Piecing womanhoods: a nexus of gendered and middle-class practices by women who quilt in St. John's, Newfoundland

Griffis, Jaime (2005) Piecing womanhoods: a nexus of gendered and middle-class practices by women who quilt in St. John's, Newfoundland. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

This thesis investigates how women who quilt in St. John's, Newfoundland construct and negotiate gendered and middle-class practices. I explore the ways quilters frame complex 'selves' and ideals of womanhood by analyzing their dialogues, performances and interactions. This analysis focuses on themes that emerged from my ethnographic fieldwork such as 'personhoods', 'femininity', 'community', 'middle-classness' , 'power', 'agency' and 'social action'. I analyze how some quilters 'piece' narratives of communication within their creations for the purpose of expressing personal agency. I also include an investigation of the contexts where quilters choose to mobilize personal agency into social action through quilting. This thesis is grounded in the historical context of quilt creators in twentieth century Newfoundland and Labrador where the practice of quilting has developed into an ambiguous act. 'Ibis ambiguity provides quilters a negotiable site to reveal, through narrative and 'performance', values and ideals that construct their individual and collective womanhoods.

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