Sylvia: A Life’s Journey

© 2006
34” x 30”
Not for sale

Although Sylvia, my Mom, has not yet been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, she does suffer from dementia. Her quilted journey began as a young bride, her portrait painted from a photograph taken on her wedding day. The first third of the quilt is rosy and full of joy with the brilliant colors of sunrise. The middle section is more muted. The births of her six children are represented in spiraling row of flying geese. Although this was a happy time, it was financially difficult for my parents. The colors in the last third are dark and stormy, for the period following my father’s death when her memory faded. She had to leave her family home and move to New Mexico to be nearer to two of her daughters, leaving most of her possessions behind. Bright points remain. The red shooting star points are my joy in being able to be close to my mother in her last years, although the unquilted black void of dementia threatens to take even that from me. Mom was the rock upon which we depended as children, and is now the colorful thread that is woven into our adult lives.

You can click on the photo to view the next quilt in the gallery.