Descriptive Essay: Middle School

In “The Century Quilt”, the speaker illustrates the importance of the family quilt in which determines her future heritage to pass on. The speaker states “My sister and I were in love with Meema’s Indian blanket.” to create nostalgic tone and to relive a sentimental moment in her life. The blanket provided peace, love, and safety to the speaker during the times she spent underneath it. “I remembered how I’d planned to inherit that blanket, how we used to wrap ourselves at play in its folds and be chieftains and

On viewing her work, I am reminded of the traditional art of quilt making, an art once dismissed as “women’s work” but reevaluated by the Pattern and Decoration movement during the second wave of feminism during the 1970’s. Historically quilt makers have used its qualities to communicate political and social messages. For example, the Abolition quilts made during the US Civil war era were inscribed with messages decrying the evils of slavery. However, Gower uses the repetitions of the motifs and tessellations of quilt making practice to draw attention to the excesses of mass

Stretched out they lay armed/ ready / shouting / celebrating knotted with love the quilts sing on. The quilts are there to tell a story no matter where it lays. “Oh mother you plunged me sobbing and laughing, into our past.” They know that the memories will be with them forever. “How the thread darted in and out galloping along the frayed edges, tucking them in as you did us at night.” The quilt means a lot to the family, they care for it as much as they care for the rest of their family. “They were just meant as covers in the winter as weapons against pounding January winds.” At first they weren’t meant to be anything other than a blanket to keep them warm but over the years of

physically and mentally, quilting has acted as an art that transcends racial barriers and to bring

Quilting can also be used for expression of oneself or for social commentary. Back in the 1800’s when there were many wars women would usually make quilts because they were what was needed in those times and the fabric was often hard to come by and it was usually saved for clothes making.” It was a means to escape from the isolation of their lifestyle and it allowed them the artistic freedom to express themselves. The quilts produced by our ancestors told stories about their lifestyles that could not be captured by pen and paper. Every quilt we see today, regardless of when the quilt was made, relates a story. The types of fabrics, the design of the quilt, the signature of the quilter, all reveal an intimate story of the woman or man who made the quilt.” (Meeske,Quilt Me a Story) They used quilting to get out of the bleakness and horrible things that were going on in their lives at the moment and put how they felt in the quilts. Around the mid-1800’s women quilted a lot more to show artistic talent, political views, and even their emotions. “Prior to a woman’s ability to vote, some women used their artistic talents and expressed their political views through a quilt. The issue of slavery in the United States in the mid-1800s led to quilt patterns called Slave Chain

Moreover, the blanket looks like a wall, and all the evidence are in placed diamond shaped boxes. The boxes are properly fitted on the wall which makes the witness blanket more attractive.

Waniek describes the quilt in great detail, describing the memories show it’s history, which tells the reader it has been around for awhile. When Waniek does start to describe the quilt’s physical appearance, she leads into talking about the owners of the quilt, noting what color they are. The color of the people goes much deeper than we think, in fact it holds both a connotation and denotation. Waniek uses those elements to further explain the complex meanings of the quilt.

-This brings light to the tedious and many tasks the characters have to do and what they

When Maggie corrects her sister Dee on their family, Dee brushes it off by pointing out, "'Maggie's brain is like an elephant's'" (63). This emphasizes that Dee did not really know about her family. This shows the reader that Dee's new persona is completely made up. When Dee is trying to prove her point that the quilts are valuable, she argues, "'She did all this stitching by hand'" (64). This imagery illustrates how important the quilt is to the family because of all of the hard work put into it, and it also shows the reader how Dee just wants to own the quilt for her own fake value that she sees in them.

Throughout the poem “The Century Quilt” by Marilyn Nelson Waniek, the speaker offers insights into her diverse family by comparing them to her beloved quilt. Through her use of a nostalgic tone, visual imagery, and structure, Waniek is able to convey the importance of the true meaning behind the quilt. Waniek uses a multitude of colors throughout this poem to help her illuminate the real purpose of the quilt. Through this use of visual imagery, Waniek is able to illustrate how the speaker embodies the true meaning of the quilt as it connects to her diverse family.

The sculpture will stand 14-feet tall and become a permanent display at the Rockwell Museum in Corning. It will also be on view as part of an upcoming exhibition ‘Western Door’, which opens May 5, 2017. Artist Marie Watt will take blankets, donated by the community, and the personal stories behind them, to create a sculpture. "Blankets are such an important object, they carry such meaning to us personally and culturally and that really seems to cut across race, culture, ethnicity and unites us all," explains Rockwell Museum Curator

Within the poem “The Century Quilt” created by Marilyn Nelson Waniek, she describes a girl a quilt that reminds her of family. The author uses a literary technique that helps the readers find out the complex meanings she had towards the blanket. Firstly, a technique the author used with structure helped the character described in the poem tells the readers about the special blanket. The author picks her words very carefully using only kind descriptions, such as being in love and having good dreams, to give the audience a relaxing feeling as they read the poem.

When one thinks of comfort, safety and fashion, they immediately think of sweaters. For hundreds of years, people wore these beautiful knitted works of art, so that they may protect themselves from the harshness of winter, but also to look good while doing so. Here at the National Institute of Sweaters, which serves as both an art and history museum, we want to preserve the history of the garment, while also examining the implementation of new styles within the sweater community, and showcase the true aesthetics of the “ugly sweater.” To do so, we allowed ourselves the mission to “collect, study, conserve, and present significant works of knitted artwork across all times and cultures in order to connect people to comfort, warmth, and fashion.”

Presenting “My Precious Quilt”, a new fabric collection by Leanne Anderson of The Whole Country Caboodle

Culturally, the symbolism of a quilt is understood to be an heirloom piece that is closely guarded and highly prized. The ownership of the quilt and the generational lines it passes down is known before the piecing is begun. Stitching the pieces together is done by groups of women. The tiny bits of cloth each carry a memory, one from grandpa's shirt, one square from an aunt's Christmas dress, a piece from the flannel nightgown a mother wore as she pulled her sick child close to her bosom. The pieces are carefully and artistically pieced together into a collage of