Block #90

Creator

Maxwell McNamara

Location

Flagstaff, Arizona, USA

Creator demographics

25; Genderfluid, Gender non-conforming, Genderqueer, Nonbinary, Transgender, Transmasculine, Trans man; White; Bisexual, Queer; Disabled (mentally ill and living with chronic pain)

Materials and construction

Fabric (cotton) and DMC embroidery floss (cotton); Hand sewn, Hand-embroidered

Description from maker

to reach (self given title)

My joy and gender identity feel very pieced together. I'm a trans man, and I lean heavily into femininity. I used to try and present more masculine, but it just didn't do it for me! So now I take whatever bits and pieces I like-- most of them pink and femme-- and find immense joy in stitching them all together.

My gender identity has often felt like reaching my hand into a pool of color and sifting around until I find something shiny, and that's what I tried to convey here by abandoning the trans flag's traditional stripes and adding something bright and swirly at the edge; I stayed very basic with the actual quilting, because I'd never done it before. I'm very proud of it!!

I use a lot of hand imagery in my work, so it felt right for it to show up here. Reaching away from pink and into blue, and then through it into something else entirely!

Visual description

Pink, white, and blue fabrics in a 4x4 square formation, the top right corner features a swirly rainbow fabric. The block has a large hand outline embroidered on top with long nails gesturing towards the single rainbow square.

Date

2023

Dimensions

12.5x12.5

Rights

The Euphoria Quilt

Identifier

TEQ-2024-01-90