Comicbook Lady Quilt

Thanks to Comic Book Lady - a quilter and co-owner of a comic book store in Canada for providing insights into what kind of quilt Wonder Woman would stitch! (See comments in the post below.) Take a moment to visit the Comicbook Lady blog. Enjoy!

Any Comic Book Quilts?

Over on my other blog, Black Threads in Kid's Lit, I posted about African American comic books. Which, of course, had me thinking about quilts. I've always wanted to do a story featuring a comic book style. There's two angles to this:

1. Do Super Heroes quilt? (Can you see any one of the Random 5 by Roosevelt Pitt, Jr of Amara Entertainment quilting?)

2. What quilt story would a Super Hero tell?

If you have a moment, take a look at the Black Museum of Super Heroes - while there, I saw a comic book cover of a Black Superman and Supergirl. Have you ever seen a comic book quilt?

Gwendolyn Magee - 2007 USA Fellow

Congratulations to Sistah Quilter Gwen Magee for her recent honor - becoming a 2007 United States Artist Fellow! The USA Fellows organization will distribute 150 unrestricted fellowship grants of $50,000 each to artists across the USA over a three year period. The artists represent fields as diverse as: Architecture and Design, Crafts and Traditional Arts, Dance, Literature, Media, Music, Theater Arts, and Visual Arts. Read more about Gwen in the Jackson (MI) Free Press newspaper. Sistah Quilter Gwen - You Go Girl!

Amazon Kindle - Have you tried it yet?

Have you tried the new Amazon Kindle - the hand-size ebook reader? I can't believe it - I got one! Plan to use it extensively this weekend as I downloaded a mystery by a favorite author. Like many others, I'm not crazy about the size page forward and backwards tabs (shown in photo) because it's too easy to leap pages by accident. What I will really enjoy is the EASE of getting new books via Amazon - literally purchase online and the book appears on your device. No trying to learn how to transfer files from a computer. I was surprise to also have internet access via Kindle as well as ability to listen to music via MP3 files. There are about 20 quilting books now available via Amazon Kindle; including a couple of Elm Creek Quilt novels, and quilt history books by Ricky Clark and Merikay Waldvogel. Enjoy!

Barbara Brackman's Underground Railroad Quilt Club

You can sign-up now until December 31 for a free trial membership in the Barbara Brackman's Underground Railroad Quilt eClub. Membership is $19.99 for the year and includes a monthly email article "by Barbara Brackman on the history of American quilts and quilters in the pre-Civil War era. Articles include excerpts from diaries, letters, oral histories, and other original slavery-era source documents," monthly full-size quilt pattern, quilt images, and more. You may be familiar with Barbara's book "Facts and Fabrications: Unraveling the History of Quilts and Slavery: 8 Projects, 20 Blocks, First-Person Accounts." Enjoy!

African American National Biography - Quilters Included

I'm excited - the African American National Biography will be published in February 2008! What's this? Glad you asked! Oxford University Press and Harvard University's W.E.B. Du Bois Institute have collaborated to present this landmark 8-volume set. According to the Oxford website this set of books will cover five centuries of Black achievement and contain ...

"over 4,000 entries written and signed by distinguished scholars under the direction of Editors in Chief Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, the African American National Biography will be the most significant and expansive collection of black lives in print today. This essential scholarly reference work will present history through the lives of its people, profiling the famous, infamous, and little-known figures in African American history."

I'm excited because there will be QUILTERS and quilt historians included, such as Carolyn Mazloomi, Michael Cummings, Martha Ann Ricks, and Cuesta Benberry. I can't wait to see the full index to learn what other Brother and Sistah quilters are included. Enjoy!

Yvonne Wells - Quilt Exhibit catalog

I recently received a copy of "Yvonne Wells: An Exhibition of Quilts" from a past show at the Rosa Parks Library and Museum in Troy, AL. WOW! This 24-page full color catalog features 19 different story quilts by Mrs. Wells. Seven of the quilts "depict the seven deadly sins: lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, anger, envy and pride." These quilts were made between July 2005 and March 2006. The other twelve quilts in the show were made from 2000 and 2001. Contributing summaries to the catalog were written by Georgette M. Norman, Director Troy University Rosa Parks Museum and Georgine Clarke, Visual Arts Program Manager, AL State Council of the Arts. The museum contact information is: Rosa Parks Library and Museum, 252 Montgomery St., Montgomery, AL 36104. Phone: 334/241-8661.

Barbara McCraw Donates Quilt to Museum

Sistah Quilter Barbara McCraw donated her quilt "Three Wishes" (shown here) to the Denton County African American Museum in Denton, Texas. The quilt was featured in a September 2007 raffle. The winning bidder, Jay Stone, graciously donated the quilt back to the museum! Join the Denton County residents in celebrating the Grand Opening of the museum this coming February 2008. Enjoy!

PNWAAQ Opens at the Tacoma Art Museum

Sistah Quilters from the Pacific Northwest African American Quilters Guild are now on display at the Tacoma Art Museum until February 18, 2008. You can see the exhibit, "Threads that Bind: Works by Pacific Northwest African American Quilters" and at least 25 quilts, including Brenetta Ward's “The Women Before Me” (photo). If you have visited the exhibit, do drop us a note to tell us all about it! Enjoy!

My Fabric Christmas Ornament - 1994

Once upon a time I participated in a fabric Christmas Ornament round robin. We all made maybe six Christmas Ornaments and sent one to everyone else in the round robin circle. The only mandatory item - the ornament must use an African print. In the photo here, you'll see the kind of fabric ornament I made, a simple decorated Christmas tree. Happy Holidays!

Clara Johnson Scroggins - Sistah Ornament Collector

I worked at Hallmark Cards for seven years and had the pleasure of working on Hallmark Keepsake Ornaments for three years. What magic! During that time, I met Sistah Ornament Collector Clara Johnson Scroggins, an expert on ALL Christmas ornaments. She was ALWAYS gracious and generous with sharing her knowledge on these tree trimmers. Mrs. Scroggins, an Arkansas native now living in Florida, has 1 million pieces in her collection. According to the North Tampa newspaper:

Her collection began with a small, elegant silver cross she bought 34 years ago after her first husband died suddenly of a brain aneurism. Grief stricken and unable to eat or sleep, she was coerced by a friend to take a shopping trip. She spotted the cross in a jeweler's window. Noticing that it was a second-edition, she launched a nationwide search for the first-edition version, which she eventually tracked to a store in Oklahoma City, Okla.

She's not a quilter, but during this time of year, I wanted to introduce you to this extraordinary woman. Enjoy!

Deborah Grayson Bailey - YouTube, New Blog

Take a moment to view this YouTube video interview with Sistah Quilter and Dollmaker Deborah Grayson. Visit her new quilting blog - see her new quilt about her grandmother!

2008 - Gee's Bend Children's Book

Random House will publish a children's book titled "Stitchin' and Pullin': A Gee's Bend Quilt" sometime in 2008 - probably the Fall season. The book is written by award-winning author Pat McKissack and illustrated by Sistah quilter and dollmaker Cozbi S. Cabrera.

According to WorldCat, the online library catalog, Stitchin' and Pullin' is about "... a young African American girl [who] pieces her first quilt together, the history of her family, community, and the struggle for justice and freedom in Gee's Bend, Alabama unfolds."

New Sonie Ruffin Fabric! Drums of Africa

Sonie Ruffin has a new 100% cotton fabric out! Drums of Africa - available from Andover Fabrics. Have you seen it in your neighborhood fabric store or available online yet? Do share!

Wendel George Brown - 7 feet quilts

Have you visited Wendel George Brown's website? This Newport News, VA native is also a quilter, painter, and sculptor.

Wendel has a series of quilts based on spirituals. The quilt here is 7 feet by 7 feet! You can see others in his series on his website. Earlier this year I and a few quilting Sistahs visited his studio. I was FLOORED at the scale of Wendel's quilts. You should see the three- dimensional quilts he has - there's one featuring a family dinner. You just want to pick up a fork from the quilt and start eating!

Can't wait to see more from Wendel!

Seattle Times Columnist - Sistah Quilter Lynne Varner

Have you read Seattle Times Editorial Columnist Lynne Varner works? Well, today she writes about her own quilting in an article titled, "The Patchwork of Voices in My Head." Do take a moment to read about her experiences learning to listen to her inner self while stitching. You Go Lynne!

You can see Lynne's quilts on display in the exhibit, "Threads that Bind: Works by Pacific Northwest African American Quilters," December 18 through February 18, 2007 at the Tacoma Art Museum. I wonder if there's a catalog or other materials about this sure to be wonderful exhibit!

Connie Horne Wins for Quilted Coat - It's HOT

Feeling cold this winter? Check out this GORGEOUS quilted coat designed and stitched by Elk Grove, CA Sistah Quilter Connie Horne!

Ms. Horne, who is a member of the Elk Grove Quilt Guild, won a second place ribbon and $500 in the wearable art category at the 2007 Pacific International Quilt Festival in Santa Clara. Her “African Village Coat Ensemble,” consisted of a quilted coat, vest, pants and purse. The creation cost Horne about $150 to make, according to her local newspaper. (Photo by Laura Bemis)

“Give Me My Flowers,” one of Horne’s creations was published in “Snip It Sensations Bouquets” by Cindy Walters in 2002. Congratulations Connie!

Gee's Bend - July Selection set for Nov '08

Chief U.S. District Judge Callie V. S. Granade has ordered a jury trial for November 2008 in both the Pettway (Civil Action No. 07-0423-CG-M) and Young (Civil Action No. 07-0317-CG-M) cases. Jury selection for both cases is set to begin November 5, 2008 in Selma, AL. As a result, the pretrial conferences are rescheduled for early October 2008.

As mentioned previously, PACER - "Public Access to Court Electronic Records ... an electronic public access service allows users to obtain case and docket information from Federal Appellate, District and Bankruptcy courts, and the U.S. Party/Case Index via the Internet." There's a fee of about 8 cents per page to access the records.

Marian Hays curates "Sewlar Panels"

Marian Hayes curates "Sewlar Panels" at the African-American Cultural Center at the University of Illinois, Chicago from December 1 - 31, 2007. The exhibit features quilts by Zetta Dupart, Ursulla Allen, Yvonne Williams, Geraldine Woolfolk, Delores Sanders, and other students from Ms. Hayes' quilt workshop at Chicago State University. Marian Hayes will lecture on December 14, 2007 at 2pm about the quilts. Refreshments will be served. Open to the public. Call 312-996-9549 for more details. Enjoy!