Quilting

I've read 'Quilting' by Marybeth Stalp (2007) which, although focused on contemporary American quilting, shows some similar sentiments to books about Amish quilts. The book made me think about carework/gifting, process/product, creative acts being good for well-being, time and layers of meaning.

As Elizabeth Safanda suggested in 'Amish Quilts', Stalp also believes one of the reasons women quilt is to give physical form to their 'carework':

'Other forms of attending to the emotional needs of others (e.g., cooking family meals, driving children to leisure activities) leave little evidence of women's regular carework for themselves and for others. Even other gendered leisure escapes for women, like reading romance novels and participating in book clubs, do not leave tangible evidence of their activities. Quilting instead leaves a finished product - a quilt which can link the maker with the recipient in sentimental ways. In addition to producing a tangible object and often gifting the finished product to a friend or family member, the creative process of quilting is personally fulfilling. The quilting process provides women the opportunity to engage in leisure, produce something tangible, and document physically and visually the carework that they engage in for others.' p.6

Stalp also believes that quilting is good for well-being:

'Quilting as a form of women's art- and craftwork provides physical and mental benefits (Anderson and Gold 1998). Delaney-Mech (2000 :6), a physician and a quilter, notes:
A simple sewing task, such as sewing together two patches, lowers your heart rate and blood pressure. It sends a wave of relaxation through your whole body.' p.63

'Quilting provides inner peace, creative outlets, and time for reflexive thinking. For some women, quilting is the relaxing equivalent of taking a bubble bath, having some alone time spent at their own choosing.
Quilting benefits women emotionally, leaving them with a calmness and focus not achieved through other requisite, everyday activities such as childcare, laundry, meal preparation, or housework.' p.63

'The repetitive motion, or flow, of quilting exhibits religious or trance-like properties. For some women quilting even had a spiritual nature.' p.64

Stalp positions herself as a quilter and writes that her book is focused on the quilters, i.e. process, not the finished product. She believes that quilters themselves are more focused on the process as demonstrated by the fact they often gift the finished quilt.

Stalp found in her 4 years of fieldwork with quilters:

'... women consistently talk about quilts in relation to their selves, as well as their personal and family connections, aspects heavily emphasized in women's traditional gender roles. Any overarching linear concepts, such as time (e.g., hours, days, weeks, months, years) and quantity (how many quilts a quilter has made), are secondary to the meaning-making processes women used to measure and discuss their quilting activities.' p.41

The author gives examples of quilters (we assume the norm) who don't place value on their quilts based on money or time, but on how they felt making them, if they like them and why. (p.68).

Contrastingly, Stalp comments that the majority of non-quilters when faced with a completed quilt will ask how long it took, and then how many quilts the quilter had made - this shows a completely different value system to the quilters.

'Quilts made within the framework of the traditional family, or those quilts gifted to family members, summon family-related memories. Through quilting, women make meaning in their own lives, preserve and transmit quilting heritage, a secure historical markers that represent them, their life events, and their families.' p.117

Stalp states that quilts can have personal meanings and significance to the quilter that may not be obvious to others, and gives an example of individually constructed meaning from an interview with a quilter:

'Heather continues to discuss the personal connection she has with quilts she has made after becoming interested in quilting from her grandmother: "That's what I want for my quilts - for there to be layers on layers on layers of information that you can access so that as you live with the quilt, it's like a person, you get to know it better and there is more to learn than just what's on the surface."' p.122

There are also instances where quilts have collectively constructed meaning, like the NAMES quilt for AIDS victims. Sometimes individually and collectively constructed meaning overlaps:

'As illustrated by these quilt stories, there is important hidden meaning in cultural objects. As a cultural product, a quilt has layers of meaning, which are understood and appreciated both at multiple levels and by multiple audiences.' p.125

Finally, Stalp believes that as well as the quilts having layers of meaning, so too does the process of quilting:

'Once they learn and enjoy quilting, women find deeper layers of meaning the longer they pursue it.' p.133

As Jonathon Chapman, in his book 'Emotionally Durable Design' believes that consumers need products t have multiple layers of meaning that are revealed over time to keep the user interested, the idea of layers of meaning embedded in quilts and quilting could be a really exciting one to pursue.