Stitch-by-stitch, women's group quilts for democracy
Stitch-by-stitch, women's group quilts for democracy American women have long used quilts to send messages to lawmakers, from abolitionists and suffragettes to the AIDS Memorial quilt.
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Women's quilt campaign urges Congress to protect the Constitution
A politically bipartisan group of quilters are asking Congress to recommit to Constitutional government and rule of law.
HIGHLANDS RANCH, CO ‒ Christina Marriott held up a piece of crookedly cut fabric and contemplated how to best to stitch it into a quilt headed for Congress.
The square of white cloth was about to be sewn into a bigger pieces displaying political messages, but the ragged edges didn't neatly line up with the other pieces.
"The perfect union comes from imperfect people, right?" Marriott, a schoolteacher, 46, asked aloud as she held up the square in the library of a Denver suburb, surrounded by a small group of women, fabric markers in hand.
Stitch by stitch, square by square, across the country, hundreds of women ‒ and a few men ‒ are crafting handmade quilts covered in bipartisan political messages urging members of Congress to more effectively exercise their power as an equal branch of government.
The "Peace by Piece" effort sponsored by Mormon Women for Ethical Government and the Jewish Partnership for Democracy has been holding quilt-ins around the country, and will deliver the fabric messages to Congress May 9. On May 6, organizers are holding a quilt-in near the U.S. Capitol.
While not overtly targeted at President Donald Trump, the group's messages indicate broad concern over the way he's leading the country.
Among the messages: "Separate of powers defends liberty and democracy" and "the greatest danger to American freedom is a government that ignores the Constitution." Trump in a "Meet the Press" interview aired May 4 said he's unsure whether he's required to uphold the Constitution.
A message in a quilt
On a recent Saturday, dozens of women passed through the library's multipurpose room, writing messages with markers on the white fabric squares before organizers, including Jillaire McMillan, stitched them into bigger quilts.
McMillan said she joined the effort because she felt like the pace of change from the White House is so fast at a time when it seems like Congress isn't doing enough to serve its Constitutionally mandated role. Organizers have held quilt-ins in 30 states, evoking the image of repurposing scraps of otherwise unwanted fabric into something worth more than the sum of its parts.
"We want to join a lot of little voices because alone it's hard to feel like you're making a difference," said McMillan. "It's about doing something unique but also historical. There's a long history of women quilting as a form of activism."
'Textile narrative' throughout history
American women have long used quilts to send messages to lawmakers, from abolitionists and suffragettes to the AIDS Memorial quilt. The Smithsonian's National Quilt Collection contains about 500 historically significant quilts.
"The collection incorporates quilts from various ethnic groups and social classes, for quilts are not the domain of a specific race or class, but can be a part of anyone's heritage and treasured as such," the Smithsonian says. "Whether of rich or humble fabrics, large in size or small, expertly crafted or not, well-worn or pristine, quilts in the National Quilt Collection provide a textile narrative that contributes to America's complex and diverse history."
At the Denver-area quilt-in, Marriott's iron hissed as she glided it over each cut piece of fabric, readying it for participants like sisters Kate Waters, 56, and Carol Summers, 52. The sisters heard about the quilt-in via social media and felt compelled to participate.
"I have felt as I get older that women's voices matter less and less," said Waters. "That's scary."
Walters and Summers learned to sew from their grandmother and mother, and saw the Peace by Piece initiative as a constructive way to participate in politics.
"I have felt helpless, and I felt like I needed to do something," said Summers, a middle-school teacher. "This is something positive, to share a message."
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