Crafting Community: A Kantha-Inspired Approach to Addressing Academic Loneliness [Garment]

Quilt selected for a three year traveling exhibition for the American Quilt Study Group Biennial Quilt Study "Quiltmakers and Designers: 1945 to 1979." Double-blind juried competition. 62.5% international acceptance rate.
Inspired by Nancy Crow’s 1976 Crosses, my quilt reinterprets her early asymmetrical Log Cabin design using modern techniques. I drew color gradations from Oregon’s landscape and used strip piecing and matchstick quilting to emphasize form. This work honors Crow’s traditional roots while exploring scale, symmetry, and contemporary quilting aesthetics.

This design reimagines suffragette dress through a contemporary feminist lens, using upcycled bedsheets to symbolize unpaid labor while prioritizing size adjustability, sustainability, and historical continuity. Inspired by Alice Paul, the look merges aesthetic strategies of early 20th-century activism with modern design practices to advocate for gender equity today.