The 26th boxes of mystery.

This Inheritance Project gratitude post is overdue; three of these “boxes of mystery” came over the summer and now we’re hurtling towards the equinox. But. Each contributor already received a thank you card and a handmade gift…I think I’m up to 70 of those teeny tiny doilies…so this post is the bigger thank you I share with the world.

Some of last year's teeny tiny doilies.

​First, here’s a little update: I stopped officially accepting items for the Inheritance Project a year ago, after 13 months of receiving crowd-sourced domestic linens from people all over the world  (except this didn’t mean shipments stopped coming). I’ve been working steadily all this time and so many incredible opportunities have arisen from this project’s raw material:

• work accepted into Quilt National 2017
• a Rasmuson Foundation Individual Artist Award Project Grant
• a Sustainable Arts Foundation Grant
• a pop-up studio a few months ago and a forthcoming solo exhibition at the Anchorage Museum (May – Sept. 2018)
• another at the new Alaska State Museum in Juneau (Dec. 2017 – Feb. 2018)
• a series of workshops at the Anchorage Museum this fall and winter (more on that to come)
• and most importantly, incredible connections, correspondence and friendships with contributors and interested people from all over the world.

 
For those of us who work with cloth, and older cloth in particular, the pull is powerful. It's no surprise we somehow find each other.

​Tante Sophie et Cie.

​Thank you Ina Braun from Tante Sophie et Cie in Denville, New Jersey, for the lovely box of mystery. Like many of us, Ina has been hanging onto these items for a long time – some she made, some she found, some belonged to various women in her life.

“They are all old…unknown makers…found…treasured…released for your making.”
​

Makers: Unknown, Origin: Unknown, Circa: Unknown

Maker: Unknown, Origin: Unknown, Circa: Unknown.

Maker: Ina Braun, Origin: New Jersey, Circa: 1990's.

Makers: Unknown, Origin: Germany, Circa: early 1900's.

Origin: Unknown, perhaps belonged to a Great Aunt on Ina's Mother's side, Circa: Unknown.

Origin: Unknown, perhaps belonged to a Great Aunt on Ina's Mother's side, Circa: Unknown.

 
Independence Day.

​Anchorage doesn't launch big fireworks displays for July 4th celebrations – it’s too light at night, too close to Solstice (I know, that’s a crazy thing), and our family is usually in Prince William Sound so I haven’t been to a July 4th house party in years. (We do stand in snowbanks to watch fireworks through steamy breath on New Year’s Eve and again for the annual winter Fur Rendezvous though, and last year the northern lights totally out-performed the explosions one night, so there’s a little more Alaska craziness for you). This summer, we did make it to our friends, the Kingry’s, who brew incredible beer and throw a sweet summer gathering, complete with screaming kids, sparklers in broad daylight and out of control garden hoses. It’s the kind of party where, when another friend slips you a handful of doilies from a neighbor who was about to toss them and it feels a little like a drug deal, no one really notices.
​

Anonymous

Nope. I can’t tell you where these incredible quilts came from. I also can’t tell you who made them, or when. All I can say here is thank you. Thank you for thinking of me. Thank you for taking the time to ship these all the way to Alaska. Thank you for seeing something in my body of work, and I hope we can continue the conversation.

Makers: Unknown, Origins: Unknown, Circa: Unknown.

New Friend.

​Thank you Marcia Cohen, for contacting me out of the blue after reading the interview I did with Alex Teplitzky for the Creative Capital blog, for requesting long distance Alaskan summer travel advice, for agreeing to meet me at the Anchorage Museum between your epic trips to Denali and Prince William Sound, for sharing fabulous stories and for this gorgeous embroidered handkerchief featuring the teeniest embroidery stitches I’ve ever seen. Marcia is an artist and part of September’s group show here in Anchorage at the International Gallery of Contemporary Art. She is also a professor of Foundation Studies at the Savannah College of Art and Design. 

In an hour and a half, we talked about everyone from Kara Walker to Radcliffe Bailey to Sharon Louden to Rudolf Steiner. It was a 6-degrees-of-Kevin-Bacon conversation and one I wish could have continued for another 8 hours. When I get down to Atlanta some day, I’m looking you up, lady.
​

Maker: Unknown, Origin: Unknown, Circa: Unknown, Perhaps belonged to Marcia's mother.

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​For a complete list of ALL the boxes of mystery, click here. I’m in the process of distilling quotes from several years’ worth of correspondence…if you were a Contributor, I may be contacting you to get your permission to use your words in some capacity. (Remaining anonymous is ok). To experience all the voices in a single stream is incredible.
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​One year ago on this blog:

Hard won.

​Two years ago on this blog:

The stolen collection.