Almost Done, 2024
65”X57”

How can we shape our work and how has our work shaped us? A pair of old jeans and suspenders donated to me by a retired sawmill worker were the inspiration for this piece. This worker, who retired after 22 years, “worked longer than he should have”. The reason, he said, was to take his mind off of the recent passing of his wife. The sculptural approach to this quilt helped me express the ways that our work can twist and shape us. Despite the hardship we experience in life, at work or outside of it, we are incredibly resilient, just like a good pair of jeans. I wanted to bring life to the old clothes and give them, like their former wearer, a new beginning.

I made quilts blocks in the log-cabin method, using repurposed white tee-shirts. I quilted them “in the ditch” using colourful flagging tape to add a sense of vibrancy to the worn materials. The quilting pattern has an organic feel as it flows with the shapes of the deconstructed jeans. Suspenders are loose and reaching, beyond the grey reflective border material, and remind me of a dancer.