Sunshine and Shadow Quilt c. 1920

This quilt, whose maker is unknown, is a textile artwork composed of countless small squares. There's something so satisfying about how these colours play off one another, like little colour chords creating harmony as they move outwards to the brown edges of the quilt. Imagine the maker of this quilt, snipping and sewing these small squares of fabric together. The act of creation, a slow and methodical meditation made physical. See how the colours shift and change, how the eye moves in and out? It's easy to get lost in the details here, the way the blues and pinks converge in the center diamond before expanding outward. The slight imperfections, the occasional wonky stitch, these things only add to its charm, they become integral to the piece, evidence of a human touch, a story of someone who sat and laboured over this artwork with love. It reminds me of the work of Gee's Bend quilters, particularly their use of improvisation and bold colour combinations. Art isn't about perfection, it's about embracing the unexpected, the happy accidents that arise along the way.