Illuminating letters: a stitch in time
An illustrated history of one of the world's most famous quilts
Dear reader,
Last year, I spent hours hand sewing a quilted Christmas stocking. It was a painstakingly slow process, extended over months by my only working on it in short bursts. It’s certainly not perfect. But I can see where my needlework improved and each wobble reminds me of where I was when I was making it.
The time it took me to sew a simple item, which only measures about 50cm tall, gave me a new found appreciation for the effort that went into making full quilts before sewing machines. It also led me down a path of learning about the history of quilts.
In this month’s letter, I wanted to share just one of those stories.
I had a lot of fun turning this story into a Victorian puzzle purse, which has three layers just like a quilt. It’s the most technically complex zine I’ve made so far and the one with the most little details I love.
All profits from this month’s zine will go to Fine Cell Work a charity and social enterprise committed to the rehabilitation of prisoners through training them in high-quality needlework skills, and then supports and pays them to create beautiful handmade products, which felt very fitting for a zine about the Rajah Quilt.
If you’re in the mood for more quilting content, I have to recommend Carlson Ellis’s recent newsletters and Many Hands Make a Quilt: Short Histories of Radical Quilting by Jess Bailey which is what inspired this month’s story.
As always, if you’ve enjoyed this illustrated story please do share it and subscribe so you get the next one when it’s fresh off the press.
Write/draw again soon,
Natalie