Interview with Amy Selders

by Penny Richards

Amy Selders is the creator of the Disability History Quilt. It’s an excellent example of a larger trend in which traditional crafts are used to express activist messages and preserve marginalized experiences, with the AIDS Memorial Quilt as perhaps the best-known example (see Chansky 2010, Pentney 2008, Robertson 2009). This is a particular area of interest for me, so I’m pleased to learn more about a disability history project in the genre. In this interview, Selders talks a bit about the quilt’s construction, its contents, and its meanings. A photograph of the quilt follows the interview, and Amy Selders gives a link to a website that displays and explains details of the quilt squares. (Click around on her site for other similar projects.)

Tell me about the Disability History Quilt.

The Disability History Quilt was my very first quilt. Others have followed, but this is the one that most people have seen on display and inquire about. If you get an opportunity to see it in person, you’ll notice that the quilt, actually all of my pieces, is uneven in shape and size. I have a head injury and have never been able to follow patterns, make straight edges, replicate the same piecing, quilting or finishing technique so I typically don’t do the same thing twice (unless by sheer luck!). My great-grandmother and great-grand aunts made beautiful quilts together. Their quilts all told stories, so not only were they beautiful, they had a connection to our family history. That always meant so much to me. I loved their work and begged to learn how to do it. My grandmother didn’t have much confidence in my ability to learn the complicated art of quilting and when I asked her to teach me she suggested I choose something easier. She was right about one thing, I’m not the traditional quilter who can follow patterns of flowers and ducks and remember the perfect way to finish a quilt. I have the best time being me and finding my own way, though. As Justin [Dart] said once, “We must use our creativity to explode the truth in the face of the nation.” I hope my quilts will help to do that as they tell our stories.

How long did it take to make?

I spent just over twenty months working on the quilt every day to complete it. Once it reached approximately 94″ x 64″ I knew that it was time to stop. It was already much bigger than I originally intended (more on that later.)

How many squares are included in the quilt?

The quilt contains twenty-seven squares, twenty-three of which are what I consider “universal” squares; they represent disability issues that all Americans with disabilities feel a connection with on some level. One square represents a Pennsylvania (my home state) State law, and the remaining three are symbolic of my connection to the movement. The border reads “with liberty and justice for all” twice around the quilt. The quilt is covered in quotes.

How many are there?

The lattices (the pieces that define each square) contain twenty-seven quotations from disability/civil rights activists and advocates, Presidents and other national leaders.

Do you know how many beads were used?

I embellished the lattices with over ten thousand individually sewn multicolored glass seed beads to add variety and sparkle.

What was the original goal of the project?

I didn’t have an elaborate plan in mind for the quilt. The goal was to make a first attempt at quilting by creating a small wall hanging that I wouldn’t be too embarrassed to hang in my shared office space at a CIL that I worked for in PA. I wanted to have something more than my collection of “post-its” with Justin and Ed quotes on them. A quilt seemed perfect; what better way to start learning than a small wall hanging? I knew the theme would be our shared history and the challenge was what do I include and what do I leave out? Since I wasn’t following a pattern or plan of any kind and just creating as I went along, well, you can imagine how the small wall hanging soon grew into the 5’x8’ quilt that it is today.

Who contributed to the design and construction?

I was the only person who worked on this quilt but the inspiration came from the words, actions and events of leaders past and present. So I guess you could say the disability community as a whole contributed to my first quilt.

Where is it displayed?

It is not displayed in any one location on a permanent basis. I receive requests to display the quilt in addition to some of my other pieces so it travels from time to time.

What has the reaction to the quilt been?

When I first displayed it I was surprised to find that so many people felt so drawn to my quilt. The first groups of people to see the quilt were the attendees at a SILC conference in Pennsylvania in 1999. It was startling and I was amazed that so many people felt connected to my quilt. Everyone wanted to touch it. I couldn’t even imagine that people across the country would also have an interest in my quilting.

Anything you’d want to do differently in another similar project?

I would have to say that typically, I do every project a bit differently than the one before. I’ve completed a number of “squares” but haven’t decided how to assemble them yet – I had an idea to make a long, horizontal quilt that would be easier for people who use wheelchairs to see. Currently, my husband and I are working on a project together. The quilt we’re working on is about as big as the Disability History Quilt. The theme is ADAPT. We’re in the quilting phase so we’re excited about nearing completion. Another project that is completely different than anything I’ve ever done before is a community quilt project. The theme is “expressions of pride.” To date, about 100 people have made squares for the quilt. It’s comprised of panels of quilt squares made by people with disabilities at various events, CILs, conferences and gatherings. I hope to see this project travel to different parts of the country and just keep growing! The expressions of pride everyone has made are absolutely beautiful! What an experience! If anyone would like to see the Disability History Quilt and some of my other work visit my website http://www.amysthreads.com/. I hope you enjoy the images and the written descriptions of each square.

A few cites on activist crafting:
Ricia A. Chansky, “A Stitch in Time: Third-Wave Feminist Reclamation of Needled Imagery,” Journal of Popular Culture 43(4)(2010): 681-700.
Beth Ann Pentney, “Feminism, Activism, and Knitting: Are the Fibre Arts a Viable Mode for Feminist Political Action?” Third Space: A Journal of Feminist Theory and Culture 8(1)(Summer 2008): online at http://www.thirdspace.ca/journal/article/viewArticle/pentney/210
Kirsty Robertson, “Threads of Hope: The Living Healing Quilt Project,” ESC: English Studies in Canada 35(1)(March 2009): 86-107.

Visual description: The quilt features images such as flags, peace signs, symbols of disability rights organizations including ADAPT and Not Dead Yet, accessibility symbols, and words in the form of slogans (We Will Ride) and quotes (embroidered). There’s a tree, a lightbulb, and several houses in the design.
“The Disability History Quilt” by Amy Selders.