Monday 1 February 2021

Lost Connections

It was difficult to pin down a project for this quarter's theme "Memories" as there are just so many memories to choose from. In the end though I didn't pick any of them!


Instead I chose to base my Challenge project on the loss of memory that Alzheimer's caused for my Dad in the last couple of years of his life. Lost Connections is my representation of the confusion and withdrawal that my Dad experienced as his memories of his life and the people in it started to disintegrate. 

The strongest connection that my Dad retained was, naturally, to my Mum to whom he was married to for over 64 years so she is shown as clearly as she appeared to him every day. Their wedding day is also clear in his memory as he always knew who my Mum was to him no matter what else he lost.



I revisited Ann Small's Layered Cloth technique for this quilt, so these two blocks are photos of my Mum and Dad with our children (top) and myself,our son and grandson (bottom) hidden behind layers of slashed and torn fabric. Again my Mum was a clear memory for him but his grandchildren less so, and his great-grandson was a connection that he struggled with. Our second grandson was born a few weeks before he died so he never actually met him, but was very pleased to know and make the connection with the inclusion of his own name in our grandson's given names. 

One of the places that my Dad often retreated to in his mind was the Inner Hebridean island where his family came from so their farmhouse home is the backing photo for this block. The place was, however, more of a sense of home rather than a bricks and mortar building so the photo is hidden behind a layer of organza and is only glimpsed rather than in full view.


The next two blocks, shown here pre-washing, were built upon photos of my parents more recently at our son's wedding (top grey) and out for a coffee (purple) on a sunny day after we moved to the same town. In both of these blocks the main reference point for my Dad was as always my Mum, so the fabric is slashed and stitched back (the purple block) to reveal her. 

The final block of the quilt (seen on the left above) has no photo behind it and in places the fabric has been slashed through all of the layers. It portrays those memories that have been irretrievably lost already.
 



When I came across this weird and wonderful Newspaper Yarn on Oliver Twists website I knew that I could use it in this quilt collage! So, as images provoke memories so do words but again with Alzheimer's they can get lost or confused in the transmission. 


I used the Newspaper Yarn to connect the quilt blocks vertically but left the ends loose and frayed and when one of the strands snapped as I was stitching I left it in place as another lost connection. 

Similarly when the metallic thread that I used to connect the wedding photo to the central block began to fray from the core I used it to represent another connection beginning to unravel.

 


 

I never know at the start of each quarter where these challenges will take me, and this one, in particular, took a very surprising direction. I am, however, immensely grateful to both Janine and Catherine for organising this group and giving me the opportunity to flex my quilting muscles in ways that I would never have thought possible!

If you want to read more of how this quilt collage was created head on over to Celtic Thistle Stitches

Looking forward as always to seeing how my fellow Endeavourers chose to present their Memories in quilt form :)

16 comments:

  1. Wow - this is such a poignant quilt! I love the way you have used the different fabrics and techniques to reveal and blur memories, and the snapping connecting threads is a wonderful idea. The soft receding colours are beautiful and I think the whole thing really conveys the importance and fragility of memory.

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    1. Thanks Catherine, it was in some ways a difficult quilt to work on but I am so glad that I had the opportunity to not only create this but also to work out the ideas and the memories throughout the process. Thanks again to you and Janine for creating and organising this wonderful group :)

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  2. This is wonderfully thought out and so cleverly put together. I love the way you have used all the different techniques and happenstances to convey your father's memories and partial memories with all their connections and disconnections. I think this quilt will really speak to everyone who has known somebody with Alzheimer's.

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    1. Thanks Janine, I was surprisingly (for me!) organised for this challenge so for a change I had the luxury of time to think about all of the elements and how they would fit together.

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  3. I enjoyed reading the different processes you used to construct this, and how each step represented something your dad is going through. It is very poignant to me, since my sister-in-law lost her dad to Alzheimer's last year, just a few months after her mom had passed. I agree with Janine, I think this quilt will speak to those who have loved ones with Alzheimer's.

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    1. Thanks Wendy, despite the bleak nature of the subject for this quilt having the chance to engage again with my parents albeit only through photos and cloth was a rather lovely thing to do.

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  4. What a lovely interpretation of the theme. Really enjoyed reading your process about this. I agree with Wendy. I lost my grandmother to Alzheimers, and I think anyone who has watched a loved one slip away before their eyes can relate. Thank you for sharing.

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    1. Thanks Barbara, it is tough to watch a loved one fading away isn't it? Putting this quilt together gave me a chance to relive some very happy memories too, which was a welcome benefit of the challenge.

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  5. This is an incredible piece! I hope you share it with many more people. The International Quilt Show in Houston does an auction of small pieces for Alzheimer's Research every year -- I am not suggesting that you part with this one!! But I would think there are lots of art exhibits about Alzheimer's and I think this one should be included. Or any other textile show -- there is so much thought and care in it and the images are stunning in detail and as a whole.

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    1. Thank you Gwen, I never really know what to do with the challenge pieces once they are made so I will look into your suggestion about exhibiting this somewhere when the world returns to some sort of normality again.

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    1. Thanks Maureen, and thanks for taking the time to even read to the end of this post I know you have much more important things on your mind x

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  7. I love this Fiona - very powerful representation of losing memories or memories obscured. My other half's gran had Alzheimers and I think this explanation of the illness would have helped explain it to the grand kids at the time. beautifully done.

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    1. Thanks Ruth, it is a tough one to explain to children isn't it. Our grandchildren were too young to be aware but our older great niece and nephew found their Great Grandpa's behaviour a bit frightening at times which was heartbreaking to see.

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  8. This such a great and well-thought-out piece. Thank you so much for sharing your thought process and explanation about each block. I am glad that although it was a tough quilt to work on, you still got to recall happy memories, too.

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    1. Thanks Tusen there definitely were happy memories in the photos for the blocks so they were a lovely basis for the rest of my work on it. Thanks for your kind comments.

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