In Memory of Kathy; In Honor of Susan
I come from a family of strong women. Grandmothers, mother, aunts, sisters,
cousins—all strong in different and amazing ways. Our two daughters followed along in this
tradition. Until she suffered two
overwhelming and devastating bouts with depression, our oldest daughter Kathy
accomplished more in her 47 years on Earth than most people do in a lifetime. Our youngest child, Susan, is the woman I
admire more than any other. She juggles careers as a therapist and a part-time
university teacher with mothering her two active boys, being a devoted wife to
a wonderful husband, and somehow has time to be on a tennis team and participate
in competitive races.
Thus I chose to symbolize my strong daughters as
athletes. Kathy ran in several New York
marathons and kept on running almost daily for twenty years.
As a way to memorialize her sister, Susan then began running as well, participating in races with her husband and two sons. As a teenager, Susan was on her school’s
basketball team and played one year in college.
Because I am probably the most un-athletic woman imaginable, these athletic
abilities of my daughters have always astounded me and made me proud.
Of course, their other accomplishments out-shine their
athleticism, but depicting a runner and a tennis player was easier than
depicting a woman standing before a
crowd, speaking out for human rights; or one sitting counseling a troubled
soul; or a woman in a courtroom or a classroom; or a mother performing all the
myriad duties of motherhood joyfully—images of these overwhelmed my abilities,
and so I took the easy route with this quilt.
My Strong quilt is dedicated to my beautiful and strong
daughters—Mary Katherine and Susan Christine.
Their pictures are on the quilt’s back—Susan on the left, Kathy on the
right. The backing fabric is a
commercial one depicting young women swimmers.
There’s an inside joke here:
Kathy loved to give people nicknames.
One of the perhaps 10 or 15 she had for her little sister Susan was
C.O.W., which stood for Child of the Waters, because from an early age onward,
Susan loved so to swim! Kathy even made up a song she’d sing to Susan using
this nickname.
Construction details:
copy-right free coloring book images cut from black felt and fused onto
the background with Wonder Under; batik background fabric quilted in a grid
before the appliqués were applied.
 |
| the back of the quilt |
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| Close-up photos of Susan and Kathy--our wonderful and accomplished and STRONG daughters |
Nice quilt, Alice! I like the shadow women and the back is great.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely tribute Alice! Two very strong women and strong contrast between your shapes and background fabric. You have portrayed the theme so aptly. Really like it!
ReplyDeleteThis is really beautiful and touching, Alice. Such a wonderful tribute to your daughters, obviously made with great love. Very lovely.
ReplyDeleteI love the simplicity of how you have chosen to depict and celebrate your two very dynamic and accomplished strong daughters.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful, beautiful tribute to our beloved girls.
ReplyDeleteHow blessed we all are to have them as part of our lives. Thank you for sharing and thanks for those inspirational words. TLC
What a lovely graphic image of your two girls! It's obvious how proud you are of them in this striking piece of art. It's amazing when we do art that is personal how the best of us comes out in our work. Great piece and so thankful that you have shared it with all of us!!!!!
ReplyDeleteAlice, such a beautiful quilt to honor your two daughters! Your description of them is so beautifully written.
ReplyDeleteI loved the blue background and the silhouettes immediately. Great!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful tribute to your daughters. So touching. Thank you for sharing. I love your silhouettes.
ReplyDeleteThis is beautiful Alice and such a nice way to remember Kathy and to honor Susan. I love the simplicity of this quilt. The back design was a great addition. So pretty!
ReplyDeleteI loved your quilt choices, and more importantly I loved your sharing your descriptions of their strengths, and telling us more about these two amazing women. Thank you for sharing your daughters with us in such a loving way!
ReplyDeleteAlice, this is a brilliant, happy rendition of the word STRONG. Applying it personally, to Kathy and Susan, is a great analogy and example of many kinds of strength. Even though the sillouettes are active as athletes, their whole lives have been active - physically and mentally. ss
ReplyDeleteMy dear good friend SS: yes, you knew Kathy from babyhood on, Susan, too, of course, and you've been walking this road with us. And, we with you, in your recent huge loss. I love you, and thanks for commenting!
DeleteI recognize and commend your own strength Alice for processing personal tragedy in such a beautiful commemorative piece. I'm sure it wasn't easy. Women are strong and art is a wonderful tool for making positive statements from the heart while helping us process all our emotions.
ReplyDeleteJudy, we are missing you! Your words mean much to me. It has taken me nearly two years to be able to "address" this loss in a quilt. Strangely, I find it easier to TALK to friends and acquaintances about this than to write about it or depict it in a quilt, even indirectly. I alluded to needing comfort in my last quilt; and now this one addresses Kathy's loss more directly. I suppose I am making progress with dealing with this, but it is a long and rocky road.
DeleteDear Alice ... Tears are streaming down my face. As you and I have talked about on those rare occasions, we join together in this long, very difficult journey of mourning the loss of our first born children (my son, Ian, in 1994 [10 years ago last November]) and your daughter Kathy, almost 2 years ago. In love and sorrow, I join hands with you, Dear Friend. Love, Kathy
ReplyDeleteThank you, Kathy, my friend who has to walk the "journey" you refer to. Your friendship, care, and concern for me has helped to be "the wind beneath my wings" for the past two years.
DeleteAlice I so admire your courage and ability to keep going when it would be so easy not to. Courage is putting one foot in front of the other when life is unbearable. I've thought about you a lot this past month as my personal example of strength and courage. I think we know where your daughters got their strength from. Big hug dear friend.
ReplyDeleteJanet, your words touch me deeply. And I look to YOU as a great source of strength and courage. The way you yourself "keep on keeping on" makes you a role model for ME. I love you dearly.
DeleteI so enjoyed your antidotes about your girls. You, also, have been a wonderful mother and friend, Love you and wish I could have known all the Baird/Cheavens/Dawson women.
ReplyDeleteNM
Truly amazing! That strong-quilt of yours is such an amazing dedication, to two wonderful women. I love the symbolisms present within the design, and how you interpreted the greatness of their spirit through dynamic figures. Your daughters are blessed to have you for a mother. You are equally blessed to have two great daughters, who continued your family's tradition of strength. Thank you so much for sharing this. I hope everyone's in the best of health.
ReplyDeleteChristian Pearson @ League of Women Voters