Harmony McNish

Topography Homestead Quilts

Homestead quilts are topographical representations of mine and my partner's family intergenerational homesteads. The Quilts are joined by cedar rail buttons and symbolize our marriage and the coming together of two bodies of land.

“This quilt pattern is designed to replicate a topographic map of my family’s 100-acre homestead and my partner's family’s 100-acre property. On the McNish homestead, I am the fifth generation that continues to live on the land and my partner is the fourth generation of his family to live on the Brooks property. The quilted properties are divided by buttons and navy-blue borders because the properties are geographically distanced and the ownership is separated, regardless of joined relationship. The land represented in the quilt is very personal for my partner and I as the abstractly mapped out places represent the generational geography of mine and my partners' kin. We both have connections, memories, and a relationship to not only our own properties but each other's properties. Those fields, woodland bushes, rivers, ponds, swamps, and property fence lines were where we grew individually and grew to know each other. As myself and my partner begin to realize that inherently our family ties to the properties could potentially be lost for our generation, for several family-concerning reasons, we understand the importance of memory, preservation, and familiarity to the properties we sew to our cultural geographies. Within the layers of the quilt, I placed a little bit of earth from each property, so regardless of where my partner and I find ourselves resting or settling, we can have a piece of home with us to cherish. I chose to not incorporate any articles of clothing, cloth, or mementos from any one family member because over the years there have been many family members that resided on both properties and I felt it was not fair to tribute an area of the land particularly to them.”