I’m not a quilter myself and I flunked textiles class back
in 8th grade. But quilting has been a great tradition in the USA,
and our country was founded by great craftsmen. I applaud anyone in this
country who can make the things they use in the home, and with the country’s
factories shutting down, it’s great to see Americans who can make as well as
buy.
Day’s designs are of the “filler” type, meaning the
stitching has to be dense. The patterns are continuous, which means that the
thread does not stop anywhere until it ends at the end of the quilt. There are
simple patterns in this book, as well as some more complicated ones for the
more advanced artist.
A quick look at her website tells me that she’s from
Arkansas, her father had a woodshop, she dropped out of college to avoid debt
(smart move) and did freelance sewing for a garment company. Piecework’s a
bitch, I won’t argue with that one, but it’s the only alternative to
outsourcing production to some third world country where they pay fifty cents
an hour. Fed up, she started sewing her own stuff and now runs her own quilting
classes.
Hopefully, Leah Day’s work will get wider attention, maybe a
licensing deal. And if her quilts end up being mass-produced, I hope they’ll be
made here in the USA, not in Pakistan.
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