More Pieces Of My “Not Going Back” Quilt

I worked on a few new pieces for my Not Going Back quilt today.

The idea for the one above came from listening to one of  Kamala Harris’ speeches.  She told of how her mother said not to let other people define her, that she had to show them who she was.

It made me think of the “Show Your Soul” art I made in 2017.   I got the idea from a piece written by Clarissa Pinkola Estes where she said…

“One of the most calming and powerful actions you can do to intervene in a stormy world is to stand up and show your soul.

When I found this linen in my stash, I thought it perfect for the words Show Your Soul.

Here is a woman from a time when women only wore dresses, wearing pants and proud of it.  But I woke up one morning thinking of it and the words “This is Me” came to me.  I though it fit the image better.

Then I googled them just to see what I would find and up came a song from the movie “The Greatest Showman” called This is Me.

The lyric were just right.   You can read or listen to them here.

I have two pieces of fabric that have patches like this one.  I find the work that went into patching this fabric  evocative.  It could easily be a minimalist painting, that square within the square.

But just as much I’m drawn to the hand stitching that went into saving whatever this piece of fabric was before this scrap came into my hands.  I know it has a story, a history even that my words are now a part of.

Two very different women.  A partying cat from the 1950s and a prim Victorian Woman.  The juxtaposition speaks for itself.

This is the last for today that I didn’t get to finish.  Another hankie with a crocheted Victorian woman.  The fabric underneath is a replica of Early American Fabric with a picture of Thomas Jefferson on it.