Inspired by memories of her grandmother’s quilting practice, the Utah-based filmmaker Carly Jakins created the acclaimed short documentary American Seams to explore how the form intersects with themes of home, creativity and gender in the American West. Working alongside her husband, the filmmaker Jared Jakins, she threads together the stories of three accomplished quilters living in rural stretches of Utah, Colorado, and the Navajo Nation of New Mexico – each of them unique, but all deeply woven into the local cultural heritage. Featuring stunning images of landscape and craft bathed in a warm, natural light, Jakins patches together her own vibrant, multifaceted work from these stories. Together, they reveal quilting as far more than a practical skill for these women, but a space for invention, self-sufficiency and refuge.
A trip to Gee’s Bend, Alabama, where masterpieces hang from clotheslines
Directed by Maris Curran
