Quilts

It's kind of a no-brainer to conclude that the quilts in "Everyday Use" symbolize family heritage. They were handmade by the narrator, her sister, and her mother, and they're comprised of clothing worn by generations of family members. Oh, yeah—and on top of that, one of the story's main characters comes out and practically tells us that they represent heritage.

But let's not stop there (what fun would that be?). Like scholars such as Houston A. Baker have suggested, the quilts in the story also represent creativity and communal bonding. Baker explains that these quilts signify, in particular, the ways in which many African Americans who lived through slavery and Jim Crow managed to make the most of the (literal) scraps they had to work with, building strong bonds in the process. (Source.)

Let's look closer at how two little quilts could symbolize all of that, shall we?

Sure the quilts in "Everyday Use" are a product of creativity, just as any crafty project with popsicle sticks and glitter would be. But the quilts in the story show a super-duper degree of creativity given that they're made out of scraps of used clothing. Take a look:

In both of [the quilts] were scraps of dresses Grandma Dee had worn fifty and more years ago. Bits and pieces of Grandpa Jarrell's Paisley shirts. And one teeny faded blue piece, about the size of a penny matchbox, that was from Great Grandpa Ezra's uniform that he wore in the Civil War. (55)

We know that the Johnson family wasn't financially well-off, which means they probably didn't have the luxury of going to the store and buying fancy material for their quilting project. Bummer, right? But they were able to get creative and use what they had on hand—their relatives' wardrobes—to make the quilts. So in addition to representing the bravery of Great Gramps Ezra, the quilts capture the creative, resourceful spirit of the women who had the bright idea to use his uniform to make them.

The cool thing, of course, is that the quilts in the story end up being way more unique and meaningful than if they had been made of some store-bought cloth. In that way, they belong to a whole tradition of significant things that have come out of African Americans' struggles during slavery and the era of Jim Crow to do more with less. Historians tell us, for instance, that after the Civil War some African Americans were able to get second-hand instruments from Civil War army bands. And some of them went on to use those old beat up trumpets and trombones to create a little thing known as jazz. Pretty significant, eh? (Source.)

As for how the quilts represent bonds between people, consider how the narrator describes the process of making the quilts:

They had been pieced by Grandma Dee and then Big Dee and me had hung them on the quilt frames on the front porch and quilted them. (55)

These quilts aren't just the product of one lone person laboring away—quilting for the Johnson women is an activity that involves bringing different generations together, as the narrator had to cooperate with her sister and mother to create the quilts. Similarly, we're told that Grandma Dee (and Big Dee) taught Maggie how to quilt. Maggie's experience of learning to quilt from her grandmother likely contributed to the obvious bond between them, a bond conveyed in Maggie's remark, "I can 'member Grandma Dee without the quilts" (74).

It's too bad Dee doesn't figure out this deeper meaning of the quilts. She obviously understands that the quilts symbolize heritage, as she scolds her mother for failing to make that connection, but she seems to miss the part about how they also represent bonds and connections between family members, since she has no problem jeopardizing her connection to her mother and sister by starting a nasty fight over who should get the quilts. If only Dee had Shmoop to help her out with symbolism…