Attila's Laundry by Linda Colsh
Attila’s Laundry by Linda Colsh was made to enter into the Pointillist Challenge.
On June 24, 1996 Linda took this quilt, another in-progress quilt, and her sewing kit to a shipping company to be boxed, insured, and sent it to herself at her new address. She was moving from California to Belgium. Linda was afraid to put her quilts in her luggage or in the shipment of their household goods via the Panama Canal (because mildew was a threat during the months at sea). Linda had planned to take the quilts in her carry-on luggage, but she was limited to only one bag for the international flight. Unfortunately, the quilts were never seen again after she dropped them off with the shipper.
Half of the fabrics in Attilas Laundry are from the Pointillist collection. The techniques Linda used were machine piecing, machine inlay, machine quilting with silver thread, and machine couching. The back is also pieced and has a photo transfer of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul and a computer printed label sewn on with “Attilas Laundry”, Linda’s name and her two addresses (local Belgian address and APO address) and the year it was made, 1996.
Attila’s Laundry is a quilt about a Turk and his country. Turkey holds a unique position because it not only physically bridges the Easter and Western worlds but, as a secular Moslem country, it also bridges East and West philosophically and socially. Linda writes, “Our guide and guard for the trip, Attila, was the very example of this position: he was carrying out a good deal of womens work at home with his wife ready to deliver their first child. I was quite impressed to see such gender crossover in a Moslem society. Turkey is a very delicate diplomatic relationship for the US; indeed its place in the politics of the Middle East and Europe is very pivotal. My quilt is an attempt to capture the uniqueness of an individual, a situation, a city and a country.”
The loss was reported to the police, the US Postal Service, the Military Postal system, and local quilt guilds, but no information has been revealed. If you have seen this quilt, please contact Linda at [email protected].
