found materials, vintage textiles, secondhand buttons, 2023
I quilted this coat, it’s made out of found and second hand textiles.
The batting between the inside and outside (the warmth of the thing- the flesh and blood) is the matching sheet to a set I got at a thrift store in Pasadena. The other became the backing to my dearest friends quilt (a square of fabric with my handwriting in loopy embroidery “for Ernie with love -k” that we shed tears over).
This coat is made of secondhand bits and pieces (secondhand in that there’s a proverbial hand to be held in objects from having once been held). I found them around my beloved Corner Brook- the free box on campus shaking hands with the church flea market up the hill.
My grandma taught me how to quilt but I was too young to appreciate that she was giving me a prayer (meditation, quiet pensive pious moment). She was giving me shareable warmth (hush now, god/grandma/secondhand is speaking). In a moment of flux my grandma and my community met on equal ground to hold me in a warm way. Comfort in the doing becoming comfort in the using.
The glory of the matriarchy existing in me as I mother myself.
Kellyann Marie 