In motherhood, I’ve found a number of songs that I’ve hummed, whispered, and lullabied hundreds of times, between sleepless nights, skinned knees, and long car rides. They come as partners in this journey, giving and receiving love from the two most important people I will ever know. One of these songs, “Circle Game” by Joni Mitchell, encapsulates the fleeting time that I have in young motherhood. It was one of the first songs that I sang to my newborn son and it remains precious to me.
Conceptually, Carousel Flight captures the image that I have of this song and this time in my life. Time propels us forward; every moment is different than the one before it, and yet my experience navigating these changes parallels the women around me. Our experience on the “carousel of time” is unifying.
Each set of flying geese represents a season, which becomes a year, and eventually, a lifetime. The direction of the flying geese is consistent; clockwise, and always forward. The repetition of the circular motif plays on the idea that we are surrounded by others in their own seasons.
The design of this quilt has vaguely been circling my mind for at least a year, but the concept runs much deeper. I’ve thought often about the connection that I feel to the ancestral women in my life. Surely my great great great grandmother felt the same deep love for her child as I do for mine. She felt the pangs of exhaustion from colic, or the ache of seeing her baby in pain. She felt the triumph of another birthday past, the fear, the nostalgia, the sacrifice, the perseverance, and regular devotion of every passing day. I am like her, she is like me, we are the same.
