Dated 2007
2007.043.0001

Mary Catherine Lamb drew inspiration from her own collection of sock monkeys for her lively quilt Sock Monkey Jamboree. The blocks repeat the familiar form of the sock monkey toy, yet each is unique due to Lamb's riotous color combinations. A distinctive large-scale floral fabric, drawn from Lamb's collection of vintage fabrics, is used to border the blocks. It adds to the chaotic chatter of the quilt.

In Mary Catherine Lamb's own words:

"As I cut up discarded garments, I give them new life not only by reusing them individually, but by conflating them into an object . . . These castoffs shimmer with the touch of unknown lives, and so the ordinary is infused with the numinous."

Sock Monkey Jamboree was included in the exhibition, "Perspectives: Art, Craft, Design and the Studio Quilt,” which examined innovative tendencies in the area of studio quilt practice and situated the genre in relation to other art forms.