so sit down, i'll tell you a tale...

So, what are the narratives about in the context series? They are stories gathered from people and places across the country through both conversation and observations. 

For example, people rooted in a particular place give directions, not through route numbers and street signs but though story and experience.  Practical conversations and light-hearted hellos at times digress into reflections of life. In this way, the narratives are both practical and quirky, and never take themselves too seriously.  They address the reader directly, bring him or her into the conversation. In this way the owner of the quilt becomes another layer of the story.  It is a gradual process that creates a relationship between the owner and the quilt.  Wrapping the quilt around oneself, the user is invited to read snippets of the narratives.

From 'Striped Dogs Howl':

the trains ran all night. and like they’d never heard such a thing, the striped dogs
howled in unison. two-o-six a.m. like clockwork. train roars, dogs howl.

From 'Aspens Whisper for More Time':

we were well on our way to estes, but the aspens pulled us in. that’s how they
work, they always whisper for more time.
 

Historically, quilts carry their own stories with them. The material, the pattern, and the quilt technique chronicle the quilters’ lives and experiences.  The collaborative effort, whether through a traditional quilting bee or the sharing of fabrics, transforms functional quilts into cultural artifacts.