Sunday, October 14, 2007

2008 US Presidential Quilts or Fabric Postcards?



....................................................................................................This is an exciting upcoming US Presidential Election period! I've been on top candidates websites to see if anyone has talked about federal funding for the arts or their position on investing in American crafts. None of the three top Democratic candidates are talking about arts funding... or quilting...yet. Have a look:

Barack Obama
Hillary Clinton
John Edwards


There is a history of quilts to indicate one's political position on the issues of the day as well as on support for campaigns (Click here to see a Democratic Donkey quilt, 1936, in support of FDR at the National Archives.) I hope during this election period, quilters again record their feelings about the candidates and this historical election where both a woman and a black man can become President of the United States. If you have a quilt or fabric postcard about the election, I'd love to hear about it! Vote!

4 comments:

Deborah said...

I've been watching a PBS program called Crafts in America. It is a wonderful program about crafters and craft retreats all across the country and the challenges they face with funding and purpose.

I'm electing you to (smile) to start working on your book about this wonderful art form.

I'll start off your paypal account with a donation get started!

Anonymous said...

Yeah Kyra! Isn't it absolutely amazing? For the first time ever, both a woman and a non-white male are serious candidates, not tokens. Better yet, they are the two front runners! I just hit 50, and when I was graduating from Georgetown, it was still a joke to wear a t-shirt reading "A woman's place is in the House, and the Senate" since it was such a rare thing. Now, in one generation, we have a serious pair of candidates that would never have even made the fringe of the ticket back then. Amazing!

West said...

Kyra, I'm new to blogging but ran across yours and found it to be very informative. I was fortunate enough to view the Gee's Bend Quilt exhibit in San Francisco and have a great respect for these works of art.

Your comment about quilts being used to express one's political position hit home for me. I recently used this medium to make my own "Peace Quilt" and have a picture of it posted on my blog. Thank you for the interesting facts on your blog. I'll be back to visit often.

laurie in maine said...

Obama supporter here! I sent his campaign office a "Dream Catcher" fabric postcard that I designed and got a nice note back. Then I sent 2 C/O Any Volunteer working at his campaign offices in Iowa. (Didn't send any to NH...hmmm....jinx?!)
2 SC volunteers are getting a card!

Fabric Postcards are my favorite form of mail!