I am not a sewer or quilter. Well, perhaps I should now say I’m an earnest and hopeful sewer. When the idea for the FemEdTech Quilt of Care and Justice first took root in the tide of conversations following OER19, I was an enthusiastic supporter. I wanted to be a part of it however I could. It has been a joy to collaborate with so many so far. I am grateful to everyone –especially Frances Bell for her quilting/planning genius and Anne-Marie Scott for creating this space to share our quilt squares and stories– and looking forward to bringing this project forward at OER20 and beyond.
My intention for a quilt square was to bring together different strands of my life and work, literally and metaphorically. I was guided by the design of a simple but favourite Christmas ornament, just the word ‘hope’. I wanted to include fabric and items representing important women in my life. So this square includes fabric from my daughter’s old favourite and well-worn tie-dyed T-shirt, as well as a bandana, scarf and pajamas that span many years and memorable times with my sister, family and friends. In the centre are beads from a pair of my mother’s earrings; she died in 2007 but is with me in all I do.
My mother, may she rest in power, made sure that I knew early on that the pursuit and the work of justice is a cradle to grave struggle.” – Ayanna Pressley
“To hope is to give yourself to the future—and that commitment to the future is what makes the present inhabitable.” – Rebecca Solnit
“What might we learn from [these] women’s projects about creating democratic, sustainable polities? … how dangerous daydreams, whether they are of promised ‘homes of our own’ or of an apocalyptic demolition of all walls, might be let go. And replaced with the idea of something we could perhaps really have: a careful and caring struggle in a well-lit space” – Cynthia Cockburn
Shared by: Catherine Cronin
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