Presentation given at Gould Academy McLaughlin Science Building

Well I gave my presentation called "Every Closet Holds a Story, It holds our Personalities." I presented a slide show as well as had 5 Texture of life quilts on display. No matter how many times I tell the story of the lives that make up these quilts I can't help but feel my heart strings being pulled. They always grab me

and make me feel. I hope you feel what I feel as I walk you through the wonderful lives that make up these quilts. All pictures wher taken by Carol Savage Photography.

The slide show consisted of my earlier work. How I began (which is in my first blog named in the beginning). The next family I made a quilt for was for my friend Helen. When I went to her home

she pointed to the pile of clothes on the chair in her bedroom. Telling me to take them. I said I would like her to show me the clothes so that I could hear the stories behind them. She said "oh my" and then began and a smile came across her face. She said oh this shirt is from Saugus, Ma. we grew up there and as she unfolded each t shirt she unfolded a story. I like to believe that in some way this was healing to Helen to talk about days gone by. When she got to the last piece of clothing she stopped for a minute, with her eyes filling up, she then said! I hated this shirt he wore it everyday. And those words and that feeling of

loss that filled her made me take note of that shirt. For it would play a big part in the quilt I designed.

She also gave me a couple of Ed's pins as well as a pair of suspenders that he wore when he skied.

I made 2 wall hangings for Helen. This first Wallhanging is named "DAYS TO REMEBER which

is made up of Ed's t shirts.

The second quilt I made for Helen is named Spin through the life of Ed Parent. All of the pin wheels are made from Ed's shirts. When making this I was thinking of the story Helen had told me. She said her and Ed had moved to Maine to retire. They loved to ski and play golf. This quilt is made to represent there life. Starting in the middle with his white work shirt that is surrounded by his ties which then spins into his golf shirts and bandana's. The four pin wheels in the corner are made from the shirt Ed wore everyday that

Helen so fondly said she hated. The border of the quilt is also made from that hated shirt, the brown was the inside of the jacket. There is a flag pin placed in the middle of the white pin wheel. Which is surrounded by the ties that would have been worn with the dress shirt. Ed also wore bandana's

along with the red suspenders he wore sking.

The next quilt is made in honor of Greg Merrill, leaving behind his 16 year old daughter Liz. Greg died of
a heart decease. That he did not know he had. What they found out that it was hereditary and that Liz

needed to have an operation on her heart. Her dad saved her life. Because Liz was going into the hospital I wanted to make this quickly for her. She carried this quilt up to the doors of the operating room and it was waiting for her in the recovery room.

The next quilt was made in honor of Darren Tasmun Roberts Jr. made for his wife Joyce and his daughter Debbie. Darren was retired and lived in Florida where he and his wife loved to play golf. Darren always bought his wife flowers.

I named this quilt "FORGET ME KNOT" all of the flowers are made from dress shirts and the leaves from a green golf shirt, embellished with buttons. The baskets and background are made from sport jackets and pants. This is my first attempt at making 3 dimensional and I love the effect.

I made 5 wall art texture of life quilts. This next one is named Petals of Love. Because I did not know the
wall space that was available in Debbies home. I made this wallhanging so that each 12 x 12 square could be hung in any configuration she wanted. They are attached with velcro. All of the baskets are made
from clothing and the flowers are made from shirts. The backgrounds are made from dress pants and sports jackets.

Because Darren loved to play golf, I wanted to represent his love of the sport. Darren belonged to University Park Golf course. I researched on the internet what the signature hole picture was on there web site. This is my interpretation of that picture. The green was made from Darrens green golf shirt and the water surrounding the green was made from his tie. The tie was a museum tie. On the back of the tie it

said that the design on the tie is what champagne looks like under a microscope. Hence the name of this

quilt is CHAMPAGNE ALL AROUND. There is a plane in the sky it is Darrens tie pin. Along with other pins that belonged to Darren.

Because Debbie loves to ski, I wanted to make her a small wallhanging to represent the map of Sunday River Ski Resort it show Mount Washington in the background. The sky is made from a pair of pants, Mount Washington is made from a white dress shirt while Sunday River Ski resort is made from

white golf shirt. I hand quilted the main trails of each mountain peak on the quilt.
I named this quilt 'FIRST TRACKS.'