Night Quilt, damaged and torn handmade bed quilt embellished with wool embroidery thread, 65″ x 79″, 2017.

Inspired by the seemingly chaotic webs of black widow spiders, this ‘night quilt’ is meant to be both protective and a warning. Black widows do not bite unless they are bothered. We are beginning to talk about epigenetics and the possible long-term effects of trauma. Thinking of what led the black widow’s ancestors to develop such defenses (poison and a web that warns others that this spider is not friendly), I began to think of how a quilt is protective and how many people have seen their beds as either a place to protect oneself or a place of danger (or both).