“The true economy of housekeeping is simply the art of gathering up all the fragments, so that nothing be lost. I mean fragments of time, as well as materials.” 

Lydia Maria Child The Frugal Housewife, 1829

The quote by Lydia Maria Child, “The true economy of housekeeping is simply the art of gathering up all the fragments, so that nothing be lost. I mean fragments of time, as well as materials,” inspired this new collection of small works. Published in Boston in 1829, The Frugal Housewife—from which this quote is taken—is a book on cooking and housekeeping, emphasizing self-reliance and frugality in the household. In many ways, Child could be seen as the Martha Stewart of her generation.

These books draw me into a world of domestic pleasures, yet at the same time, I find myself resisting the rigid gender roles and societal expectations they reinforce. Perhaps this tension is what compels me to create wood quilts—to challenge those stereotypes and infuse the traditionally feminine art of quilting with the strength and physicality of woodworking.

Each piece in this series, all roughly 15" x 15", is composed of small remnants from larger works. I can never bring myself to let scrap wood go to waste. I save each tiny fragment, knowing that one day it will find a cherished place in another life as an artwork.