In the Space of Three Days, Everything Changed quilt by Ann Stamm Merrell; from Living Outside the Lines

Ann's Comments (July 1993): “For a long time, I wanted to make an Easter quilt, depicting a cross in a vertical format. Earlier this year the horizontal idea presented itself.

The title refers to the three days from Good Friday to Easter, and the implications of the Resurrection. But it also refers to the three days from my breast biopsy to a diagnosis of breast cancer.

I started the design while my husband and I sat at the Stanford Breast Clinic waiting for a team of doctors to give their recommendations. I started cutting fabric in between surgeries which culminated in a mastectomy. And I finished sewing after my first bout with chemotherapy.

The whole process was actually therapeutic: the bad days are the dark parts of the quilt, and I really took out some anger in cutting pieces of fabric, just slashing at them as if they were the cancer. But I was freed up, too, leaving jagged raw edges and stitching outside the lines, as I’ve never done before, because following the ‘rules’ didn’t seem very important anymore.

I want to make many more quilts.”

Additional comments:

The sketch above is the design Ann worked on while at Stanford.

Shows: American Museum of Quilts and Textiles, San Jose, CA: "New Faces Exhibit" (1993) 1st place Oakland Museum of California: "Beyond the Shadow Healing Through Art and Creative Expression" New England Quilt Museum, Lowell, MA: "Expressions in Cloth: Quilts That Heal" Vermont Quilt Festival: "Last Quarter, Twentieth Century" (1999) collection of the Presbyterian Church of Sunnyvale (California)		In the Space of Three Days, Everything Changed 1993 / 106w x 44h
		Materials and techniques: Cottons, blends, silks, Steve Harrington's tie. Cotton flannel batting. Machine pieced and quilted.

		Ann's Comments (July 1993): “For a long time, I wanted to make an Easter quilt, depicting a cross in a vertical format. Earlier this year the horizontal idea presented itself. The title refers to the three days from Good Friday to Easter, and the implications of the Resurrection. But it also refers to the three days from my breast biopsy to a diagnosis of breast cancer. I started the design while my husband and I sat at the Stanford Breast Clinic waiting for a team of doctors to give their recommendations. I started cutting fabric in between surgeries which culminated in a mastectomy. And I finished sewing after my first bout with chemotherapy. The whole process was actually therapeutic: the bad days are the dark parts of the quilt, and I really took out some anger in cutting pieces of fabric, just slashing at them as if they were the cancer. But I was freed up, too, leaving jagged raw edges and stitching outside the lines, as I’ve never done before, because following the ‘rules’ didn’t seem very important anymore. I want to make many more quilts.” *Additional comments:* The sketch above is the design Ann worked on while at Stanford.
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