Wrapped in Memories

by Sara Goodman

Each square tells a story within six small inches of fabric. One, the work of a granddaughter, is made up of many slivers of greens, blues and browns, creating a picture of willowy reeds alongside a lake. Another is an old black and white photograph of a bride and groom on their wedding day. Still another is an oil painting on canvas of blue waves breaking on the yellow sand. There is a square with cutout figures, a family of six holding hands on a cream background. There are 81 pieces stitched together and set against a blueberry background, each one designed out of love for two people celebrating their life together.

It is an Anniversary quilt, celebrating a couple’s 50 years together. Their daughter, Janice Bjorkman, the artist and designer, has always loved to quilt. The dream began over lunch with her daughter Katie a year or so before her parents’ 50th wedding anniversary. “We wanted to make a quilt to honor “Gram and Pops” and the many ways their love had touched so many lives.” The quilt would be a surprise, and before lunch was over, the quilt was sketched out on the restaurant’s butcher paper tablecloth. All in all, the project involved 75 people contributing squares of their own design, which Janice pieced together. The quilt now hangs in her parents’ home, giving daily glimpses of friendships, family, and cherished memory.

Celebration Quilters

After the tragedy of 9-11 in 2001, Janice felt compelled to offer her services to make memorial quilts. In 2005, she found the vehicle to communicate to bereaved families as she grieved the loss of her own niece, Brita Marie Johnson. Janice’s new business, Celebration Quilters, was born. Brita’s mother Judy, has joined in the business. Together, they provide a deep level of sensitivity and compassion to others struggling with loss. A Memorial Quilt honors a loved one by using his or her clothing as the quilt’s building blocks. Quilts made by the Gee’s Bend Quilters Collective, and featured in a new postage stamp, were another inspiration for starting the business. In the farming community of Gee’s Bend, Alabama, women take clothing too worn out to wear in the fields, and transform it into beautiful quilts. Janice says, “I love the idea of recycling clothes that people have worn and using them in a new creation. Each piece of fabric and clothing has its own characteristic design and texture. It’s like a puzzle to fit the pieces together.” Her latest quilt was for a young woman who lost her father to pancreatic cancer. It included his t-shirts, corduroy trousers, flannel shirts, denim overalls, as well as his childhood bathrobe and a few silk ties. There is a lot of back-and-forth conversation with her clients to determine the direction the quilt will take, and to remain true to the spirit of the person being remembered.

T-shirt quilts are another option for preserving memories and celebrating achievements. A quilt currently in production celebrates the childhood of a college-bound young man. He can include this “piece of home” as he packs his bags and leaves to face the challenges of college life.

Janice has owned and operated another business, The Music Connection, for the past 15 years. The Music Connection provides music for weddings and other special occasions. She is also principal flutist for the Milwaukee Ballet and is a substitute in the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. “Music and quilting are connected in a way,” Janice says. “They each uniquely enhance life experiences, making both the living and the remembering all the richer.”

For more information, visit www.celebrationquilters.com.

Portions of this article first appeared in Lake and Country magazine in Lake Geneva WI, written by Sara Goodman, a graduate student in journalism at Northwestern University in Evanston Il.