Amy’s First Disability History Quilt
My first Disability History Quilt contains twenty-seven squares, the border reads "with liberty and justice for all" twice around the quilt. The lattices (the pieces that connect each square), contain twenty-seven quotations from disability rights and national leaders. I embellished the lattices with over ten thousand individually sewn multicolored glass seed beads to add variety and sparkle.
To learn more about each square and the history they each represent, visit the “quilt squares” page....
The goal of my first Disability History Quilt was originally to make a small wall hanging of events, leaders in our Movement and quotes that inspired me. This was my first quilt and I had no idea what I was doing.
Following patterns and learning the traditional way of quilting was very challenging for me because of my head injury. I had a very difficult time not only with figuring out the instructions but once figured out, remembering how to do it the next time it was a necessary step. Instead of giving up, I decided to make the quilt my own way.
I was doing something I was told I could not do. I proved it to myself that I was able.
I wanted to try different ways of making squares and as a result, I made so many quilt squares my idea for a small wall hanging was forgotten. It had grown to a quilt of 94” x 64". I hated to quit because there's just too much history and I hated to leave anything out! It never occurred to me that I could just make more quilts....