LIVE MAGAZINE VOL 8, Issue #197 November 28th THRU December 12th, 2014

14
PAT YAMIN –
QUILTS KEEPING
HISTORY ALIVE
By Angela Romeo
Pat Yamin grew up in Michigan, lives in a 14 room Brooklyn Victorian with an
amazing collection of quilts. Quilts tell silent stories of our past.
“I found my first quilt top [the pieced work that is not a finished quilt] in
Brimfield Massachusetts in 1969. I paid $12.50. I laugh now but it was the
first step in my journey!”
Pat worked as a counselor. “Quilting became my release, my sanctuary from
a demanding job. I began to see quilts in a new light. These were women’s
voices, their Twitter and Facebook in the time before electricity.”
Pat’s vintage quilts were constructed by tearing or cutting 100% cotton
scraps left from men’s shirts, dresses, curtains, etc. and sewn together by
hand. “These quilts tell a story about the creator. Did she rely on scraps
or did she have means to purchase fabric for her quilt top? Was it for a
purpose, like a wedding, or was it practical, to keep warm? The quilt tells
all. Stitching reveals a novice or experienced sewer. The embellishments, if
any, fill-in a story. The quilt pattern will tell you where it originates. Motifs
designate a geographical area. Some motifs are peculiar to an historical era.
The quilts leave stories that are keeping these women’s voices alive,” said
Pat
Quilting was often community experience. “Women would work on a single
quilt for a communal purpose. Like the AIDS Memorial quilt that was made
several years ago, quilters bring social issues and problems to the public
awareness. Today’s quilters are making quilts for hundreds of charities,
cancer victims and their survivors, veterans, abused children, natural
disaster victims, and shelters for people and animals. Quilters are a special
group of men and women who are sharing their talents and creativity to
help others not wanting or expecting in return. In that spirit I donated a
Victorian Crazy Quilt to the Firemen’s Museum for raise funds for firefighters
injured or lost during 9/11” stated Pat.” Quilters’ hands open wide like their
hearts.”
“The skills we learned as children are not always passed down. The
immediacy of today’s world, has taken some traditions that bond
generations. Children often lack the patience and skill to sew a button! It is
a shame – we all lose a bit of our past as these skills become footnotes to
history,” noted Pat.
Pat keeps the art of quilting alive through her books, lectures and classes. “I
teach hand and machine quilting. Quilting is non-sexist, non-denominational
and an equal opportunity activity.” laughs Pat. “My business was built on
bringing the tools – templates, material, supplies – to quilters of all levels. By
providing a resource, I provide a link from the past to the present to future
quilters. Quilts always tell a unique story, our own individual story. Just like
the hundreds of antique quilts I cherish, each modern quilt tells no less a
story.”
To find Pat, go to www.comequiltwithme.com. Another dimension of art
waits.
Angela Romeo is the producer /host of COLLIDING WORLDS TV and COLLIDING WORLDS
RADIO. For more information visit: www.collidingworldstvandart.com
Colliding Worlds TV is available on YouTube at
www.youtube.com/user/AngelaValenteRomeo
or at Colliding Worlds Vimeo:
www.vimeo.com/collidingworldstv
Colliding Worlds TV broadcasts on KPSE (MY 13 Palm Springs California) Saturdays at noon
and Thursdays at 6:30 am
Colliding Worlds Radio, broadcasts and live streams weekly,
Saturday from 11 am to 12 pm on KPSF 1200 AM (Money Radio 1200)
Colliding Worlds is now on KMIR (Palm Springs)Saturday at 5 am and on KPSE Thursday
(Palm Springs) at 6:30 am
CW Radio podcasts are available at
www.collidingworldstvandart.com