Echo Quilting–The Business
I’m Zoe Gladstone, the artist behind Echo Quilting. I am a self-taught sewer and began quilting in 2010. Born and raised in California, I now live in Eugene, Oregon. I sewed my first memory quilt using the clothes of a beloved friend who had died. As I worked on her quilt, it dawned on me that I wanted to do more of this. For more people. For a long time.
I enjoy working with people to create quilts out of worn and well-loved fabrics. I love hearing stories about the people who wore the clothing, and I think of them as I sew. It feels meaningful to create a quilt that can be seen or used daily, and reminds us of a sweet time in life or a person who is deeply missed. Memory quilts can also be made to mark a transition (babyhood to childhood, home to college, single to partnered or partnered to single, between gender identities or careers or homes).
My quilting style is a mix of improvisational and traditional designs. I’m inspired by: the Gee’s Bend Quiltmakers, the Social Justice Sewing Academy, Chawne Kimber, Sherri Lynn Wood, Heidi Parkes, and Coulter Fussell, as well as the many anonymous American quilters in the past who didn’t confine themselves to precision or tradition.
If you’d like to learn more about commissioning a memory quilt, please get in touch.
Echo Quilting–The Technique
Echo quilting is a technique where you quilt the outline around a shape, a set distance away from the shape’s edge. Once the first outline is complete, a quilter may then quilt around that outline, and then quilt around the second outline….and on and on, as desired. In this way, the shape is ‘echoed’ in the quilting.
I enjoy working with that technique, and I also see a connection to memory quilting. Quilts made from meaningful fabric become more than just household items; they give memory a physical presence, which reverberates in our lives, and can be passed on to the next generation.