A Memory Quilt is a work of textile art crafted to memorialize a person, an event, or an achievement. Generally, a quilt is a combination of 3 layers of materials: pieced or appliqued quilt top, filling, and fabric backing. 

Quilting has a long history evolving from Ancient Egypt through the Middle Ages in many cultures. During these periods quilting appears to have been used primarily for clothing. It appears likely that quilting was brought to Europe through the Crusades. The victorious Muslims wore tightly quilted clothing as part of their armor and this practice was soon adopted by medieval European soldiers.

At Omar Niode Foundation we feel that a memory quilt would be a suitable memento that transforms the memories of Omar Taraki Niode into a cherished keepsake. We were fortunate to be introduced to Nisa Hariadi, the founder of Nisa's Quilt, a professional who agreed to help us create a memory quilt using Omar’s clothes decorated with sophisticated quilt works.

Quilting, Nisa says, is a work of art that requires creativity, perseverance, sincerity, and ability to combine colors to produce beautiful works of art and beauty. 

Nisa was first introduced to quilt almost 20 years ago and rigorously learned about making it in the United States when her husband’s work in an oil company relocated the family to Texas. They stayed for several years, giving Nisa time and opportunity to sharpen her skills, and to collect books, fabrics, and quilt supplies.

When the family moved back to Indonesia, Nisa eventually held workshops and courses on quilting. She is now considered a guru who continuously supports women to quilt, to show and to sell their products.

Read about Nisa Hariadi in a Jakarta Globe article here.

Nisa understood our request that the quilt has a glimpse of Omar’s life and his education where he received a B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees at the Department of Food Science and Technology under the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences at the University of California, Davis.

We were also curious to know whether there are quilts that have agriculture, food and culinary elements. Upon researching, we found quite interesting quilt projects.

Women of Taste: A Collaboration Celebrating Quilt Artists and Chefs was organized with Girls Incorporated of Alameda County, California. It was a project that paired women chefs and quilters to create 50 dynamic culinary quilts.

As an example, Julia Child's cooking artistry is preserved in visual form through the talent and imagination of quilt artist Yvonne Porcella. The quilt, with its accompanying book, is a perfect combination of arts and skills documenting creative collaborations.                                  

The Tuesday Ladies is a quilting circle of Muslim immigrants from different countries who meet once a week in Pasadena, California to sew quilts that they sell for a cause. Proceeds from the quilts went to disaster victims.

When millions of Pakistanis lost their homes due to devastating floods that have ruined crops, the quilting circle channeled part of the money raised by quilt sales toward relief efforts there .

Each quilt is one of a kind made through a unique process; hence, we asked Nisa to write how she made Omar’s memory quilt and she graciously shared her experience as follows:

In January 2012 Omar’s mother came to my workshop and inquired whether I would be interested in making a memory quilt from Omar’s attires. She gave me a scrapbook containing write ups of Omar's journey in life and many photos.

The scrapbook was an inspiration to start the memory quilt as I had some knowledge on where Omar attended school, his major at the university, his impressive journey to India, the musical instrument that he played, his favorite sports in high school and other memorable details.

I accentuated a touch of memory on the quilt with pieces from Omar’s jeans and his T-shirt collections. A block of wheat reflects his major, Food Science and Technology. Another block is a horse illustrating the Aggie Team, the sports squad of The University of California, Davis. Basically, the technique is applique and hand quilt while in sewing the piano block, I used a log cabin pattern.

Omar’s memory quilt was made with a color combination of cotton filled with silicon. It was quilted with Coats and Clark Quilt Hand Tread. The quilt is decorated with borders of cotton featuring blue lone star nuances that makes it beautiful.

 I completed the quilt, a single size sofa cover, in two months with the help of an assistant and a quilter. The experience provided valuable insights, motivating me to make more equally beautiful memory quilts.

We, at Omar Niode Foundation,were so touched by the quilt, not only because of the memories captured there, but also for the beautiful color, the artistic patches, and the fine details. The handmade memory quilt brings warmth to Omar’s family as it has the memories from his young life.

It is also a reminder to keep Omar’s spirit alive through activities of Omar Niode Foundation dedicated to enhancing agriculture, food and culinary education.

NOTE: Grease, the famous musical, was set in 1959 at fictional Rydell High School. Omar’s younger brother, Terzi, gave him the T-Shirt after acting in a school play as a student in Rydell High School.    

Images: Maira Niode, Diane Barrett, Open Library.