I fondly remember my school days when I would return home ecstatically and find my mother quilting in her room. From gathering old cloth pieces to using my grandmother’s cotton sarees, she spent hours and days perfecting the ideal quilt. I never really understood the emotion behind it but as I grew up, I found immense warmth in my mother’s quilts that store-bought comforters clearly lacked.
For generations, quilts delicately hand stitched by our mothers and grandmothers have been a symbol of legacy. Not just that, but these quilts are a way for women of a family to display their love and care for their children or grandchildren. Unlike any other gesture, quilts truly speak volumes of one’s feelings.
Contributing to this idea of art and emotions are the Kellogg Sisters Feed and Seed initiative, who are weaving a vibrant fabric of innovation, individual expression, and experimentation- an affirmation that is proudly stated in all their programs and initiatives. They believe and use fabric as a medium to unleash one’s creativity and evoke art to enable healing.
Their latest initiative The Corona Quilt Project is gaining widespread popularity. A wonderful way of indulging in art when you’ve run out of things to do for the day, the corona quilt project encourages everyone, young or old, to express their feelings of the pandemic. You don’t really have to be an artist to do this neither do you have to create an award-winning piece of art. Using paint, paper, pen, fabric, old T-shirts or random objects around the house, you can create your own story of what you’ve been feeling since the pandemic hit the world.
Ever since they established this project, stories of despair, happiness, hope, humor, and all kinds of emotions have been mailed to them from across the world. Now isn’t that profound? Each quilt is perfect in its own way with patches of fabric and knick knacks speaking deeply about how one has been dealing with this crisis. You could either make a physical quilt square and mail them or work on a virtual quilt and upload it onto their website.
The project immediately spoke to us through its underlying value- of hope, solidarity, finding a voice, learning ways of healing and working together for a common purpose. The foundation has been laid by 12 strong and compassionate women who are a force of strength in their own field.
What’s intriguing about each leader is their nature of work with social justice, counselling, conscious clothing, teaching theatre, celebrating spiritual traditions, etc. With a powerhouse of courageous storytellers, we’re not surprised how art has been beautifully used to carve a meaningful message that everyone around the world can resonate to.
As we’re living in an unprecedented scenario, a sense of normalcy has taken a backseat, turning the lives of so many people topsy-turvy. From young individuals living all by themselves among four walls to some not being there for their loved ones on their last journey of life, times have been painful beyond words. Grief, heartbreak, love, happiness or hope can not always be voiced, sometimes they find other mediums of expression. Magic is truly created when your mind’s silence and your heart’s intent makes its way through any form of art.
So when are you quilting your feelings?
To know more about the kellogg sisters and The Corona Quilt Project, visit their website and follow them on social media.
