Equal Quilt
Title: Equal
Pattern: Modified 9" Courthouse Steps blocks
Top: Kona Cotton in Robin Egg, Carnation, White, Black, Chestnut, Lipstick, Orange, Duckling, Parrot, Cyan, Dark Violet
Backing: Grid in Pool by Kimberly Kight for Ruby Star Society of Moda Fabrics
Batting: Hobbs Batting 80/20
Quilting: Longarm by Kristen Lee using pantograph Equal (designed by me and Jess Zeigler of Longarm League) in Premo-Soft by Fil-Tec 50wt in cool grey, and 40 wt in light grey in the bobbin
Binding: Kona Cotton in Black
Size: 54" × 72"
Finished: 19 May 2021
I started construction of this quilt in March, though initial designs started earlier in the year. The original design I started with was much more complex, with some seam corners having 12 joins. With so many overwhelming things happening at the beginning of the year, there needed to be a reduction in stresses I was adding to myself. With the iterations I was making, the blocks became a modified Courthouse Steps block.
This is what I wrote on Instagram after posting this photo.
As I was working on this design, I was using Courthouse Steps primarily because of the straight-forward construction process. After sitting with it and as I was piecing, the significance of this block with these colors and the intended destination of the @gsafe auction hit me. How many rights have LGBTQ individuals been able to experience only as a result of judicial action? How many bills have been considered and laws enacted to limit the rights of these individuals, that have then had to be reversed by courts? Too many, that’s how many. And there are still more coming. I do know that the Equal Rights Act won’t solve everything, but it’s a non-court step in the right direction. Just thinking of a day when people don’t treat others as lesser-than because of what they look like like, what their gender is, or who they love.
Even since I wrote that in April, there have been a number of initiatives to legislate trans individuals, whether it be limiting access to health care or participation in organized sports. Each of these is a reminder that there is a group of policy makers and legislators who do not see LGBTQ+ individuals as humans deserving love and respect.
As I contemplated quilting, I wanted something more meaningful than decorative. What is something that we know within the community that these legislators don’t know? That we are Equal. We are Equal in our right to life, Equal in liberty and protections under the law, and Equal in our pursuit of happiness.
As someone currently enjoying the results of the fight for marriage equality, I didn’t want to diminish the other ways that equality is not recognized. “Love is love is love” is a nice sentiment. It’s important to remember. But there are many other areas that the equality of LGBTQ+ individuals is not recognized, that we need to continue to contact our representatives about, begging and pleading for them to see the humanity and equality of all their constituents.
Despite the word being illegible from the back, the loops and lines provide visual interest purely due to their shapes. The front carries the message (literally), with the back almost providing a respite from the reminder of daily battles.
The simple grid of the backing fabric provides a framework against which the quilting can choose to honor, or not. Or perhaps they’re just checkboxes waiting for a mark as each homophobic or transphobic policy has been smashed. Hopefully we don’t have to fill the back to relish the equality that we know we deserve and are entitled to.
