The Details:
Materials: scraps of commercially dyed cottons and neutrals
Techniques: improvisationally-pieced by machine; longarm machine quilted by Pamela Cole; hand quilted by me; hand bound
Finished size: about 78″ square
Started: January 2015
Finished: November 2015
completely cauchy. 
breathtaking in all senses of the word
I keep trying to think about what, exactly, i want to say about this quilt and coming up empty? But basically: this piece is technically beautiful and the message hits me like a punch in the stomach and I love it for that. It’s a hard quilt to get over. Amazing work.
Oh my. Seeing the partial quilt and then the whole quilt….
Quite disturbing. Very effective.
Bill took my comment! I agree. Your pieces are keepers of stories, and beautiful to boot. And thanks for sharing Daphne Taylor – a whole new source of inspiration!
goosebumps. Love the detail of turning blue and falling apart, then applying the idea of a quilt to a shroud.
Wow. Every color choice, the size and shape of every piece, every placement decision, each word. This is the flag I would fly over my house right now, if I flew a flag. I’d need to fly it low, so each piece was observable, and probably, to get some breath back, I’d need to have made it myself… But still, to see a perfect expression of my life in your art– wow. I hope creating this lightened some of the pressure on your chest. I hope the tiny points of light are enough illumination to light the way to more art and some resolution. Most of all, I wish you the space for a deep breathe and the time to savor it.
You nailed another tragic episode in our lives. The streets, the turning blue, the emotion you evoke – stunning, and sooo sad. You have perfected the documentary quilt.
Yes, keepers of stories…. very powerful ones.. Thank you for allowing the feelings to express themselves in your work.
This is very powerful work.
You have made another excellent piece. I remember this “A man can suffocate on courtesy.”
― Henry David Thoreau
However, I do not believe you are indulging in irony or sarcasm here. I do not know the story of Eric G. but you have made his memory abide with me for awhile and think about who he was and what happened to him. May all who miss him find comfort among the mourners and the rest of us will remember him through your work.
It’s a rather scary quilt, in a thought provoking and utterly good way. I’m chilled to the bone, which is exactly the way to be when thinking about the inspiration behind this stunning piece.
I’m once again floored by how you hit such powerful emotions in your art.
Absolutely wonderful.
Outstanding work, Chawne.
I wish you didn’t have so much inspiration for your art work. Like I said, this is a self-inflicted wound upon our nation.
As others have said, this is so very powerful, a gut wrench, a breathtaking.. thank you for doing this work. Thank you for being a story keeper/story teller.
Love.
I don’t know how you do it, but you produce such powerful work. Everything about it is awe inspiring. Just an enormous shame, in every sense, that these tragedies happen all so often
I’m always completely in awe of your work.
Sometimes i can’t breathe either. This quilt, whilst being aesthetically pleasing, also has meaning for me, though probably different from the meaning you gave it.
Oooooh. As someone with asthma I felt stricken when I saw this. To not be able to breathe is a terrible fate, not to be trifled or spoken without meaning (I’m thinking about the occasional love song here.) I had missed the title of your post, being new to your blog, but I went back up to the top, and now it all makes sense. This hits hard. Eric Garner’s was an avoidable death. Simply should not have happened.
So powerful. Bravo!