Bill Stearman, Quilt Maker

During the last week of July, I was scheduled to teach a class on using words in quilts at Halliburton School of Art and Design. I was also contracted to give the Wednesday evening lecture that same week. But the College cancelled the summer program. That, combined with being in social isolation, and many days of cloud, sent me into a major negative spin for a while. I’ve snapped out of it and decided that there is still life during quarantine, as long as I keep a positive focus. The theme for my word quilt project for the class, was ‘Reclaiming Pride’. The idea was to celebrate and own the many names that I’ve been called growing up gay; to take words that were thrown at me as slurs and put downs, and present them as something beautiful. The most hurtful of the words, I am choosing to present in Braille or Morse Code.  My focus is on creating beauty from the hate. Here’s the first one … ‘RECLAIMING PRIDE: A Bed Spread’ I left out the spaces between dots and dashes