Chloe Patchwork Dress $4,740

In this past Sunday's NY Times magazine, I had to tear out and find online to share with you - an example of when high fashion meets quilting.

From the Summer 2007 Chloe collection - this khaki lace and embroidered patchwork dress. The fashion ad said the price is $4,750. Funny as it may seem, I'd wear this dress! I like that it seems to have two deep pockets - and the various large buttons or pin on brooches are fabulous.

What do you think - would you wear this dress?

54-40 Quilters Exhibit in VA

The 54-40 African American Quilter's Guild will host an exhibit featuring 26 quilts at the Newsome House in Newport News, VA. The opening reception is this Saturday, March 3. The quilts will be on display until April 16, 2007. Do drop a note to let us know about the exhibit!

WOCGN - Feb 1986 want ad

Happy 21st Anniversary to the Women of Color Quilters Network! Founder Carolyn Mazloomi placed a want ad in a few quilting magazines of the day asking to hear from other Black quilters worldwide. One ad was placed in the February 1986 issue of Quilter's Newsletter Magazine (I got this copy on eBay!).

From 1987 - 1995, the WOCQN published a newsletter. Copies of the 16 issue newsletter are currently in the American Folk Art Museum library collection in NY. The newsletters kept us all updated on the latest African American quilt exhibits, quilter profiles, black-influences quilt patterns and blocks, memorials, and other news. Thanks Carolyn!

Gee's Bend Play

The Alabama Shakespeare Festival's production of "Gee's Bend" is touring to various AL communities such as Selma, Camden and Birmingham. The new play by Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder tells is set in Wilcox County, AL and highlights the life of Sadie Pattway, from her teenage years to her 70s, and the other women in her quilting circle in Gee's Bend, AL.

The actress Roslyn Ruff plays Sadie. Atlanta actress Margo Moorer plays her sister Nella. The mother, Alice Pettway, is played Maura Gale. The fouth character, Sadie's husband Macon, is acted by Billy Eugene Jones, shown in the photo with Ruff. The play has opened to sold out audiences and received warm reviews.

James Brown Jr., Textile Artist

This afternoon I was introduced to the artwork of James Brown, Jr, who was born in Harlem in 1939. He is a graduate of Howard University's MFA program. In addition to watercolors, Mr. Brown appliqués, creates banners, and embroidered tapestries. Pictured is his 2006 piece, Artifact in the Wilderness #1, fashioned from felt. Enjoy!

Polliwog's Cakewalk - nice tune!

Ok - This blog is about quilting... and other fanciful things. This link to Polliwog's Cakewalk is a fanciful thing! There's a website called http://www.icomposition.com/ (empowering the independent musician, so it claims). This musician, Paul F. Page, has written this really nice jazzy, classical piano piece, Polliwog's Cakewalk.

Click here to link to the page with the song. Click on the play arrow button below the five stars on the left side. You might get a pop-up about Firefox. Ignore it or close the pop-up and click on the play button again. Enjoy the music!

I wonder, what music a quilt would make!?

Sonji Says.... "red hot"!

You MUST click on Sonji Says ... another quilting blog .... and see her photos and review of the recently opened Textual Rhythms: Constructing the Jazz Tradition in Columbus, Ohio at the King Art Complex. The catalog will be available in a few weeks.

Edna J. Patterson-Petty - on video

East Saint Louis art quilter, Edna J. Patterson-Petty, and her husband Reginald Petty are featured in this 2 min video. WOW! Click on this link about History Keepers and see Edna's own quilted pieces on the walls, Mr. Petty's collection of African Art, and Edna's other kinds of artwork. I LOVE this chair she's made!

Edna's quilts are also featured in the 77-page poetry book, Quilt Designs & Poetry Rhymes: A book of beautiful art pieces with poems about life & stuff (2002).

You can see more of Edna's artwork on her website, www.fabricswork.com.

Harriet Powers stereoview sold $203.50

eBay! A RARE image of Harriet Powers' Bible Quilt on display at the 1895 Atlanta Cotton Expo recently came up for auction on eBay. Can you image - this is the same Expo that Booker T. Washington spoke at... so he MUST have walked the hallways and seen this quilt. This is also the same Expo where AME Bishop Henry Turner showcased his collection of Liberian artifacts, including a certain quilt handstitched by Martha Ann Ricks.

The stereoview of the Harriet Powers' quilt was taken by the B. W. Kilburn Company - image #10688 Quilt Exhibit, Interior of Negro Building (eBay item #150083578933 - it's the last one in the photo.) The final auction price for the lot... $203.50... worth every penny!

Theresa Polley-Shellcroft

Theresa Polley-Shellcroft of Victorville, California was featured in her local newspaper over the weekend for her quilting! Check out "Storied Stitches" with photo by Daily Press photographer James Quigg. Congrats, Theresa!

Textural Rhythms - Jazz Quilts

Countdown time! Textural Rhythms: Quilting the Jazz Tradition opens February 8 until March 31, 2007, at the Elijah Pierce Gallery of the Kings Arts Complex in Columbus, Ohio.

Carolyn Mazloomi has curated another phenomenal quilt exhibit featuring today's leading art quilters. These jazz-themed quilts will travel to the California African American Museum, the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History, and other venues nationally.

The exhibit catalog will be available next few weeks. It's sure to be an award-winning book as Mazloomi's Spirits of the Cloth: Contemporary African American Quilts or the popular Threads of Faith, which featured quilts with religious or spiritual themes. Can't wait to see Textural Rhythms!

Update: Just rec'd an email from Amazon.com .... It's now accepting pre-orders for March 15th release!