“Quilts” is a poem aware of how time affects physical substance. Much of the imagery is of wear and tear, using the extended simile of the tablecloth to represent the speaker’s physical change. Giovanni writes with the expectation that the reader knows all things change over time; we know that fabric wears down because exposure to hot or cold, washing, and daily use cause the fibers to stretch. She invites us to imagine the human body aging by showing how one object ages without giving too much away. She shows us what it looks and feels like to change out of our youth and how this wearing down is gradual.

The speaker says early on, “I am a failure” (Line 2), because she no longer functions the way she used to. The poem may sound like a lament of time, yet this is the space where empathy enters the poem: All people know that time brings changes that are still unexpected when they arrive. So the reader feels connected to the speaker, either because they share the experience of aging with her or because they know that our bodies eventually will fade too.