How can we remember the preciousness of the people and events in our lives when they are gone? It isn’t always easy in a grief-avoiding culture where commemorating the important stuff often gets reduced to a single text.
The death of my beloved grandmother over twenty years ago brought to light the powerful relationship between memory and personal clothing. Standing in her closet the next morning, her familiar scent all around, I wondered: how was I to pick the one or two pieces that reminded me of her? And what would I do with them if I could? Feeling a deep, raw sense of loss, I wanted to preserve, to grasp — to remember. I felt that my time had come, that it was my turn to show up to carry on my grandmother’s cherished heritage. Gathering up four piles of her garments, my solution was to take them back to my studio and transform them into beautiful, abstract pieces of art. One fragment of her Pucci print blouse in a sea of other fabric fragments from her life sparked a thousand memories.
I am here to help you capture your memories of loved ones and significant life events by creating pieced fabric art from clothing and keepsake textiles.
I come from a multi-generational family of artists and architects – at an early age I discovered great joy from fabric and textile arts. My mom taught me how to sew when I was ten. The step-by-step process of cutting, pressing, pinning, and stitching comfortably compliments my own methodical nature. While studying at the Oregon College of Art and Craft, my focus turned to print-making and fiber arts, then later to surface design for industry while at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York.
I established Lori Mason Design in the late-1990s after working as a textile designer for Nike. I found a beautiful studio in industrial Portland, Oregon, set up shop, and launched my first line of contemporary quilts. I later resurrected my paints and brushes to design prints again, and in recent years have come full circle back to quilts, with a focus on memorial quilts and quilts honoring life events. The meaningful relationships developed with clients while creating these special quilts reflect the sacred nature of this work. I’m enriched by each new collaboration.
