Olivia C Rix

My Manifest Project is a hand embroidered quilt. This quilt is a visual look into the heart and mind of me as a whole: a human, a woman, an artist, and a teacher.

 

I decided to make a quilt for many reasons, one is reason is my mama. Growing up she would always make quilts and still does today, she makes quilts for the people that she loves. Having watched her make such beautiful and comfy quilts I wanted to create one as well. I wanted to create something that was artistically beautiful but also would be comforting and cozy. Quilts remind us of comfort and warmth. Little children are drawn to quilts for security, familiarity, and the bright colors and patterns.

 

I also decided to make a quilt because of the history of women quilters. How quilts were used to pass down stories of these women and their family history to the newer generations. One of my favorite movies is How to Make an American Quilt. This movie focuses on the lives of these old women who are now in a quilting group, they are sewing a quilt with a patch/square that represents a part of them. While they are sewing their square they tell the story of what it represents and tells about their past and how they are today. I love this movie and thought about how wonderful it would be to have a quilt that represents and will remind me a time in my life. So my quilt is a story of me at this time of my life.

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On my quilt I have included a picture of my family(which I did draw on top of), a picture of me at the age of 4(this is my favorite age and I do want to be a preschool teacher), a picture of me right now, a picture of me with my pussy hat which I hand knitted and wore at the Women’s March as well as other Marches and Protests this year. There is a picture of my artwork, a picture of my representation of a child which shows the kind of teacher I want to be. There are also multiple hand embroidered pieces. Although I had never embroidered before I really wanted to try it and bring more texture and handmade artistry to my quilt. Many people told me that it would be much to hard to start a new form of art. But I was motivated and I actually found that I have a real knack for embroidery. The embroidery of the dog is my dog, Rocko who passed away, it represents my love of animals. There is one with a hand covered in flowers the hand represents my artistic side and creativity, most of my embroidered pieces include florals as well as the fabric squares I picked because I love florals and what they represent. To me florals not only show beauty but also growth. To have a flower grow and become beautiful one has to care for it and nurture it, just like what you have to do a child.