35x34in quilter’s cotton (machine-pieced and quilted), created in 2023, NFS

This quilt is meant to represent the emotional parts of memory. Right out of high school, I joined the military and moved to Iceland for my second tour. Moving was a large part of my childhood as well, creating emotionally detached ways of relating to others, which followed me into adulthood. I’m sure some here can relate. My Icelandic experience was my first cultural shock to my system. I have so many memories I recall from that time, though disjointed and incomplete, and I wish I could recall them more vividly. Instead, I have an emotional, felt sense of those experiences. Many people believe that they don’t have memories from childhood, or possibly blocked them out. I’d posit that it may be the emotional memories that you’d need to tap into first, especially for healing.

What to look for: The improv/abstract log cabin block is meant to represent the many memories of experiences, imagery and emotions combined, like looking through small internal windows into the past. The colors are representative of the felt sense of color I experienced in Iceland including lava, moss, glaciers, hot springs, auroras, cold windy days, and long days & nights. The quilting is meant to represent several things including windy days, the synaptic currents that flow through the electrical circuitry in the brain, and the wavy nature of auroras that flowed across the sky.

Learn more:  https://www.cuimc.columbia.edu/news/why-are-memories-attached-emotions-so-strong

Book recommendation(s): These books are not meant to replace medical intervention and/or skilled therapy.

Seven and a Half Lessons about the Brain https://a.co/d/iMXOsN3

How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain https://a.co/d/eGCr5cy