Introduction

A dusty basement filled wall to wall with model cars and pristine laminate flooring is where I first learned to sew. My grandma used to hand me an iron and have me press seams flat while she crafted masterpieces out of random pieces of fabric. I have come to learn that quilting isn’t just a fun craft to do with family, but a deeply rooted culture of storytellers and artists. This project is a representation of the artist’s own story that bridges the gap between nature and technology. This project encourages the audience to reflect on gen-z’s positive dichotomy between nature and technology.

Literature Review

The final medium was chosen because quilting encapsulates multiple dimensions of the thesis. Quilts created by the black community in Gee’s Bend are significant because of the materials and final design of the quilts. The town of Gee’s Bend was founded entirely by African Americans after the abolition of slavery. It became a cultural hub of the Freedom Quilting Bee, which was a group of talented women who made quilts for their families and the community. The quilts that came from Gee’s Bend had a unique abstract design to them. “If jazz had a physical presence, it would look like the improvisational quilts in many African American families.” (Cash, 57) This shows that quilts can be significant based on the materials they are made of and the final design of the quilt.

Nothing beats the feeling of warm tendrils of sunlight that are like a gentle hug or a playful breeze that smells like pine trees and adventures. The United States is famous for its breathtaking nature, but what's the point if citizens can’t even access it without paying for the privilege? The wild west has many private mountains that are owned by corporations, where people have to pay exorbitant amounts of money to access recreation spaces. The plus side to these companies is that they emphasis protecting the natural environment because they profit off the consistent conditions. It is even more important to spend time in and appreciate nature now that public lands are being auctioned off to oil and logging companies. Even though gen z spends an average 10 hours a day on electronic devices, they are more passionate about saving our environment than previous generations. (White, 2020) 

In my junior year of high school, my pre-calculus teacher told the class that Ti-84 calculators made the change of base formula (a formula to find the log of certain numbers) obsolete in high school math classes. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, it's just conveniently programmed into the calculator. If you actively go into the program, you can understand and use it. This is just one of thousands of examples of how technology has replaced tedious tasks with simple solutions. If technology is such an important step in our human evolution, why is there so much controversy over the use of it? One of the biggest problems comes with moving in person conversations to social media. Social media promotes that “it is more important to be updated about everything then deeply informed about anything.” (Ambrosi, 2023) This surface level understanding is insightful to the way generation z interacts with technology

Methods

The artist used the internet for finding sources, as it is a wide community that has many unique perspectives. She also talked to her peers about how they felt about spending time outside and how much screen time they had. Debbie Clarke’s quilting blog on how to create watercolor quilts was very influential, and inspired the initial design of the quilt. The quilt ended up like more of an improv quilt, which is similar to the quilts mentioned above from Gee’s Bend. 

Audience and Impact

I hope my audience reflects on the way they interact with nature, and how the internet is enhancing or distracting from their appreciation of nature. I want people of my generation (gen-z) to be able to relate to this difficult-to-describe dichotomy.

References

Ambrosi, Dino. “The Battle for Your Time: Exposing the Costs of Social Media.” TEDx Talks, 6 Mar. 2023, www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TMPXK9tw5U&ab_channel=TEDxTalks.

Callahan, Nancy. The Freedom Quilting Bee : Folk Art and the Civil Rights Movement. EBSCOhost, 2014. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost), proxyum.researchport.umd.edu/login?url=search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,uid&db=nlebk&AN=858460&site=ehostlive.

Clarke, Debbie. “Tutorial Design a Watercolor Quilt.” Stitchin’ Therapy, Blogger, 2014, stitchintherapy.blogspot.com/p/tutorial-design-watercolor-quilt.html.

Cash, Floris Barnett. “Quilting.” The World of Jim Crow America: A Daily Life Encyclopedia, edited by Steven A Reich, vol. 1, Santa Barbara, CA, Greenwood, 2019, pp. 55–57. Gale eBooks, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX7798700025/GVRL?u=umd_um&sid=bookmarkGVRL&xid=38d9aa89. Accessed 20 Oct. 2024.

Diffey, B.L. “An Overview Analysis of the Time People Spend Outdoors.” British Journal of Dermatology, vol. 164, Apr. 2011, pp. 848–854, doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2133.2010.10165.x, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2133.2010.10165.x.

UC Davis health. “3 Ways Getting Outside into Nature Helps Improve Your Health.” Cultivating Health, UC Regents, 3 May 2023, health.ucdavis.edu/blog/cultivating-health/3-ways-getting-outside-into-nature-helps-improve-your-health/2023/05.

White, Heather. “Why Gen Z Cares the Most about Nature.” Thrive Global, 9 Feb. 2020, community.thriveglobal.com/why-gen-z-cares-the-most-about-nature/.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my friends and family for supporting me up to this point. I would also like to thank my grandmas for teaching me how to sew. Most importantly, I would like to thank my faculty advisor, Heather, for holding me accountable and pushing me to create a solid groundwork.