Shawn Lovell Metalworks - Lovely Tree Bed

Shawn Lovell, metal artist, designed this $15,000 Tree Bed. It's lovely - just needs a quilt! Enjoy!

Lonnie Bunch - Here's my Quilt History Wish for the Smithsonian

A few days ago I read an article about Smithsonian curators collecting materials from the 2008 US Presidential election for preservation. Items are also being collected for the Smithsonian's newest museum - the National Museum of African American History - which is expected to open in 2015.

Lonnie Bunch (photo) is the founding director for the new National Museum of African American History. According to the museum's website, he says the museum will stand on four pillars to: 1) explore African American culture, 2) demonstrate how central African American history is in American history, 3) place the African American experience in context of the African Diaspora, and 4) be a place of collaboration.

Mr. Bunch - as you and your team collect artifacts for the new museum, may I make a few suggestions of African American quilt items I'd LOVE to see on exhibit at the National Museum of African American History? Now, I don't know if these items are even available. But what an exhibit of African American quilt history these would make!

• The sewing machine Harriet Powers used to stitched the Bible Quilt
• A 19th century sampler stitched by one associated with the Oblate Sisters of Providence, a congregation of Black Catholic nuns founded in Baltimore, MD in 1829
• One of the quilts stitched by Harriet Tubman
  
• An actual pre-Civil War African American newspaper - with a classified listing featuring black women marketing their sewing skills
• The prototype of Thomas Elkins' 1870 combination dining room table, ironing board, and quilting frame invention (U.S. patent no. 100,020). He lived in Albany, NY.
• The Coffee Tree Quilt stitched by Martha Ann Ricks and given to Queen Victoria
• Anything sewn by George Washington Carver - yes, he did sew, too!
  
• One of the sewing machines donated to Mary McLeod Bethune's Daytona Literary and Industrial School for Training Negro Girls by Thomas H. White, founder of the White Sewing Machine Company and board member of the school
• A handwritten copy of Paul Laurence Dunbar's poem "The Quilting" - even a draft copy will do
• Ok, you'll need a "Little Brown Koko" quilt - or a Mammy quilt... it's part of history
• A ribbon from a winning quilt at one of the hundreds of "Colored Fairs" held across the US
• Rosa Parks' sewing basket
• A Freedom Quilting Bee quilt - one from the 1960s, or one of the $10 pieces they sold when they cut up the 1969 "World's Largest Quilt" they sewed. It was 20 feet wide and 44 feet long and held that record until 1982.
  
• A needlepoint piece by Pearl Bailey - ok, it's not a quilt, but I'd LOVE to see her work! And, while we're talking about needlepoint - be sure to collect a piece by former football star Rosey Grier - and ask if he would autograph his 1973 book "Needlepoint for Men"
  
• One of the quilts designed by Romare Bearden. Mr. Bunch - did you know he designed a quilt in 1976? The design was hand-quilted by ladies in Ohio of the Amish faith.
• Find a quilt - any quilt - celebrating the Presidential campaign of Shirley Chisholm, the freedom of Nelson Mandela, the Civil Rights Struggle
  
• Ask S. Epatha Merkerson if the museum can borrow one of her quilts. Not familiar with her name - you may know her as Law & Order character Lt. Anita Van Buren.
• Don't forget quilt collectors! Find a newsreel or magazine interview of Sue Bailey Thurman talking about her efforts to purchase the "Harriet Tubman Quilt" stitched by the Negro History Club of Marin City and Sausalito, CA.
• Display the camera Roland Freeman used to photograph African American quilters in more than 30 US states
• Quilt history article written by noted quilt historian Cuesta Benberry
  
• A copy of the 1997 police report from the African American Museum of Tacoma, WA after thieves broke into the museum and stole handmade quilts
• Quilts stitched by women, including Black women, currently in prison
  
• A bolt of fabric from an African American owned fabric store. Be sure to also get a photograph of the owner in front of the store!
  
• Yards of fabric featuring African American and African images
• Profile African American fabric-designers!
  
• Photo collage featuring black folks sewing - in the US and across the Diaspora
• A collection of postcard invitations to African American quilting shows and exhibits nationally
  
• African American quilting guild newsletters, websites and annual club pins!
  

Mr. Bunch, I can't wait for the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History to open! Hope these few suggestions are helpful - I'm sure the folks who read this blog have great suggestions on African American quilt items too! Enjoy!

President and Mrs. Obama Greet Visitors - Sister with Obama Fabric!

Today's Washington Post newspaper includes a story about the Open House hosted by President and Mrs. Obama at the White House. Ordinary folks were welcomed to a tour and met the First Couple. I wish you could see the print edition of the newspaper - the photo taken by Larry Downing, a Reuters senior staff photographer assigned to the White House - includes an unidentified woman shaking hands with Mrs. Obama. She's wearing a wrap featuring Obama fabric from East Africa. How wonderful! Larry Downing took the photo here. Larry, if you happen to read the Black Threads blog (big smile!), how can we see your photo showing the fabric clearly? You know, the one in today's Post! UPDATE: Just learned the woman wearing the Obama Khanga fabric is Beverly Bezeokoli, formerly of Tanzania. Enjoy!

Sherise Marie Wright - Chicago Quilter

Wanted to introduce you to the quilts of Sherise Marie Wright. I haven't met her personally, but have seen her work on her blog, The Soul of Quilting. She says of her work:

"My love for quilting began at the age of three years old when I watched my great-grandmother quilting in the living room of our home. At that point in my life I was engrossed with color, fabric, creativity, and passion. My overall goal as a fiber artist is to create quilts that resonate with my own spirit and soul. My quilts are a diary of my heart and spirit. I'm very passionate and pleased to share my dreams and visions with others. I believe my quilts are whimisical and exciting to create."

Enjoy!

Barbara Brackman Designs Obama Fabric - You can print it!

Thanks to quilt historian Barbara Brackman, author of Facts & Fabrications: Unraveling the Story of Quilts and Slavery, for sharing the following. She has created an Obama fabric pattern in a PDF file that you can download and print onto fabric with an inkjet printer. The Obama print features images of the new US President as well as President George Washington. Click here to get Obama fabric PDF.

AND, Barbara also has a PDF print featuring President Obama and Vice President Biden. Click here to get this PDF. Special shout out to Deb Rowden, who created this Obama's Rising Star block using Barbara's prints.

Barbara suggests that "You need 8 1/2 x 11" fabric sheets that are treated to make them light fast and wash resistant. Check out this web page for Electric Quilt's treated sheets: Electric Quilt." Enjoy!

Obama Administration - WhiteHouse.gov

The Obama Administration is now LIVE on WhiteHouse.gov. Looking forward to seeing what the federal government's position on the arts will be. Thanks to Gwen Magee for sharing this link to the Newsweek article on Obama and the Arts. Enjoy!

Anacostia Community Museum - Jubliee show has quilt

Just saw this photo by Brendan Smialowski for The New York Times of this FANTASTIC quilt on exhibit at the Anacostia Community Museum in Washington DC until September 2009. According to the museum's website:

This colorful exhibition looks at African American holidays and celebrations around the country. Many of these celebrations (Election Day, Pinkster and John Canoe) no longer exist, while others (Big Quarterly and Mardi Gras) are still celebrated regionally but are not as well known or widely observed. Among the nearly 50 holidays featured are those created in response to Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. The history of these celebrations and other events—the homecoming festivities of historically black colleges and universities; the annual events of African American fraternities, sororities and secret societies; and more recently emerged traditions, such as Kwanzaa, family reunions and Martin Luther King Jr. Day—are presented through images of captured moments from throughout the years and treasured artifacts along with traditional songs and regional folklore related to holidays.

I have GOT to see this quilt in person and learn who stitched it. Have you seen this quilt? Enjoy!

Mrs. Michelle Obama's Gowns - Quilt blocks

Many thanks to Christine at the Winnowings blog for letting me know she's stitched several potential inaugural ball gowns (in quilt block format, of course!) for Michelle Obama. Here's one golden off-the-shoulder formal (cotton) gown. Move over Sunbonnet Sue!

LionBrand - Free Obama Finger Doll Pattern

Lion Brand yarns is offering a free Obama crochet finger puppet doll pattern. There's also a McCain doll pattern. You'll need to register on the site and then get the pattern. Enjoy!

Crafted Lives: Stories and Studies of African American Quilters - new book by Patricia Turner

CONGRATULATIONS to Dr. Patricia A. Turner, sistah quilter and professor of African American and African studies and the vice provost of undergraduate studies at the University of California, Davis on the publication of her new book, "Crafted Lives: Stories and Studies of African American Quilters."

You really get two books in one here! In the first part, Dr. Turner interviews nine different quilters nationally - including from Alaska! The in-depth profiles are of: Jeanette Rivers, Daisy Anderson Moore, Elliott Chambers, Ed Johnetta Miller, Ora Knowell, Marion Coleman, Riche Richarson, Tiffanie Newton Williams, and Cyre Cross.

The second part of the book discusses very interesting subjects in African American quilting. Have a peek at the chapter titles:

• Of February, Fairs, and Folklorists: Black Quilts Come Out
  
• Black Quilts/White Walls
• Lift As You Fly - Faith Ringgold
• Legendary Quilts (Note: must read essay on topic of Underground Railroad quilts)
  
• One More River to Cross (Note: Alabama quilts from Rosa Parks, the Freedom Quilting Bee, to Gee's Bend Quilts - again, must read essay from a quilter/folklorist perspective)

I can see quilting guilds using one of the topical essays for book discussions - the topics are that interesting, and Patricia Turner's text that approachable. The book is just coming out this month. My copy came in the mail yesterday (I wrote the foreword to the book). We have our first African American Quilting book for 2009! Enjoy!

Susan Walen curates Feb 2009 President Obama: A Celebration in Art Quilts

Susan Walen is organizing a grass-roots, multi-ethnic exhibition of quilts celebrating the election of President Barack Obama. The show is called "President Obama: A Celebration in Art Quilts" and will take place February 9 - March 5, 2009 at the Cafritz Art Center, 150 King Street, Silver Spring, Maryland (just outside Washington, DC). Today, the show is up to 60 different artist! You can read Susan's December 2008 interview about the show and her own "Dear Mr. Obama... " quilt on the Quilter's Save Our Stories site.

Debra Gabel, a fiber artist and designer for Zebra Patterns, will be in the show. To the left is her quilt-in-progress. She has a fascinating post about creating this piece on her blog. Enjoy!

Aisha Lumumba - Visit her Quilt Website!

Are you familiar with Georgia quilter Aisha Lumumba? Do take a moment to visit her website and view her beautiful creations, like the one here called "Second Line Dancer." She is a member of the Brown Sugar Stitchers Quilt Guild and has been quilting for 20 years. Enjoy!

Quilt Stories: The Ella King Torrey Collection of African American Quilts

Quilt Stories: The Ella King Torrey Collection of African American Quilts and Other Recent Quilt Acquisitions is on exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art until March 1, 2009. According the museum's website:

The exhibit "includes thirteen examples by leading Southern quiltmakers. The collection was formed between 1980 and 1983 while Ms. Torrey was conducting fieldwork on African American quiltmaking with Maude Southwell Wahlman. Among its highlights are an appliquéd "word quilt" by the Mississippi artist Sarah Mary Taylor (born 1916) and one of her "hand" quilts, a version commissioned for the film The Color Purple. Two quilts in the collection are by Taylor’s mother, Pearlie Posey (1894–1984), who in 1980 followed her daughter’s lead and began creating rainbow-hued figurative appliqué quilts. "

The show is curated by Dilys Blum, Curator of Costume and Textiles. Ella King Torrey, 45, a Philadelphia native, took her own life in 2003. She had been director of Pew Fellowships in the Arts and President of the Art Institute of San Francisco. (Photo is quilt by Sarah Mary Taylor.)

Pennia Ford's Quilt at the Ypsilanti District Library

Congratulations to Pennia Ford! Her hand-sewn quilt "Up From African to America" is on display at Ypsilanti District Library until January 30, 2009.

She has lived in Ypsilanti since 1995. Ford, now retired, was a Reading Specialist who traveled and taught in Belgium, Israel, Egypt, Malawi, and Gambia. Her quilts focus on family, country and history themes. Enjoy!

International Quilt Study Group Symposium - April 3, 2009

The annual International Quilt Study Group Symposium is set for April 2 - 4, 2009 in Lincoln, NE. The theme of the weekend is The Global Quilt: Cultural Contexts. The schedule of speakers looks outstanding! Of interest to Black Threads blog readers might be:

• Symbolism & Community - Presenters: 1. Myrah Brown Green, The Presence of African Symbols in Contemporary North American Quilts; 2. Judy Bales, Fractal Geometry in African American Quilts; 3. Pearlie Johnson, The Power of Feminism in Fabric Art: A Celebration of Motherhood, Sisterhood, and the Matriarchs; and 4. Richard Caro, Quiltmaking and the Online Guild
• Renewing & Reinterpreting Tradition - Presenters: 1. Marsha MacDowell, Quiltmaking in South Africa; 2. Gwen Wanigasekera, British Origins, American Traditions, South Pacific Influences: Quilts in Aotearoa, New Zealand; and 3. Laurel Horton, Swedish Quilts in the Context of the Hemslojd (Handcraft) Movement
• Cultural Cross-overs - Presenters: 1. Dorothy Osler; 2. Janneken Smucker, "Qui sont les Amish?": Europeans and the American-ness of Quilts; and 3. Colleen Hall-Patton, Ethnic Quilting Traditions in Magazine Articles
• Aesthetic Consciousness - Presenters: 1. Leigh Fullner, A Comparative Study of Slave Trade-era African Textiles and African-American; 2. Kathleen Moore, Defining African-American Quilts: Are the Commentators at Cross Purposes?; 3. Teri Klassen, Quilt Aesthetics and Cultural Values in the Mid 1900s Rural U.S. South; and 4. Mary Worrall, The Cuesta Benberry African and African American Quilt and Ephemera Collections
  

Enjoy!

Call for Entries: Mermaid and Merwomen in Black Folklore

Less than 20 days for the call for entries into the juried exhibition for art quilters/ doll artists, February 20–March 31, 2009, at the Avery Research Center for African American History &
Culture at the College of Charleston. Deadline is January 20, 2009. UPDATE - the deadline has been extended to Jan 25th!

According to the call: "Enslaved Africans along the coast of South Carolina brought some of the first tales of mermaids and merwomen to America. Many of these folktales were stories of African ocean and river goddesses. Because of the rich oral traditions of these peoples, few if any of these stories were written until they were recorded by collectors of folk tales toward the end of the 19th century. You are invited to share your visual interpretation of these myths by creating a Black Mermaid/Merwoman in an art doll or art quilt." Click here for more information. Enjoy!

Alabama Museum Acquires African American Quilts

The Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts just announced it has recently added 10 more modern African-American quilts from West Alabama to its permanent collection. They were acquired through a partial purchase and a generous donation from Kempf Hogan of Birmingham, Mich., bringing the total number of the museum’s African-American quilts to 60.

How wonderful that the MMFA is collecting African American-made quilts. Does your local art museum own African American-made quilts?