For our Youth Mini Quilt Challenge, we asked for quilts that were made in collaboration with another quilter. We wanted for makers to reflect with one another about their quilting journey together. We also asked makers to reflect on what it is about quilting that gives them hope for future generations and the legacy that can be created through quilting.
The responses we received blew us away and left us hopeful and looking forward to the possibilities that lie ahead for the quilting community, and the world at large.
Inheritance: The Legacy of 5 Generations of Quilting Women by Becky McNeill and Kassidy McNeill (Age 10), @elizabethkray
Kassidy and her mother made this quilt. It is representative of the quilt-making tradition that has been passed on in their family for five generations of women. Becky says, “While the styles and techniques have changed significantly, you can see ripples of the art that my great-grandmother (and possibly generations of women before her) started in the work that my daughter and I do now.”
Shelter by Emilie Trahan and Patrick Lavigne, @mili.tra
Emilie and her grandfather Patrick made this quilt. Patrick has just recently started quilting. We like to think ofShelter as depicting an umbrella on a warm sunny day at the beach.
It’s Nice to Be Nice by Stephanie Leisering and Margie Carlson @funkyremnants & @margiesuzi
This quilt is a collaboration between mother and daughter. Stephanie improv-pieced small scraps together then passed them off to Margie who arranged them. They swapped pieces back and forth. During the process, both women stepped out of their comfort zone to learn new techniques and created a beautiful shared experience with one another in addition to creating a beautiful quilt.
Baby Scrapsby Taura Horn and Leo (age 2), @skeletoncafe
Two-year-old Leo did the surface design for this quilt using fabric crayons and fabric oils. Taura then sewed scrap pieces of the fabric together. Though the quilt has a fractured feel to it, there is also a sense of togetherness that comes from the soft designs created on the fabric.
Charlie’s Quilt Pattern by Jessica Plunkett and Charlie Plunkett (age 4), @maeberrysquare
Jessica says about this quilt, “One day my four-year-old daughter, Charlie, walked into my quilt studio and said, ‘Mom, here’s a quilt pattern I made. I want you to make it. You need to make it really, really big. And you need to use green, blue, purple, red, pink, orange, yellow, black, brown, and white.’ Then she proceeded to tell me that she wanted her work in a “book” (magazine) just like mine. I remembered the Curated Quilts Youth Challenge and read the rules to her. She agreed it could be small work within the designated color palette.”
You can find these collaborative youth quilts and more inCurated Quilts, Issue no. 13: Youth. Purchase your copy today!
To see more Curated Quilts Mini Quilts visit our blog atDo You Mini? andCurated Quilts Miniaturized.
By Brittany Bowen Burton