Charm

“Charm” is a community quilt that was built on the idea of gathering. My work is inspired by the quilts my grandmothers made. I have delighted in hearing stories about how they would collect fabrics and then gather to stitch together parts of a quilt. This inspired me to “gather” or bring together the artists and creatives in our community to collaborate on this community quilt. 

A Charm style quilt is usually simple in design with a singe repeated shape. The goal with this type of quilt is to collect as many different pieces of fabric as possible in an effort to not repeat a pattern and as a result can contain over a 1000 different pieces of fabric. Oftentimes, the makers would ask family and friends for fabric to get a variety of patterns. In turn, these quilts become a record of a moment in history and the fabric that was available at that time. 

Much like historical Charm quilts I reached out to over 130 makers and asked them to collaborate on this quilt. These makers included ceramic artists, painters, sculptors, paper artists, photographers, quilters, crocheters, printmakers, and even a computer scientist. The quilt showcases a crosscut of a wide range of people from our Utah arts community.

To facilitate the project I made the ceramic tiles using a simple quatrefoil pattern that would be visually unifying. Next, I gave out the tiles to makers and asked them to add a surface in whatever way spoke to them. This was a leap of faith for me. I wasn’t sure if this would even come together. But with every tile that was returned I was mesmerized by each artist's contribution and the stories they shared. I would spend hours studying the group of tiles, picking them up, and discovering a new small detail. When the tiles were finally assembled into a single quilt I was overcome with how meaningful this was for me and my community. The result is a rich tapestry of makers in our community. It reads like a dynamic visual storybook and marks a moment in time of makers in Utah. 

I am immensely grateful to everyone that contributed. They include: