As we’re inundated with the devastating news that the sixth mass extinction has already cost billions of animals their lives, cockroaches provide a glimmer of hope. It’s true! With death all around, roaches live up to their reputation as indestructible. A roach can hold its breath for 40 minutes, allowing it to stay alive under water basically forever. It can run up to three miles an hour as a one-day-old (!), withstand freezing temperatures and—drumroll, please—LIVE WITHOUT ITS HEAD FOR A WEEK!!! It can probably do all this while shit-faced (roaches have an affinity for beer) and high on some new chemical that it has already mastered resistance over.

My roach quilt turns our desire for hygiene in the bedroom upside down. Made from recycled men’s shirts, the quilt features 22 cockroaches and 26 bedbugs, another nearly indestructible species. It’s not for the faint-hearted. I woke up more than once at night, jerking back in alarm at the sight of the quilt in progress next to my bed. 

This queen-size quilt is 76 x 82 inches. It is made from pure cotton (with the exception of the houndstooth roaches). It is lightweight and made for the summer months because it doesn’t contain batting.

Photos: Carrie Villines