I have a feeling you are going to like this book. If you are not from West Texas, it will help you understand and appreciate the region a bit more; if you are from West Texas, it will make you feel proud.
This week's reading covers the first half of the book, pp. 1-85. That sounds like a lot until you see that half the pages are pictures. The text is made up primarily of oral histories, which also makes for quick (but not superficial) reading. I think you will find that the photographs and oral histories work together to effectively "establish resonances, depths that neither words nor photos have separately" (Cooper & Allen, 1999, p. 15).
The Quilters is a great example of a certain kind of feminist research, somewhat more in keeping with second-wave '70s feminism than third-wave feminism, which tends to be more theoretical. You will notice that the research was conducted in the 1970s but the book was not published until 1999. Doc students, be warned: it's not easy to publish qualitative research in book form (notice that I didn't even say "feminist" or "narrative" or "auto-ethnographic" research. Tack on those modifiers and your problems increase exponentially).
Pay close attention to how the Introduction is structured. In the first paragraph, the authors establish a first-person ("we" language) presence by speaking directly to readers. This is a strategy to connect with readers and minimize the academic feel of the scholarship. Realize, though, that the book was published by a university press, which automatically renders it academic. I would not be surprised if the TTU press editors made the authors add an introduction explaining their research methods (second paragraph), statement of purpose and limitations of the study (third paragraph), specific information about the participants in the study (pp. 16-7), research questions (top paragraph, p. 18), fieldwork (second para., p. 18) and so on. These are the staples of scholarly research. For anyone who plans on writing a dissertation or traditional thesis, these elements will appear in the first chapter of your document.
Make sure to read the Author's Note on page 10. This information should absolutely be in the Introduction. When working with oral histories and representational photographs that purport to portray people's lives as they "really" are, researchers must critically examine their role as editors. The power to edit is the power to shape, manipulate and stage what is taken for reality. As student researchers, you need to know that representing other people's lives is a very big deal. I am sure that the Author's Note was added after some of the women whose stories and quilts appear in the book complained of being inaccurately represented.
Always be as open and fair as possible with the participants in your study. Many researchers today collaborate with participants in the editing process. This minimizes the chance of misrepresentation. Let the barrier between "us" and "them" fall away as much as possible. At the same time, be real with yourself and others that a barrier does exist. The fact is that you are getting a Master's or Doctorate degree and your participants are not.
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If you have never studied quilts before, this book is going to be a treat. There are so many directions we could take the discussion this week. I'm going to pick two topics to get things started. You may want to discuss other aspects of the text, and I welcome you to do so, once you have responded to the topics below.
Question/Topic #1:
In their Introduction, Cooper & Allen quote a participant whose philosophy of life and quilting is beautifully enmeshed. The participant, Mary, reflects, "Sometimes you don't have no control over the way things go. (....) And then you're just given so much to work with in a life and you have to do the best you can with what you got. That's what piecing is. The materials is passed on to you or is all you can afford to buy...that's just what's given to you. Your fate. But the way you put them together is your business. You can put them together in any order you want. Piecing is orderly" (italics added) (p. 20).
After reading the first 85 pages of The Quilters, tells me what this statement means to you.
Question/Topic #2:
In the Introduction and the first two chapters, we are often shown how quilts traditionally functioned as containers of personal memory and records of social history in the lives of women. What is your favorite example?
People of our generation(s) are more accustomed to recording memories with cameras and storage devices such as photo albums, shoe boxes, cell phones, websites and CD/DVDs. We look at a picture of something and we have a memory (or think we have a memory) of a person, place or thing. So how does this quilt-memory thing work? It's a different process, isn't it? Memory is encoded differently. What do you think is the main difference between quilts and cameras as encoders/transmitters of memory?
Put your thinking caps on! Email me if you have questions or want clarification. Best of luck & happy reading.
carolyn
#1
ReplyDeleteMary’s statement reminds me of a quote that I used to have framed and (in of all places) above the mirror in the bathroom. It said, “Carve your life from the wood you are given.”
It means to me is that life isn’t fair. Some people may have more material things, more luck, or more beauty. But you can’t sit and begrudge your misfortune. We all have gifts and challenges and it is up to each of us to make the unique quilt that is our life.
My favorite example is on page 52. Sarah's mother was a highly respected quilter, "She done the best work in the county." (p. 52) One day Sarah's mom ask her to help with a quilt. Her stitches were too long and uneven. Meanwhile her dad came in and said, "Well, you're jest goin' to have torip it all out tonight." her mom looked at at Sarah, "Them stitches is going to be in that quilt when it wears out." (p. 52)
ReplyDeleteSarah still had the quilt and the memory it conjures when she sees those first stitches.
That part also really moved me, Jenise! It was a picture of how patient we need to be with others as they learn a new skill. My mother had that same mind-set and we all became very creative, making things, trying new things! We were not afraid to fail. We were encouraged at the early stages of learning. Every little miss-sewn button was treasured!
DeleteI felt the intimate family relationship between them when I read this. I thought at the moment, Sarah felt she already grown up enough to help with a quilt. Thought she was new to do a quilt, I thought she felt respected by her family members. And she should feel that she is going to be one of the members in their quilt tradition
DeleteI felt the same way about this one. Its strange that so many of us gravitated to it.
DeleteMy grandmother was a prolific quilter and she passed on the quilting 'gene' to my mom who still quilts everyday at 78.
ReplyDeleteWhile reading "The Quilters", my personal memories of growing up with quilts bubbles to the surface. By the time I came around, of course there were no half dugouts ( althought there is a storm cellar that haunts me) and although we used the quilts, they were not as essential to life on the plains. I guess you could say they were keeping the craft alive while many had abandoned quilts. I remember the late 1960s and early 1970s when quilts were 'cool' again.
My mom also sewed some of my clothes and her's as well. When I entered high school and home ec, I began sewing too. The left over material was keep in her quilt bag and so the cloth would be in the quilts of that era.
Last fall, my parents decided that their health prevented them from living in Meadow and the acreage was too much for them to handle. So we moved them to a lovely place here in Lubbock. My mom wanted to divide the quilts between my sister-in-law and myself. She only wanted to keep a couple and plus she is working on new ones as well.
What a hard thing that was to do. I looked at the quilts, some very well designed and fancy; others coordinated with purposely bought cloth. But my favorites hands down were the quilts using the scraps from clothes I wore as a child and ther were pieces of my Mom's dresses. Immediately I was taken back to that time. I recalled the beautiful pant suit I made with the plaid seersucker cloth and the community dinner we had attended the first time I wore it and I remembered my friends from school. Then I saw some beautiful red cloth that was from the first dress I made for my mom. Our home ec class had a style show every year and our moms were the hostess of our table and we sold tickets for the show and we served dessert. I made the dress for my mom for a project, and I remember how beautiful she looked.
I have photos of those clothes and the events I mentioned and I am currently going through all the photos to digitize them. But those photos don't bring back the memories being able to touch the actual cloth. Tactile memories are like movies in your head. Just like the memories of smell. I can smell her faint perfume in the quilts my mom gave me brings up memories.
I do love photos and seeing a face from the past is a lovely thing, but photos are flat, somewhat cold. It records all the images but in a way that is somehow impersonal. My personal connection to my moms quilts involve touch, smell and the memory is more inside my head.
Wow Jenise, your story really moved me. You're right about the sensory aspects of quilts and quilting. Things bring back impressions that spread in all directions and we can't see the edges of them or know how deep they go. Photos can provide a sharp, sometimes painful entry point to a memory but the image pretends to be a substitute for reality. It says, "She was really here and this is exactly what she looked like" while quilts and others objects also tell us "she was really here, she really touched this" but stop short of telling us how to remember her.
ReplyDeleteEither way, this kind of memory is almost always painful, at least for me. The relentlessness of time! The cruelty of being able to remember someone but not to see, touch or hear them ever again. This is such a human pain. (Apparently it is a human pain, but we really know so little about the consciousness of nonhumans). I sometimes envy birds because they seem to live for the joy or hardship of the moment. This ties in with nostalgia, a longing for things past.
It's truly lovely that you have quilts made by your mother from scraps of your old clothes and pieces of dresses you made for her. You have first-hand knowledge of the quilt as place of family memory. Thank you for telling us about the quilts in such detail. I have learned a lot from you and I will remember your story.
Jenise, it would be cool to have a cup of coffee with you. I thoroughly enjoyed reading your story. Thank you for writing from the heart. I have recommended this book to a very special collegue and my pride and joy, my mom. My mom is a quilter, theres never really a time I go over and shes not in her sewing room creating things from the heart. She always greets me at the door, "Hi baby" and gives me a big hug and kiss. God, I love my mom! When my mom was looking at the book she respected the woman and their stories and looked page by page. Every picture of a quilt she put her hand over it and just gazed at the pictures, almost as she was feeling the texture of the quilts. I felt proud, because I felt connected to the women through watching her respect them. I read wednesday night and since then have thought a lot of the meaning to me, this reading couldn't have come at a better time.
DeleteLiz, it would be an honor!
DeleteI am going to let my mom read the book also, but I am waiting until our reading over. She will want to keep it a while and I want her to savor it at her own pace.
I'm sorry to be a pain about this, but can someone help me with the picasa thing? Where do I need to go to link it to this blog? Is this something I need to do through the google+ site? Or through Picasa? I seems like I've tried everything I can figure out. Everytime I think I did what I was supposed to do but when I check I can't find the "test Album" I created.
ReplyDeleteYou're not being a pain at all. Asking for help is good.
ReplyDeleteThe easiest way to set up a Picasa account is through your Gmail. In the upper right corner of your Gmail inbox screen, there's a drop-down menu under your name (or picture, whichever it is), where you can sign out or go to Account Settings. Select Account Settings. In Account Settings, you should find in a column on the left side of the screen or below your main information, a link to "Products". Click on Products, and there you will find a bunch of Google "products" like Blogger, Youtube, iGoogle, etc. Picasa Web Albums is a Google product. If you click on Picasa from your Gmail Account Settings page, it will help you set up a Picasa account that is linked to your Gmail and Blogger information. Then, when I go to our class blog and click on our class Picasa Web Album, your album will be there along with Jenise' and anyone else who has an album.
I hope this helps. Jenise might have some advice too. Let me know you encounter more problems or have questions. Remember, it's good to ask for help. Good luck!
Francesco, unfortunately setting it up isn't very intuitive. I will help as much as possible. Are you working on a Mac or PC? I was not able to set it up at all on the iPad.
DeleteThank you for the help. Unfortunately there is something about arranging this that simply isn't working. Carolyn, would it be okay to meet sometime this week? Maybe I can bring my laptop to you and let you take a look?
DeleteI loved that statement on p. 20 of Quilters, by Mary. For me it speaks of the remarkable,courageous love that the women of the pioneer age possessed. My mother-in-law, Mary Zula McComack, was cut from that same strong cloth. She had a very tough life; the oldest of ten children, she had to leave school in the seventh grade to help her mother raise the little ones. The family picked cotton as crop workers during the depression. She used to drag the huge cotton sack down the rows as a little girl. My mother-in-law, “Mom”, once took our daughters out into a field of cotton to teach them the skill of picking cotton. I tried to do it with her, but I kept getting pricked by the thorns! Even in her seventies, she had deft fingers. Her quilting stitches were so tiny that I could never replicate them!
ReplyDeleteMom always had a quilt in the frames leaning against the wall. She gave each of our daughters a beautiful Dutch Doll baby quilt; I am the proud owner of a Dresden Plate and a Double Wedding Ring that she made for us. I helped cut out and stitch parts of both quilts as a young bride. She was so patient and loving...I miss her so much. She was strong, but gentle, wise, but humble. For my “History of Arts and Crafts” class that Future taught, last spring, I made a quilted book in her honor. I found replicas of the old feed sack cotton prints that she used for her early quilts to construct the book. As soon as I figure out Picasa, I will attach some photos of my book about Zula!
She lived a life of courageous love for others, even though she had been badly abused by her alcoholic father as a child and teenager. Zula was very understanding and accepting of all kinds of people, their hurts, and limitations. She told her kids that they could be anything that wanted to be. She could make the tiniest of children feel comforted and the poorest of people felt rich in her homey hospitality. The last quote in the back of the book is from Proverbs 31, and it exemplified my mother-in-law: “Give her of the fruit of her hands; let her own works praise her in the gates.”
Without a doubt, my mom is the largest influence in my live, however, I have been blessed to also have the best two mother-in-laws possible. When I divorced, the first one, Bobbie, told me that I was still her daughter. "You can divorce Joe, but we will always be family" (Bobbie Dillard, personal communication).
DeleteMy present Mother-in-law, Grace, is a lovely women who tells me ever time I see her that she is so happy to have me in the family.
I don't know what I did to be so lucky both times, but I am glad to have had them in my life.
Wowo, I think quilt do recall people's memory who grown up in west Texas. Because it is so close related to people's live in west Texas, therefore, it has magic power to recall people's memory. People share their memory through their abundant life experiences with their quilts. Comparing with quilts,cameras(or other digital storage devices)are more personal and more specific experiences.
DeleteYes, I think there is something to that, A-Ta. White people started settling in West Texas quite a bit later than in other parts of the country. For West Texans, the pioneer days are only 2 generations away. This could account for some cultural differences.
DeleteI'm interested in hearing what Allison has to say.
A Ta, Lubbock was incorporated in 1909, so it is a brand new city in many respects. My family came to Texas before the Texas revolution, and settled in Stephan F. Austin's colony at Washington on the Brazos, so I am a fifth generation Texan. However, my mom's family didn't come to the plains until 1944. So really the pioneer roots are very close to the surface for many of us.
DeleteI am originally from New Jersey, when I was 6 my county was celebrating it's tricentennial! As one of two daughters I was raised by my divorced mom and we lived in a small town with many relatives in it. I spent a lot of time with my grandmother and great grandmother. They did not make quilts, between the two of them they could not sew a button on--I saw this with my own eyes! But they were 'connected' to family objects, like a tiny child's bible and furniture built (and painted on) by my great grandfather. I did learn to sew from a lady in the neighborhood, and I "pieced" together my own quilting traditions. It seems at every turn I find a connection to these simple things, and I can see where in my life a connection to meaning is important for me.
DeleteMy family were not settlers, but pioneers in their own right, especially the women, and I am connected to objects that were theirs or remind me of them, that connects me to my history, through them.
I agree with Jenise, the quilt memory includes textures that bring back memories, fabrics of dresses worn at special times, and smells that flood the mind and heart with images of the past. I love that my “going away dress” fabric scraps from my wedding day are included in one of the blocks of the quilt that Mom stitched for us. I remember the shoes I wore that day, I remember turning around to look back at everyone when we drove away, old cans banging as they dragged behind our Ford Barracuda (it was 1972.) I remember thinking, “This is real...I am married to this man who is driving this car.” I remember how sunny that day in May was, how pretty my sisters were in their dotted swiss dresses, carrying daisies, waving goodbye. I remember how we drove off, elated, ready for adventure! We had a flat tire between Dallas and Austin, but that did not dampen our sense of fun and high adventure!
ReplyDeleteI don’t really know if men have a sense for fabrics and the memory of the events that occurred they wore that item of clothing the way I do, but I still have the shirt that my husband wore the day we met! I cannot throw it away! Maybe I will make it into a quilt, someday, for my grand-children! Just for visual reference: it is a blue, oxford cloth shirt with a pink stripe and button down collar, worn soft from many launderings!
Cameras cannot really transmit all of the other senses the way a quilt or piece of cloth can. I do love looking at old pictures, but when I run my hands over one of my mother-in-law’s quilts I can visualize, smell, and hear the memories of my little nieces (now in their forties) playing in their sweet, cotton dresses, wedding day images, and my mother-in-law standing by the sink in her calico cotton bathrobe, preparing meals with love for her family, which happily, included me.
Suzanne, what happy memories you have! And, like Jenise, you describe the details of the fabrics, quilts, and the moments they hold for you so very clearly. I am in awe of people who have maternal women in their lives. My mother always worked as a professional musician. She is "high strung," as they say. No quilts or warm memories of growing up for me. But we all have our own stories, and there is something of value in all of them. Thank you for sharing yours and relating it to this week's reading.
ReplyDeleteLiz, I just read your comment. I also thought of sharing the book with my mom. I know she'd enjoy it because of the stories of strong women. Although my family is from northern Ohio, things were hard for them too, in a whole set of different ways. There's no doubt about it, women work very hard all over the world (including the "caring work" for children, elderly and sick family members) and they don't get much recognition for it.
ReplyDeleteMy mom's mother was trained as a schoolteacher and even had a Bachelor's degree, but she couldn't teach because her husband taught at the same (and only) school in their small town. The school didn't hire married couples so my grandma was forced stayed at home. My grandfather, taught high school chemistry and also coached the football team. My grandma had to wash the football uniforms by hand in the basement. My mom remembers seeing her standing in rubber boots in ankle-deep water in the winter, beating the dirt out of the uniforms with a long stick. What a wretched life. Since they didn't have much of a life themselves, these women worked hard to make a better life for their kids.
It's not that men don't work hard also and sacrifice for their children, as we know that they do. It's just that women's work has always been invisible because it was done inside the home, in the private sphere, and much of their work was considered "instinctive." Ha!
I'm so glad that you had the chance to share the book with your mom and watch her reaction. I like that you included the detail of how she ran her hand over the photos. The sense of touch comes through, even in the photographs. Isn't that interesting? Thanks for sharing that with us!
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ReplyDeleteThis assignment couldn’t have come at a better time; it’s as if fate has drawn me to this point in time and to be a part of this class. This question/discussion has caught me at a very vulnerable, sensitive, and disillusioned state of mind. I envy the lifestyle told of the women and their quilts. No matter how busy or in times of depression, or sleeping in thirteen degree weather they desired and bought their quilts to life. In return the quilts took on a life of their own and returned the love, just as intricately as it was pieced and stitched together. With patience, love and a simple life these women, and sometimes men, created these quilts with visions of hope, loyalty and discipline that will with stand the test of time.
ReplyDeleteThese women lived to quilt and any hardship they encountered juxtaposed their life to what life the quilt was taking on. I read the topic over and over again, but what does it mean to me? I know what I felt when I read it; let’s see how that goes... This topic deserves something special from me to honor the lives of those women. I decided to record my observations/thoughts by hand versus typing. I need to feel the fluidity of my soft 4B lead gracefully glide across my moleskin paper. I’m now in a subconscious state of mind, and I suddenly feel the joy I encounter when my graphite brings to reality my consciousness. My thoughts are qualitatively being recorded, what a ‘beauty’ful simple pleasure. I feel I can relate now to how the woman created their quilts; by putting a little piece of me into this topic.
In the introduction, Cooper and Allen identified, “And the art was controlled and handed down by women, usually mother, grandmother, or aunt. The best elements of teaching were often combined over the construction of a quilt: early and often loving instruction, tradition, discipline, planning, and completing a task, moral reinforcement.” (italics added) (p.17)
I feel I was raised by my mother following a quilter’s creed. She instills the very best in all her children, and just as the men helped with the quilts, my dad was there following her way to raise us. Words can’t justify what my mom means to me, she is very powerful; her gaze gives me pride, her hugs give me comfort, her definite smell leaves her presence with me, her elegant silver streak in her hair gives me morale, her voice gives me hope, her words give me wisdom, and her endless love gives me the gift to be ‘Liz’. I am who I am because of her and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
I begin to compare the life of these quilters and my upbringing to that of my students. So many questions arise; why do they have so much hate, anger and lack of respect for humans and global tragedies? Why are there students who love, have compassion and care for their future? What’s the missing link? I can’t help but think the missing link is the loss of knowledge of family virtues and history. Without that record, what legacy does a family continue?
I think I may have stumbled across a thesis. I’ve noticed the quantitative paradigm among artistic students compared to those that are not. It’s a pretty bold statement, but like I said, this is what I felt while reading the lives of these women. This passage stood out to me “Sometimes the work would get too hard, I would ask ‘Why?’ And she would say real quiet, ‘Because you just have to. There’s nothing for it but to do it.’” (p. 23) My students always question, ‘Why?’ almost as if they never learned to trust. I see now that my students are my material, just waiting for their pieces to be stitched and for them to be symbolized.
I read your comment and I am moved to respond, yet so many issues... first, we are so alike, yet so different, yet so alike. Strong women make such wonderful role models for young women (and men). Not everything in life is enjoyable or easy, and that is a lesson that needs to learned, without breaking one's spirit. Art and creating objects can give one the joy and satisfaction one needs to be the fuel to get through those things that are not easy or enjoyable. I could go on, but I won't, I will just say, I saw my mother persevere through tough times and my children saw me, now they have their lives and they will not be deterred (two are also artists).
DeleteLooking back, and even when I was 'there', the tough times made me appreciate the 'good' times so much more.
I try to instill this in my students as well-- learning something new makes one feel uncomfortable, so don't judge it as "I like this or I don't like this" just do it because it needs to be done and it will get you to the next...
#1
ReplyDeleteFor me, while quilters were dealing with their quilts, they were actually struggling with their lives. They used the limited sources that they can get to meet their needs, and told their stories (past) and their dream (future) on their quilts. Mary uses quilting to symbol those quilters’ lives. On the one hand, the limited materials on the quilts presented their critical lives. Most of quilters used every possible materials they have in hands to compose the patterns. Therefore, quilts not only represent the reality aspects of their lives, but also show their wisdom of how they dealt with their lives. On the other hand, quilters present their history, lives, environment and dreams through the patterns design. For example, in the book they present long start (the symbol of Texas), birds in Flight, crazy windmill, windmill blade, furrow, double wedding ring, school house, and etc to tell stories.
Dealing with reality and dream, quilters are telling stories through their quilts.
#2
My favorite example is the one on p75. The quilter mentioned “we just didn’t have much.” and she needs more quilters to be done because she has kids started coming along. She has not enough materials for quilts. Then she got a huge bag of scraps from her mother. I feel like this is the original spirit of quilting quilts that quilters keep every possible scrap and use their creative imagination to decorate the quilts. The quilter tries to satisfy her family’s need for life and also tries to put love and memory onto quilts. “…I remember that patch. That was a dress that my grandmother wore to church. I sat beside her singing hymns, and that dress was so pretty to me then. I can just remember her in that dress now.” Here that patch is a container of quilter’s memory. She not only recycles the dress of her grandmother but uses it as an object to recall memory.
I think the main difference between quilts and cameras as encoders/transmitters of memory is the physical difference. The images that cameras represent are flat and the feelings are abstract. Quilts are physical exist. Like the example on p15, the quilt evokes her memory of her grandmother through the patch that made out of her grandmother’s clothes. I believe that the physical contact of quilts may evoke stronger feelings than cameras.
I was 19 and incarcerated when I first read the Bible. Through the scriptures I realized and understood why my mother left me there. 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. (Corinthians 13:4-7; New International Version (NIV))
ReplyDeleteThere are two physical things in my life that will preserve my mother’s existence; my bible with her signing it to me and the quilt she quilted for me. The quilt is a butterfly tessellation. One side is black and white; the other is the same but in vibrant colors. My mother gives me the quilt and says, “This side is black and white because you will always flourish and this side is colored because you add color to my life, I choose red as the border because that’s my favorite color.” The stitching is also in the shape of a butterfly.
Photos are great for seconds of pleasure, but my bible and quilt will allow my mother’s legacy to be handed down generation after generation and she will continue to exemplify our family virtues.
What a gift you are to your mother, what a gift she is to you. Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres!
DeleteOh no!! I just realized some stuff was missing. I need to share my favorite example, I wil post when I get home. Happy Sunday!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite example is, “Mama knew what her part was because right away she took some blue silk out of her hope chest. I remember that silk well because it was special and I got to carry it.” (p. 49) When I read that I got chills, it reminds me when my student was killed, I knew right away what my part was. I feel special because I have one of two imprints of his hand and I get to carry it. Her (my mother) care gives me compassion.
DeleteLiz, I like that you highlighted the intergenerational learning the quilting tradition represents and embodies. A quilt contains memories of knowledge passed on from mother to daughter through multiple generations, which is part of its power. Like you, I was most deeply touched by the words, "Sometimes the work would get too hard, and I would ask 'Why?'...and she would say, 'Because you just have to. There's nothing else for it but to do it.'" To me, that is the essence of life, and it's something that has to be learned. When we're young, we think we will somehow avoid coming to this cold, hard realization. But eventually we are faced with it, and we accept because by that time we are strong and wise. We know "there's nothing else for it but to do it" - there's just no choice. No one's suffering is particularly special. Everyone suffers and has to live through the "too hard" times. Very few people live charmed, easy lives.
ReplyDeleteThank you for honoring the women's lives by writing in longhand, feeling the paper beneath your moving pencil. It's something few of us would think to do, and it's powerful. Your writing is very inspired and passionate. It pays tribute to the hardships endured by our grandmothers so that we could have better lives. But, like you, I wonder why our generation isn't more grateful for having easier lives than our forefathers & mothers. I believe it has to do with lack of knowledge of (and interest in) history. Our society is very now-oriented; time is a flat surface without depth. Without this depth of time and knowledge, there can be no appreciation. This is why our society doesn't honor its elders. We think of the old as something to be disposed of, forgotten or even ridiculed for being weak and old-fashioned. We want to live in the eternal bling of the now; everything else is "so 10 minutes ago."
A-Ta, I have been waiting to read your response to this week's reading, because I know you are interested in memory, nostalgia and photography. Are you are finding your classmates' responses to the reading just as interesting as the reading itself? For me, the responses raise questions of memory and gender. Is it possible that memory itself can be gendered? Or is it less gendered than sub/cultural? My maternal grandmother sewed because she was not allowed to teach. My paternal grandmother never sewed - she just wanted to be an actress. My mother was the first woman in my family who broke out of the domestic role to become a working professional (musician). I think of my life as a professor as the culmination of my grandmother's thwarted dreams. My appreciation of the quilt and quilting traditions is aesthetic and intellectual, but not personal. Therefore, in my case at least, memory isn't gendered in the same way as Liz', Suzanne's or Jenise', even though we all strongly identify with the hardship and sacrifice or our foremothers. The mode of expression is simply different.
Well, those are some of my thoughts for now. This conversation is moving in some very interesting directions!
For me, I think memory can be genderlized. Taking my grandmother as an example, she had Alzheimer's disease three years before she passed away. The last year before she died, she cannot remember anything or anyone but one thing that is she has to "go back home and cook dinner for her family." Every evening, this thing will go over again and again. Nothing left in her memory, but she has to go back home and cook for her family. Moreover, she was anxiety all the time when she mentioned it.
DeleteThis, I think, could be one of the examples that present her categorized/generded memory. In the her age, the society generded daily duties for males and female. Working in the farm are mainly men's duities, on the contrary, women are designated to taking care of kids, cooking, doing laundry,and sewing. They, as a woman, should taking care certain of duties that belonged to them. Thus, the memory could be generded in this way. That reason why in Cooper & Allen's book (1999), the quilters are all female, and their memories are mainly about their foremothers.
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ReplyDeleteAfter reading these first two sections, I found this comment to be a beautiful metaphor for life in general. It’s a powerful statement that everything is not how we would like it to be but if you can acknowledge this with a certain optimistic acceptance, you can move beyond being cynical or bitter. I took it to say there’s certain of control to be found in this acceptance. Once you know what is and is not available to you, you are able to make more concrete decisions. The idea that the world is filled with unlimited possibilities is usually seen as a good thing. But if you don’t have some boundaries to work within, then you may end up spending too much time glossing over an abundance of options and possibilities with uncertainty when you could better serve your time focused on a more limited range in order to reach greater depth.
The other great part of this comment is the end. How you put the pieces of your life together is yours to accept responsibility for. There is both a positive and negative acknowledgement in this. The latter being strength to take ownership the things that go bad as a part of your life rather than the fault of others or other situations while, the former being the appreciation of just how much power you have over your own perception of your life. It reminds of a saying… I can’t remember from where or how it goes exactly, but its something like this… the only thing you really own in life is your story.
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ReplyDeleteThe story that got to me the most began with “Mama was a beautiful quilter” (Cooper & Allen, 1999, p. 52). Towards the bottom of the page, after explaining how her mother never let anyone touch her quilts, the narrator describes the first time her mother let her join her in quilting. She continues with her father coming in and mentioning to his wife how his daughter’s stitches were “ruinin’ your quilt” (p.52). The narrator’s mother points out that the child is doing her first quilt and the father returns with a comment about how she will have to go back later to take out the daughter’s poor stitches. And then there is this wonderful comment: “mama smiled at me and said, ‘them stitches is going to be in that quilt when it wears out’” (p.52)
ReplyDeleteTo me it is such a powerful comment to first point out how much her mother controlled her quilts, wanting them to be perfect and not letting anyone touch them but in the moment when she was ready to share the craft with her daughter the quilt became something more than a functional object or piece of art. At that moment, the child’s wide stitches were the embodiment of those first moments when she began to learn how to quilt and the mother knew intrinsically that those stitches meant so much more than just their functional purpose of keeping two pieces of cloth together.
In this sense, these stitches were the index of a significant moment in time. They, like a photograph recorded a passing instance. But unlike a photograph, these stitches were not just a visual representation of a something past; they were the actual result of something that could never be reproduced. Within those stitches, the mother knew her daughter was leaving a part of herself within the quilt. As the daughter notes, her stitches were already getting better by the time her mother and father finished their discussion about the child’s stitches. This to me means those stitches could never be wrong the way were wrong in that moment and that why they were perfect for the mother and why needed to stay in the quilt.
I like your way to present the difference between them, the quilt can not reproduce, every quilt itself not only share the same tradition value but also has it's unique story. Quilts are authentic exist with their own stories.
DeleteFor me, the main difference between a photograph and a quilt is in the action, the physical labor, of the body. The quilt is made through hours of physical labor. The photograph is produced in a relatively short period of time, and requires less labor. This is why the quilt resonates on a more tactile level. The embodied quilter remains in the quilt.
ReplyDeleteFrancesco, next week is very busy for me. I'll be in Austin Thursday & Friday. A week from tomorrow - Monday, Feb. 20th - would work better. Could you meet in the afternoon?
ReplyDeleteIn the meantime, you might try the computer lab (2nd floor of the Arch Bldg.) for support. Terry Ford and Ben Medina are both very knowledgable and I bet they'd be happy to help. Just an idea...
Sounds good, I know terry, Do you have your lecture coming up? if so, good luck!
DeleteQuestion 1--
ReplyDeleteI can totally relate to the quote about piecing, as much of life gets out of order, and you don't have 'control' over. But within the context of "The Quilter's" I could see that quilting was one way to have some control over their lives, while creating a much needed item. Quilting gave them a creative outlet, a way to make something out of bits of nothing (yet each scrap of cloth had a story), allowed them to create something beautiful (and meaningful) when all else around them was harsh and plain, and gave them a connection to a 'community' as they made it. The process was an emotional connection that was as important as the end product was useful.
Question 2
I had several favorites, some made me cry, some spawned compassion and another made me laugh out loud.
1- p 49, the blue silk that became the casket lining and quilt to wrap the lost life, the death of a baby. The community that came together for the family at their time of grief.
2- p 52, Sarah's first lesson in quilting- her father's criticism juxtaposed to her mother's patience. And her desire to learn, to improve and not give up (esp. in the face of her non-quilting father's harsh words).
3- p 57-58, The bolt of red calico cloth and the gesture by her father. I quilt and I know that red cloth back then was very prized as the dye for it was expensive. One bolt would give them enough for many, many quilts for years! Typically in a quilt any one fabric (purchased) would be 1/4 yard, but it is called a 'fat quarter' as it is one quarter of a yard of cloth cut from a one yard length- 18"x 22" rather than 9"x 44." I imagine that bolt was shared with every quilter in the congregation, for years! And every time she saw that particular or another red calico, she connected immediately with memories of her father and his generous moment!
Quilt memory vs. photograph.
I equate quilt making with creating a work of ceramic sculpture or working metal- many stages, many process that take hours and weeks rather than the split second of the shutter. A photo might jog a memory but each scrap of fabric may take one to a time and place, personal for them (maybe different for their sister). This lengthy process affords the creator/artist the time to think and mull, to gain a connection to an aspect, ie, a scrap or block or part of the process, that marks time and place differently than an image of a fleeting moment. I often think when faced with a moment I want to freeze, I wish I had a camera (handy) but when I do, I am so into taking the picture that I miss the event of the moment! But I can look at quilts I have made, clay works I have done and metal objects and jewelry I have made and remember the time and circumstances that surrounded (most) of them. Some are learning experiences, that made the next piece better, richer because I did that one first.
Often with cameras -still and video, it edits the image, or those in it, are performing for the camera. But mostly, my photos don't look as good as my richer memory of it, something I don't think the camera can capture.
I love this book! It lit sparks in my own memory about my relatives, childhood and creative seeds.
Francesco, like A-Ta I'm struck by your comment on photographs, stitches and representation. The former is a visual representation while the latter is the actual result of something that can never be reproduced. As Allison says, the representation that doesn't visually index a particular place in the past can be more expansive and sensuous, more alive. We have to know what we're looking at, however, and for many years people looked at quilts as utilitarian domestic objects with little value. Cooper and Allen's book makes us conscious of the past by allowing the women in their study to speak (seemingly without interruption, but the stories have all been edited) and the quilts and landscapes to "speak" through the medium of photography. The synthesis lets us see and hear a small, quiet part of history. Reading this book makes me aware, once again, of the power of history to transform my sense of the present.
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