Conception

 

Sonder was inspired by an unnamed piece by graphic artist Andy Gilmore. The convergence of color and line that he plays with in his art started a conversation within my head about the many ways one can force elements of a quilt to play with and against one another.  At the time I was designing this quilt, I was also listening to the oral history that I had recorded with my grandpa over the years. It struck me as I was developing my ideas, the great and unexpected complexities of each individual person on this earth. I came across the word "sonder" and it seemed to fit where my head was in this creation process:

"n. the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own—populated with their own ambitions, friends, routines, worries and inherited craziness—an epic story that continues invisibly around you like an anthill sprawling deep underground, with elaborate passageways to thousands of other lives that you’ll never know existed, in which you might appear only once, as an extra sipping coffee in the background, as a blur of traffic passing on the highway, as a lighted window at dusk."

- from The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

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Creation

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Sonder was designed by hand and on Adobe Illustrator. Templates were printed on blueprint paper and used to create exact shapes. I used Kona Cotton Solids by Robert Kaufman Fabrics, Warm & Natural batting, and Aurifil thread.

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Life Outside the Studio

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Sonder has exhibited at the 2019 Utah Quilting and Sewing Marketplace.