If you know my art, you know I’ve done lots of grief art. Loss in general is a big theme for me.

I’ve made pieces about the death of my brother and my daughter. You can see those in the portfolio section, under Medals that You Wouldn’t Want to Earn, and El Dia de los Muertos. (It’s my own blog, so you’d think I’d just re-post the pictures here, but I don’t want to think about those losses today, you can go look though.)

I was listening to the While She Naps podcast and she interviewed quilter Melissa Averinos about many things, and near the end, they discuss Melissa’s quilt, My Brother’s Jeans.

(You can listen HERE, or find it in iTunes

You can see the quilt HERE.

In another episode of the While She Naps podcast, they mention the book Hope, Make, Heal: 20 Crafts to Mend the Heart, It’s a book that I like, and somehow, I hadn’t caught on that it’s a book about crafts for grieving.

Since my brother died too young, and my mom and I made a quilt from his clothes for his widow and children, this story about Melissa’s quilt naturally grabbed me. And I shared it with my friends who have also lost a sibling, one of them just six months ago.

Sibling loss is the least recognized loss in society. There’s not even a word for it. (As there is for one who has lost a spouse.)

And quilts have found their way into my art work a bunch of times, here’s a post where I talk about that, Why I Use Quilts in my Art.