Follow along with me as I participate in the 2024 Save Your Story Challenge by Quilt Alliance. You can find all of my blog posts that are part of this challenge.

---

Next up for the Quilt Alliance Save Your Story Challenge – Displaying Your Quilts. The email arrived on September 14 with the full details:

This prompt hit me – it makes me feel like I’m not taking care of my quilts as I should! Yikes! My quilts definitely deserve more TLC, so these are the thoughts crossing my mind.

But I shouldn’t be too hard on myself. First, all of my quilts I use for education and outreach. None of them are stored for a long period of time (say 6 months or more), and none of them are used as quilts on a bed or as blankets for warmth. So my quilts are brought out to see the light of day during presentations or short-term displays. I do not have any plans to wash these quilts, and so far, I have kept them very clean when I show them and move them around (but I do experience incredible nerves whenever I see someone approaching one of my hanging quilts holding a beverage or eating food, and/or when they touch my quilts despite signage that says do not touch).

I want to share my quilts – it makes no sense to have science storytelling quilts folded up and in my house where no one can see them! So these quilts get moved in and out of my house alot.

When I do have them at home, it depends how much time I have between presentations is how mindful I am of their care. All my quilts at home are stored in white cotton pillowcases, except for the mini quilts that have hung on the front door of my house – those go in their own flat Rubbermaid storage bin. Once in pillowcases, the quilts are placed in large Rubbermaid bins or stored on a bookcase with long shelves. The bins and bookcase are in the upstairs of my house. We have two rooms upstairs that served as offices for my husband and I during the pandemic, but now they have transitioned nicely to places to keep fabric and completed quilts! Both rooms have blackout curtains to prevent natural light from hitting anything I’m storing.

But items I am thinking of in terms of long-term ‘care’ include what will I do with these quilts/where will they go when I am no longer speaking at public events and sharing them in the community. I also want to sooner-rather-than-later have professional photos taken of these quilts, in case they do become damaged or stained as I move them around. I have had high-resolution photos taken of a few of the quilts for a publication, but I think another action I can take to “care” for the quilts would be to have all of them photographed (and secretly, I’d love to publish a book with these quilts, their stories, and photos from the field that inspired each of them!). Although I’m sure the quilts could last much longer than a book about them, this is one way to ensure their stories are continued into the future and with an even wider audience.