Freedom Quilt

Lily Michaud, Freedom Quilt, 87.5” x 76.5” (twin), cyanotype and indigo dyed cotton and silk, 2025.

I made this quilt using the flying geese pattern. During the Underground Railroad, quilts were used to help enslaved people travel to free spaces. In the flying geese pattern, the darker triangles pointed the way forward, either literally or by reminding travelers to follow geese in the Spring north. The quilts were often hung on clotheslines or fences, as they dried. In this way, a covert message was sent.

In my quilt, cyanotype prints show herbs that can provide support to those who must leave their homes to find safety or freedom. The focus of this investigation, through art and herbalism, is on victims of in-home abuse although many of these herbs could be helpful for people who leave their homes or homeland for more systemic reasons. The quilt shares plants that can support victims in phases of departure, building healthier community relationships after abuse, healing from abuse, and herbs to improve endurance in what can become a long-term battle for domination and control if family courts are involved.

During the Underground Railroad, there were safer places for Blacks in the United States than the South. Today, according to the voices of many and an in-depth investigation by the United Nations, there appears to be no place on Earth where victims of domestic abuse (or intimate partner violence, IPV) or child abuse can go to seek refuge. Instead, these people, often women and children, who have fled for their lives, are sent to their home courts, where the children are typically returned to the control of abusive parents and usually, the mother is treated as a criminal or kidnapper. The laws that support these legal practices are not written to discriminate against women, so it is possible they could be used against a man who was leaving the home with children for safety, however, the way the law is acted out, it most often harms women and minorities. Read more about it here.

The United Nations document debunks the legal reasoning behind common legal ploys that perpetuate abuser’s rights. In the United States reports of child abuse can even end with the children being indoctrinated in “reunification camps” which teach the child that the abuse they experienced either never happened or was fine, and the real problem is the reporting parent. There are multiple class action lawsuits in progress against reunification camps. It is well understood that in-home violence leads to poor physical and mental outcomes even death by murder or suicide. Yet these barbaric legal standards persist. It should not be too surprising since we have elected a convicted rapist as president and are rolling back reproductive rights for women.

During the Underground Railroad making quilts took a long time, and the risk of aiding enslaved people seeking freedom could include violence, incarceration, and death. Today, supporting victims of abuse still invokes fear of social or physical harm. Often, aid is given in subtle or covert ways. This quilt is an act of creating comfort, a message about the earth medicine that can make the journey easier, and a gratitude acknowledgment to those who help.