affectionately). The yellow panel behind the tree represents light and energy and Stephanie's love of life. The colorful, swirling panel behind the tree is there at her insistence because she likes the energy and colorfulness it displays. I had originally thought I would place pieces of her own fabrics behind the tree, but she insisted on this instead.

The making of this piece filled me with both joy and despair; I was on a roller coaster of emotions. During the course of creating it, we both decided that it had indeed become a celebration of Stephanie's life. It is not a dirge. Still, upon its completion, we were both nervous, sad, worried. Happily, Stephanie enjoyed her quilt for two years before she passed away on July 29, 2003. Her quilt was draped over her coffin.

Another example of a commemorative quilt made for my brother's wife.