This Ritual of Skill: quilt stories American tour

A catalog of Quilt Stories, a touring interactive project by Eliza Fernand. Adventure through 88 pages of full-color photographs with an intro and five essays on the project by contributing writers. PROJECT STATEMENT: Quilt Stories is a nomadic installation and participatory performance: From place to place, viewers were invited inside of a quilted tent to share their stories and anecdotes about quilts; while outside, a collaborative quilt, pieced in a white circle, created a space for people to gather and contribute their own stitches in this ritual of skill. The summer and fall of 2011, I recorded over 100 quilt stories in twenty-five cities and towns; from Washington, to Massachusetts, to Texas, back to Boise and down to California. I documented my route by photographing the tent in the varying landscapes I traveled through. After recording over 100 MP3's of quilt stories, I deconstructed the audio and pieced the collected words into song lyrics. The result is an evolving performance with sculpture, video, and song that I am still touring with in 2014. In several locations, I had the opportunity to teach a quilting workshop or paint a public mural.