Pacific Quilt

Sarah FitzSimons's avatar Sarah FitzSimons

A giant map-like quilt with shades of blue fabric to convey underwater topography, and quilting lines to describe surface currents. The quilt is designed to be functional bedding, but with such a large size, it will easily cover a bed, flow onto the floor, flood the room, and spill out the door. Intricate stitching makes visible typically unseen depths, allowing a view beneath the surface of this huge entity that covers one third of our planet. At its core, this is a conceptual project taking a textile form. I started it soon after moving back to the US Midwest after years of living on various coasts. So there's an element of longing in this piece: longing to be near the sea, and to bring this mysterious object into my life. Both water and fabric flow. Both cover. Both can conceal, reveal, and shift. Pacific Quilt proposes a link between the daily cycle of sleeping and waking, with the rise and fall of ocean tides. It's an object that links my bedroom to the ocean and vice versa.

Entry Details
  • Art form: 3-D
  • Depth: 21ft
  • Medium: Cotton fabrics, batting and thread
  • Width: 23ft
  • Year created: 2018
  • Height: variable, between 6-18in.