Applique Quilt c. 1937

Here's a small appliqué quilt made by Suzanne Roy, who was born in 1855 and died in 1995. Can you imagine Roy, working away, snipping and stitching, building up these little squares? The color palette is mostly muted reds, greens, and yellows. I love the way the forms shift between geometric and organic. It's almost like a garden, but one that's been organized by a mathematician. Each square is so distinct, but they all speak to each other. You know, painting is a lot like quilting, in that you're constantly piecing things together, trying to find a way to make disparate elements cohere. I can imagine Roy thinking about her place in the world, how she could create a world of her own. And it's amazing to think about the labor and care that went into this; the way it embodies a specific moment in time, and a specific person’s life. It’s like she's having a conversation with generations of quilt makers!