I Forgot About My Memory Quilt
(Part 1)
(Settling in my seat, looking around my desk and monitors, re-acquainting myself like a pilot who’s been out of the cockpit for ever …)
This represents the key visual bit of a chain of one-thing-leading-to-another this morning (the Fixx is/are in my head at the moment). And it’s seasonally as well as genealogically pertinent, so here goes.
Four years ago about this time I ordered a Memory Quilt from the good folks in Omaha, Nebraska, at memorystitch. My sister had mentioned something about a local woman who sewed pillows from old clothes but she couldn’t remember the woman’s name. I got online and found the memory stitchers in Nebraska instead.
Since I randomly thought about it early this morning, and remembering I had semi-intentions of mentioning it for the past three years, and since it is already December, I want to post this in time to benefit anyone who might be interested. So for now I’ll just show you mine and then hit SEND (or whatever the button’s called).
But there are several more “Lived Stories” I want to tell that are represented on this 78”x92” expanse of soft blue velour on one side and the remnants of thirty 15” squares of worn tshirt-sides on the other. There are a few holes and an embarrassing amount of dried paint. A few are indecipherable to the eye, but exceedingly meaningful to me as they span a full fifty year period of my life.
My Memory Quilt
You might consider following or subscribing to my free stack (is that what this is called now?), “Lived Stories.” (See how I very unobtrusively wove that branding message into the text? Somebody said I should.)
Well, first of all, Steve, welcome back. We've missed your voice around here. I've saved you a spot at the table. Next... "Memory Quilt," what a fantastic name. I suppose I'd seen a reference to this MemoryStitch site somewhere, but what a great way to celebrate the idea.
I've been thinking about stitching my own memory quilt when I stumbled upon a fantastic quilt show, “Routed West: Twentieth-Century African American Quilts in California” at the Berkeley Art Museum (BAMPFA). It's a historical retrospective of quilts as storytelling devices for African-American women during the Great Migration in the post-Reconstruction era. You can learn more about the show here. (https://news.artnet.com/art-world/bampfa-quilts-routed-west-2692097) The show is wrapping up here today, and I've heard a rumor that it's headed to New York. I'm sure it will be on the road. This is part of a massive collection now at BAMPFA so we'll soon see more from their collection. I can't recommend it enough.
I expect to be talking more about quilts as storytelling devices in 2026. I have none of my family's Quaker quilt collection, though I know many of you have them. Then, of course, there's my own nerdy tee collection. Not exactly Arrowsmith, but hey, the graveyard of tech startups still retains a little nerd-cred. 🤘
Nice to see you back, Steve. I’ve missed your frequently witty comments. Have you ever done a memory quilt with covers of books you’ve liked? I’d love to see one.