I started quilting in 2018 as a way to make order out of chaos.

After my third son was born in 2017, he was diagnosed with craniosynostosis. I had already been struggling with postpartum depression and anxiety, and with this new complication, our family went through the most fearful time we’d come to yet. Our infant needed to undergo a surgery that removed several inches of his skull. Thankfully, we had access to excellent doctors and he was able to recover completely, with only minor scars to show for it.

My own scars have taken longer to heal. I stayed up late, worrying about what might be and what I couldn’t control. It was during one of these late nights that I stumbled across quilting videos online.

At the time, I had never made a quilt. I was in possession of my mother’s hand-me-down sewing machine, but I was afraid of it, if I’m completely honest. But watching those videos made it seem not only possible, but exciting. I wanted to know how it would feel to put something together.

My first few quilts were exercises in mistakes. I didn’t have any clue about color, plans, nothing. But I knew I liked what I was doing. I loved the feeling of breaking things down to build them up again in new ways.

Quilting carried me through the pandemic, and all of the fear, anger, and frustration with it. I discovered something else about myself in 2020: my quilting was more than just a way to process my own feelings. I could use it to say what was in my heart.

When I started to use my work to speak out against anti-Black violence, I learned how divided the quilting community was and continues to be. Which really was a prime example of my own privilege as a white woman. I had never before been aware of how much racism the Black artists and artists of color in the quilting community face on a daily basis. It must stop.

Quilting is an art form, a means of expression. Expressing yourself in art is a way of telling your own story. If your heart is joyful or curious, sad or angry, it will show in your work. Whenever I share work of mine that says something meaningful to me, I often hear “stick to quilting” or comments telling me that my work is not valid or real.

The words in mine, or any other artist’s heart are valid. If we only hear the stories of people who look like ourselves or who come from the same background as ourselves… what a loss.

Quilting and sewing have been ways for people (historically women) to express themselves when they otherwise were not allowed to speak their truths. I can’t think of a more appropriate way to speak out against injustice. It takes time and intention to place each stitch. A person means what they sew.

When my heart is heavy, my mind overwhelmed and feeling helpless, I turn to what I know. I know quilting, and I am “sticking to it”. A quilt is multiple layers of fabric joined by thread.