NIKKI HUNTER

(1969– -)

“The Pants Quilt” 

(2012)

 

On December 16, 2012, Mormon feminists around the world took action to raise the 

visibility of feminist issues by wearing pants to local LDS church services. (Male allies 

and others who supported the cause but did not wish to wear pants demonstrated 

solidarity by wearing purple.) Although not officially prohibited, pants-wearing by 

women jarred with deeply -held gendered dress customs in many Mormon communities 

around the globe. Wearing pants proved to be an especially transformative experience for 

many participants who had never openly discussed their concerns about gender in their 

home congregations. Hundreds donated the pants they wore to be joined in a 

commemorative quilt sewn by Feminist Mormon Housewives blogger Nikki Hunter of 

Idaho. “One time, as I pondered how much black and gray and purple I was likely to 

receive as the color scheme of the quilt,” Hunter recalls, “I was overcome by the need for 

a nap, and as I awoke, I was given in a dream-state not only how the quilt should look—a 

rising sun coming through a grove of trees at dawn—but the name of the quilt: ‘Sunday 

Morning.’” Hunter pieced together 143 pants in all shades and textures of black, grey, 

and purples. The quilt honors the legacy of handcraft in Mormon women’s culture and 

captures a sense of momentum and optimism about the future of Mormon feminism.