Two Quilt Shows in Atlanta in April

Two outstanding quilt exhibits will be on display in Atlanta during the month of April. Gumbo: A Bit of This & That features the quilts of Marquetta Bell-Johnson and Aisha Lumumba at the Arts For All Gallery. The exhibit runs from April 3-25, 2008, and admission is free. The gallery is located at 57 Forsyth Street, downtown Atlanta. The quilt shown here is called Gumbo Ladies and was created by Aisha Lumumba.

Across town, the members of the Sewjourners Quilt Guild will exhibit their quilts at the Southwest Art Center. This opening reception for this exhibit is April 11, 2008. The Southwest Arts Center is located at 915 New Hope Road, Atlanta, GA. Call (404) 505-3220 for more information.

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Antigua Sunrise Offered For Sale

#66/100
2007

Antigua Sunrise is a small quilt that commemorates my visit to the island of Antigua during my annual spring break trip with my daughter India. During my search for different and unusual fabric, I discovered the official fabric of the island. It is a bright orange, red and green plaid. I used this fabric on the back of the quilt, and that's how the quilt got its name.

Antigua Sunrise measure 31x 22 inches. Black sashing and binding accent the African prints. It is embellished with charms, beads and inspirational words. A hanging sleeve is attached for easy display.

Antigua Sunrise is signed and dated and currently for sale in the Clara Ford Foundation EBay Store.

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Phyllis Stevens Sponsors Fund Raiser for Circle of Friends

Phyllis Stephens is sponsoring a "coffee and chat" event for artist and quilters Saturday, Oct. 20th, 9:00 - 11:00 AM at Astah's Fine Art Gallery. The event is a fundraiser for Circle of Friends, Inc. (COF). In summer 2008, COF will open Living Water, a residential home and treatment center for girls 9-16 who have been brutalized by commercial sexual exploitation (CSE).

Each guest is asked to bring a quilt or artwork that may be sold or auctioned by COF. All proceeds from your donation will serve to help CSE girls. COF is a 501c3 not for profit organization with headquarters in Peachtree City, GA. Please visit http://www.circl-of-friends.org/ to learn more about COF and the issue of human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation of girls in the United States.

Astah's Fine Art Gallery is located at 1897 Spingfield Ave, Maplewood, NJ. the phone number is (678) 783-0126 www.astahsartgallery.com.

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Lisa Shepard Visits Atlanta

Lisa Shepard will visit Atlanta to promote her new book October 5 and 6, 2007. The book is called African Accents on the Go.

She will do trunk shows October 5, 2007 from 6-8 p.m. at the Shrine Book Store, 946 Abernathy Blvd, Atlanta and at Atlanta Sewing Machine Company, 1323 Metropolitan Parkway, Atlanta October 6, 2007 from 2—4 p.m.

Lisa has written two other books. They are African Accents: Fabrics and Crafts to Decorate your Home and Global Expressions: Decorating with Fabrics from Around the World.

To learn more about Lisa's work, visit her web site Cultured Expressions.

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CFF Participates in YWCA Open Your Purse Event

The Clara Ford Foundation will be "in the house" promoting African American quilting Tuesday, September 25, 2007 at the YWCA Open Your Purse Event! The event is a fund raiser for the Atlanta YWCA. There will be over 400 women at the Downtown Ritz Carlton ready to open their purses to support the YWCA. For more information about the event go to http://www.ywcaatlanta.org/

Several African American quilters made fabric purses for the Clara Ford Foundation table. These purses will be part of the silent auction and the proceeds will benefit the YWCA. CFF will also display several quilts made by African American quilters. Some of these quilts are currently for sale in the CFF Ebay Store.

Shown here is a beautiful Japanese inspired quilted clutch created by Elisa Lewis.

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East Cobb Quilt Show Features African American Quilters

The bi-annual East Cobb Quilt Show will feature more African American quilters than ever before when it opens this weekend. While a comprehensive list of African American quilters has not been published, sources reveal that Maxine Moore, Marva Swanson, Clemetene Cosby, Gwen Proctor Johnson, Caroline Williams, Aisha Lumumba and Bessie Barnett all made the cut of the juried show. Bessie's entry shown here is called A Gusty Day.

The show will feature over 400 quilts in the Cobb County Civic Center. Show hours are September 14 and 15 from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. and from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. September 16. Admissison is $8.00. For more information, visit the guild's web site.

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Quilting Pioneer Cuesta Benberry Dies

Reprinted
By Patricia Sullivan
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, September 3, 2007

Cuesta Benberry, 83, one of the nation's foremost quilt scholars who pieced together the history of the art from castoff patches of information, died of congestive heart failure Aug. 23 at Forest Park Hospital in St. Louis.

Mrs. Benberry's research was so fundamental that "in nearly every quilt book today, Cuesta Benberry will be quoted in the text or her name will appear in the bibliography," the Quilters Hall of Fame noted when she was inducted in 1983.

"She began to look very seriously at all the aspects of quiltmaking -- where patterns came from, the people who made them -- at a time when people weren't looking at quilts, much less the history of quilts," said Bettina Havig, a quilt historian from Columbia, Mo.

Not a quilter herself, Mrs. Benberry nevertheless became interested in the art and craft when her mother-in-law gave her a quilt. When she visited her in-laws, who lived in Kentucky, she began to learn about the pride that women took in that work.

"I think we get so emotional about quilts because they're such an integral part of many people's lives," Mrs. Benberry told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in 1998. "They're on the bed. They're there at birth. They're there at death. They're part of the marriage bed. They're part of our lives, and they give us so many memories. . . . You'd call a quilt like you would a child. [Her mother-in-law would] lift up a trunk lid and say, 'Come see my Sugar Bowl'; she didn't say, 'Come see my blue-and-white quilt.' Then I wanted to learn more about their history."

Mrs. Benberry's occupation was teaching in the St. Louis public schools, but her preoccupation since the 1960s had been learning about quilts, said her son, George V. Benberry of Elgin, Ill. She collected paper ephemera, which are the once-overlooked patterns, records and documentation of quilts and quiltmakers. She is credited with rescuing innumerable documents from oblivion, researching their importance and communicating that to the world.

At one point, Mrs. Benberry became interested in kit quilts, commercial packages that provide everything, except the skill, that a quilter would need to create a comforter. By tracking down and photographing quilts at innumerable country fairs, Mrs. Benberry discovered that up to 60 percent of those submitted were from kits, rather than original designs, said Xenia Cord of Kokomo, Ind., president of the American Quilt Study Group.

"She was a serious scholar at a time when the kinds of conveniences we take for granted -- digital photography, copying machines, e-mail -- weren't possible. She did the difficult research," Cord said. "She also inspired innumerable people to research. She would hone right in on what you should look at and force you to ever finer and finer points. . . . She wasn't going to allow you to be content with just a surface topic. She was unfailingly generous with her support and with her mentoring."

Born in Cincinnati and raised in St. Louis, Mrs. Benberry graduated from what is now Harris-Stowe State University in St. Louis. She received a master's degree in library science from the University of Missouri at St. Louis. She worked in the local school system for 40 years and retired in 1985.

In a 1998 article she wrote for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Mrs. Benberry said that about 1976, she began focusing on quilts made by African American women. "I soon realized that any investigation of quilt history, a female-dominated narrative, would also be closely allied to women's history," she wrote. Mrs. Benberry also found that previous exhibitions of quilts by African American women focused almost exclusively on those from selected areas of the rural South.

She organized a traveling quilt show for the Kentucky Quilt Project of Louisville, which demonstrated the breadth of quilts by African Americans. The exhibit appeared in 1993 at the Anacostia museum in Southeast Washington.

"African-American quilt makers' backgrounds, living conditions, needs, access to materials, aesthetic sensibilities, creative impulses and technical skills were vastly divergent," Mrs. Benberry wrote in the exhibit brochure, arguing that no single style represented them. "Thus it is a simplistic notion that legions of black quilt makers produced works displaying a single aesthetic orientation."

Mrs. Benberry was a founder of the American Quilt Study Group and was honored by the American Folk Art Museum in New York in 2004. In addition to organizing exhibitions, Mrs. Benberry wrote four books: "Always There: The African-American Presence in American Quilts" (1992), "Patchwork of Pieces: An Anthology of Early Quilt Stories, 1845-1940" (1993), "Piece of My Soul: Quilts by Black Arkansans" (2000) and "Love of Quilts: A Treasury of Classic Quilting Stories" (2004). The only quilt Mrs. Benberry made, a sampler, also reflects her research: It is composed of blocks that appeared in earlier African American quilts.

In addition to her son, survivors include her husband of 56 years, George L. Benberry of St. Louis; two grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

Rosie Lee Tompkins Quilts in Shelburne Museum

Something Pertaining to God: The Patchwork Art of Rosie Lee Tompkins is on display at the Shelburne Museum in Shelburne, VT. The show was curated by Eli Leon, who spent 20 years assembling his collection. He will talk about the quilts June 21, 2007 at the museum. The quilts will remain on display until October 28, 2007.

Tompkins, whose real name was Effie Mae Howard, died in December, 2006. For more information visit the Shelburne Museum web site.

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Gees Bend Quilter Files Suit

By BEN RAINESNewhouse News ServicePublished on: 06/06/07

Mobile, Ala. — Images of her handmade quilts adorn postage stamps, Visa gift cards and $5,000 rugs, but Annie Mae Young and some of the other quilters who made Gee's Bend famous say they missed out on what has turned into a giant payday.

Saying she has been cheated by several major corporations and a trio of scheming businessmen — Atlantan William Arnett and his sons — who relied on an oral contract that "violates the statute of frauds," Young has filed suit in federal court in Selma, seeking a larger slice of the lucrative pie her art has generated since being shown in the nation's most prestigious art museums, including the High Museum of Art in March, 2006.

An attorney representing Tinwood Ventures, one of the companies named in the lawsuit, said the quilters have been fairly compensated and have received national exposure thanks to his clients' efforts.

According to the suit, filed Friday, Tinwood claims to own the intellectual property rights to the quilts produced in Gee's Bend, and, in turn, the company has leased those rights to manufacturers, among them Kathy Ireland Worldwide Corp.

While several of the companies involved in marketing products based on Gee's Bend quilts state in promotional literature that the quilters "receive a royalty" for every item sold, Young's lawsuit says she has never received "one penny from these enterprises."

In fact, Young said, she had no idea her quilt designs were being used for anything beyond a book, much less a line of rugs selling for $5,000 apiece. The suit seeks compensatory and punitive damages for "commercial misappropriation of her work and likeness.

Arnett is recognized as one of the vanguard collectors and champions of self-taught art. His "Souls Grown Deep" exhibition during the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta is widely respected as a seminal moment for the field.

This is not the first time an artist with whom he has had a financial relationship has accused him of impropriety. Insinuations have dogged him at least since a 1993 "60 Minutes" episode that painted him — some say unfairly — as an exploiter of poor black artists.

Arnett could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Catherine Fox of the AJC contributed to this article.

Quilter Needs Help With New Book

RaNae Merrill seeks interested quiters to help her with her upcoming book. Krause Publications has agreed to publish Simply Amazing Spiral Quilts and the release date is Spring 2009. RaNae needs the help of an adventurous group of quilters of ALL levels (beginniner to expert) who would be willing to use her technique to design and sew an original quilt, and in the process give her feedback on her technique and her teaching materials. If interested, contact RaNae directly at ranaequilts@hotmail.com to see if she still needs help.

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Brown Sugar Stitchers Quilt Show Winners Announced

Brown Sugar Stitchers Quilt Show Chairperson Marva Swanson announced the winners of the Viewers Choice Awards. These quilts were selected by popular vote of those attending the May 5, 2007 quilt show. The winning quilt Najah's Smile is shown here. The winners are as follows:

1st Place -" Najah's Smile" - Nicole Blackwell
2nd Place - "African Rain "- Jocelyn Carter
3rd Place - "Sanakofa" - Nancy Franklin
4th Place - "Leftovers "- Belinda Pedroso
5th Place - "The Stars are the Limit "- Laura Sorton

The winner of the Raffle Quilt was Ms. Rachel Woods.

Congratulations to all!

Rosie Chapman's Fabric Postcards Featured In Detroit News

Rosie Chapman's fabric post cards were featured in an article in the Detroit News. To read the article and get Rosie's instructions on how to make them click on the link.

Surprise someone special in your life with a fabric postcard.

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Quilts: A Common Thread opens at the Arts Clayton Gallery

Arts Clayton Gallery presents its first fiber art exhibit this month with "Quilts: A Common Thread." Showcasing fiber artists and quilters from the Southern Crescent Quilt Guild, this exhibit features quilts from traditional to contemporary.

The incredible quilters featured are: Arlene Bellamy, Rasheeda Burston, Myla Chapman, Nancy DeCreny Franklin, Lynette Jackson, Beverly Lewis, Aisha Lumunba, Tonia Mitchell, Debra Svitil, Terumi Todd and Claudia Wood.

The gallery is located 126 South Main Street, Jonesboro, GA. Call 770-473-5457 for more information, or visit their web site at www.artsclayton.org/gallery. The exhibit will continue through June 1, 2007.

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Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum Call For Entries

The Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum is organizing an exhibit which highlights quilts created by African American artists. The exhibit entitled SISTERS IN CLOTH will run from May 6 through July 12, 2008.

The show will cover a wide range of styles, from the traditional to the more contemporary, and will showcase the varied works in design, style, inspiration, and message. Submissions must include one full and one detail view of the entry in either 35 mm slides or 300 dpi digital electronic jpeg files on CD. In addition, include an artist statement of about 100 words, as well as a description of materials used.

There are no size requirements for the quilts, but please do note the dimensions of the piece when submitting your entry. Slides or digital entries must be received at the Museum by November 16th, 2007. Applicants will be notified by mid December as to whether or not the quilt has been selected for the exhibit. Artists whose work is selectedwill be instructed as to what additional information i needed and when the artwork must be delivered to the Museum.

Call Megan Aikman, RMQM Curator, at 303.277.0377 or email curator@rmqm.org if you have additional questions.

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Clara Ford Foundation Launches New Web Site

The Clara Ford Foundation has been incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation. With the appointment of the Quilters Advisory Committee, the foundation is ready to move forward with some of its planned activities.

The first such activity is a Christmas Tour of Quilts which will take place in Atlanta between Thanksgiving, 2007 and New Years, 2008. The ultimate mission of the foundation is to establish an African American quilt museum in Atlanta.

To learn more, visit the web site at www.clarafordfoundation.org.

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Brown Sugar Stitchers Show is May 5

The bi-annual Brown Sugar Stitchers Quilt Show will be held Saturday, May 5, 2007 at the Wesley Chapel Library in Decatur, GA. Show hours are from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. In addition to featuring over 80 vibrant and creative quilts, the show will feature demonstrations, children’s activities, and a silent auction.

Always a highlight of the show are the Carrie Steele quilts. These quilts are made by the guild members for special children at the Carrie Steele Pitts orphanage in Atlanta. Adding to the excitement of the show will be the drawing for the winner of the raffle quilt. One lucky person will go home with the quilt shown here.

For more information about the show, contact Quilt Show Chairperson Marva Swanson at mmswan@bellsouth.net.

2007 Great Lakes African American Quilting Network Retreat is June 8 - 10

The Great Lakes African American Quilting Network retreat will be held June 8 - 10 in Clarkston, Michigan. There will be classes, fun, prizes and surprises.

Details of the retreat are on the web site at http://greatlakesaaquilters.tripod.com. The Retreat is open to members as well as non-members. Please, contact Wanda Nash, Retreat Committee Chairperson at MsQuilt@twmi.rr.com for details.

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Uncommon Threads at Southwest Art Center

The Sewjourners Quilt Guild will present "Uncommon Threads, An Exhibit of Traditional and Contemporary Quilted Works" March 23, 2007 - April 21, 2007. The exhibit is being held at the Southwest Art Center, 915 New Hope Road, in Atlanta, GA.

Featured quilters are Elaine Banks, Rhonda Barrow, N. Yvonne Bernal, Georgia Dilworth, Cynthia Feathers, Jean Freeman, Tisya Freeman, Rosalyn Grimes, Joyce Cosby Harris, Andrea Lawrence, Cheryl Maxfield, Linda Poindexter, Brenda Shelby, Phyllis Stewart-Smith, Marva Swanson, Terumi Todd and Gretchen White. The quilt shown here was created by Marva Swanson.

The opening reception is March 23, 3007 from 7 - 9 p.m. For more information call the Southwest Arts Center at 404 - 505 3220.

African American Quilts on Display in Little Rock

Quilts by African American Arkansans are on display at the Old State House Museum on Markham Street in Little Rock, Arkansas. The exhibit entitled “A Piece of My Soul” features many of the quilts in the book A Piece of My Soul by Cuesta Benberry. The quilts will be on display until February 2008. Make a point to see the exhibit when you are in Little Rock, Arkansas. The Clinton Library is just down the street so you can make a day trip out of your visit.

Quilt Snobs, Do Not Read This!

If you are a quilt snob, do not read this posting. For the rest of us, a bargain cannot be passed up no matter the source.

As most of us in the quiting world know, Walmart has decided to discontinue its fabric department. As a result, everything is on sale. At my local Walmart, everything is 25% off. I picked up some nice African prints.

I'll share a secret. Delta Menopause, the beautiful quilt shown here, has some Walmart fabric in it. Don't tell my quilt snob friends.

Quilters of Color Featured in QUILT Magazine

The Quilters of Color Network quilt guild of New York is featured in the February/March, 2007 issue of Quilt Magazine. The guild just finished a succesful show at the Fuller Craft Museum. For more info on the museum visit http://www.fullercraft.org.

The members of the guild create beautiful art quilts as well as charity quilts. For more information on the guild, visit http://www.qcnny.org.

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What are Your Quilt Dreams?

Where will your quilting lead you? Have you set your goals for 2007? Perhaps you want to teach a class. Perhaps you want to publish your own pattern. Perhaps you just want to finally finish a quilt. Perhaps you want to see your quilt in a show. Maybe you want to win a prize or be in a book. Whatever your quilt dream, visualize it and go for it. You can make your dreams come true.

Martin's Dream. 74 x 87 inches, 2002 by O.V. Brantley.

Quilters Retreat in Jamaica May 3-7, 2007

Lisa Shepard has announced Cultured Expression's third annual Quilter's Retreat in Negril, Jamaica. The retreat is May 3 - 7, 2007 at Jackie's on the Reef spa and retreat center.

This year's projects include African mosaic quilting and a quilted amulet pouch combining batiks, mudcloth, leather and more. There is time set aside to work on your own projects.

The retreat allows you to explore your artistic side in thetranquil, supportive environment of Jackie's - a self-affirming experience for the mind, body and creative spirit!

Visit the Lisa Shepard's website, http://www.culturedexpressions.com for more details.

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Juanita Yeager Quilt-Fiber-Art Design Symposium 2007 Scheduled for July

Famed fiber artist Juanita Yeager has announced the dates for her 2007 Quilt-Fiber-Art Design Symposium . The Symposium will consist of four sessions July 5 - July 20, 2007. All classes will be held in Durham, North Carolina.

The multi-day symposium is designed for all who are interested in the art and craft of quilt making. The symposium is open to all, beginners to the more advanced, who want to improve their abilities in every aspect of the process of quilt making; from the initial idea for a quilt to the last stitch.

The symposium is a combination of lectures, demonstrations and hands on practice sessions. In this format a variety of techniques useful for making contemporary traditional quilts and art-quilts will be taught with ample time allowed for hands on experimentation by all participants.

This year's symposium will be divided into four sessions. Each session allows for four different experiences. You may attend all four sessions or elect to attend the one(s) best suited to your goals and time. Session III and IV are project specific classes to meet the needs of those quilt makers who want to improve their craftsmanship but are not ready or do not desire to do original work.

Visit the artist's web site at http://www.juanitayeagerartquilts.homestead.com

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Sacred Threads 2007 Accepting Entries

Sacred Threads 2007 is an exhibition of quilts exploring the subject themes of spirituality, joy, inspiration, grief and healing. It is now accepting applications for entry.

According to the web site, this biennial exhibition was established to provide a safe venue for quilters of all faiths who see their work as a connection to the sacred and/or as an expression of their spiritual journey. The objective is to create a dignified exhibition of artwork that touches on both spiritual and personal levels all those who view it.

Sacred Threads 2007 will be held June 2007 in Reynoldsburg, Ohio (a suburb of Columbus). Quilts created by artists from the United States and Canada will be displayed. Entries to Sacred Thread Exhibitions are juried in by slides for purposes of space and suitability of theme only. Works are not judged.

Besides the Sacred Threads Exhibit, other events of interest in the Columbus area are the Quilt Surface Design Symposium and the 38th National Quilters Association Annual Quilt Show. For more information, visit http://www.vikkipignatelli.com

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Brown Sugar Stitchers Bring Cheer to the Gateway Homeless Center

By Anita

Once again the ladies of the Brown Sugar Stitchers Quilt Guild have risen to the occasion. I delivered 13 cheerful quilts made by members of the Brown Sugar Stitchrs Quilt Guild to the Gateway Homeless Center in Atlanta, December 22, 2006. All the quilts were quite beautiful, and I am sure that they will be much loved by the children. Shown here is my personal contribution called Let's Play.

Ms. Lindsey Myers was the staff person who met me to receive the quilts. She was very impressed. She started exclaming about their beauty and cheerfulness as they were being taken out of my truck. Ah, and she was mostly looking at the back of the quilts. You can imagine her reaction when we got them into the conference room, and I opened them up to the front. I explained to her that we try hard not to have our quilt gifts look like charity quilts.

There are approximately 13 children in their program who will receive the quilts. The quilts were presented on Christmas Eve when they give the toys to the children.

We have certainly passed the blessings of the talent, energy and love of the Brown Sugar Stitchers on to the homeless children of the Gateway Center. May you and yours have a safe and happy holiday season. May the new year bring peace, prosperity, joy, and bountiful quilting.

Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival Scheduled for February 22-25, 2007

The Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival, which bills itself as the largest on the eastern seaboard, will be held February 22-25, 2007 at the Hampton Roads Convention Center in Hampton, VA. The show will feature juried and judged quilt and wearable art competitions with over $30,000 in prize money up for grabs.

There will be over 500 quilts and garments on display, workshops, fashion shows, lectures and a fabulous merchant mall. For more info, visit http://www.quiltfest.com.

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Applique Society Announces 2007 Conference

The Applique Society will hold its annual conference in Tampa, Florida May 23 - 26, 2007. The conference will be held at the Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay http://www.grandtampabay.hyatt.com. The show will feature a wide array of classes taught by nationally renowned instructors, as well as, a juried quilt show, and a merchants mall. Many tours are offered so that you can experience Tamp during your stay.

For more information, visit The Applique Society web site at http://www.theappliquesociety.org.

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Bulloch Hall Accepting Entries for Annual Quilt Show

Bulloch Hall is accepting entries for its annual quilt show. The entry deadline is January 16, 2007. The show will be held March 10 -18, 2007 at Bulloch Hall in Roswell, Georgia. The rules of entry and the application can be found on their web site at http://www.bullochhall.org.

This is not a juried show, but it is a highlight of the March quilt season. Normally, the first 200 quilts are accepted.

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Georgia Quilts: Piecing Together A History

The much anticipated book documenting Georgia quilts is now available for purchase. The book is available at the Atlanta History Center in Atlanta, GA and can be pre-ordered from Amazon. The book is available in both hard back and soft bound. Be sure to check out the section on African American quilts.

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Seasons Greetings!

May your holiday season be filled with joy, laughter and friendship!

Rosie Lee Tompkins, African-American Quiltmaker, Dies at 70

Reprinted from the New York Times

By MARGALIT FOX
Published: December 6, 2006

Rosie Lee Tompkins, a renowned African-American quiltmaker whose use of dazzling color and vivid geometric forms made her work internationally acclaimed despite her vehement efforts to remain completely unknown, was found dead on Friday at her home in Richmond, Calif. She was 70. The cause of death had not been determined, Eli Leon, a quilt scholar and longtime friend, said yesterday.

In everyday life, Ms. Tompkins was Effie Mae Howard, a fiercely private woman who lived quietly in Richmond and worked as a practical nurse. As Rosie Lee Tompkins, the pseudonym under which her quilts were shown, she was exhibited, much to her chagrin, in prestigious museums and galleries in the United States and Japan.

Lavishly praised by critics, Ms. Tompkins’s quilts are in the permanent collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Oakland Museum in California. Her work was included in the Whitney Biennial in 2002.

Writing in The New York Times the same year, Roberta Smith reviewed an exhibition of Ms. Tompkins’s work at the Peter Blum Gallery in Manhattan: “Unerring and intuitive in their sense of color, shape and scale, Ms. Tompkins’s quilts are formidably joyful visual events that ignore the usual boundaries between cultures, histories and mediums.”

Born and raised in Arkansas, Ms. Tompkins was heir to the long tradition of black Southern quilting, a form of folk art whose best-known practitioners include the women of Gee’s Bend, Ala. Their work, vibrant geometric quilts made from whatever scraps came to hand, became famous after it was shown at the Whitney in 2002 and 2003.

Ms. Tompkins’s quilts are even more radical. Made of massed, vivid patches, they exude a barely controlled geometric anarchy. Stripes can be thrillingly off kilter. Patterns shift and fracture. The result, riotous mosaics in cloth, has been likened by critics to Modernist painting.

In traditional quilts, the fabric of choice is cotton. Ms. Tompkins’s quilts can also include cut-up feed sacks, rayon, velvet, polyester, fake fur, wool and silk. Each material reflects light differently; in combination, they make her work look like something viewed through a prism.

Ms. Tompkins was born Effie Mae Martin on Sept. 6, 1936, in rural southeast Arkansas. (Effie Mae Howard was her married name.) One of 15 children, she picked cotton and helped her mother make quilts for the family. She left school before starting high school, and in 1958 settled in California.
There, she took classes in practical nursing and went to work in nursing homes. Around 1980, Ms. Tompkins started to quilt in earnest, producing hundreds of patchwork items of various sizes, showing them to almost no one outside her family.

She arrived at many of her designs — abstract, improvisational and filled with deep personal significance — after private prayer. Ms. Tompkins believed herself to be merely an instrument, Mr. Leon said. It was God, she felt, who designed the quilts and guided her hand.

She also believed that her phone was tapped. Sometimes she heard voices. She covered one wall of her bedroom with hangings, thick with appliquéd crosses, which she hoped would still them. They did not.

Even as her quilts gained renown, Ms. Tompkins revealed her true identity to only a handful of trusted associates, among them Mr. Leon, the quilt scholar. She never attended her out-of-town exhibitions. If a friend managed to drag her to a local exhibition of her work, she quietly slipped into the gallery anonymously.

“Something she told me once was that despite the fact that nobody knew who she was, she felt like she had no privacy,” Mr. Leon said by telephone yesterday. “She felt like she lived in a glass house and people were watching her.”

Ms. Tompkins, who for deeply held reasons of her own refused to sign documents, rarely sold her work. Those quilts she did sell went for tens of thousands of dollars apiece, Mr. Leon said.
She was also fiercely circumspect about disclosing the names and whereabouts of family members. Mr. Leon was equally circumspect yesterday. It is known that Ms. Tompkins was married and divorced twice; survivors include her mother; several children and stepchildren; and many siblings, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

A one-woman show of Ms. Tompkins’s work is scheduled for next year at the Shelburne Museum in Shelburne, Vt., from May 20 to Oct. 31.
More Articles in Obituaries »

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The Quiltmaker's Gift: A Book Review

Reprinted from 12/05

Do you read the Christmas Story to your children as part of your holiday tradition? Expand your tradition to include The Quiltmaker's Gift. It is the heartwarming story of a greedy king who learns the importance of giving from an old quiltmaker who only made quilts for the poor. The book is beautifully illustrated, and captures the reason most quilters make quilts. This book should definitely be part of your library. For us quilters, there are two spin-off books to spark your creativity to make some of the quilts from The Quiltmaker's Gift. They are Quilts from the Quiltmaker's Gift and More Quilts From the Quiltmaker's Gift.

More Quilts from the Quiltmaker's Gift

Quilts from the Quiltmaker's Gift

Happy Thanksgiving!

Take a moment to count your blessings. You may be surprised how many there are.

Dollmaker Wows Brown Sugar Stitchers

Tonia Mitchell, dollmaker extraordinaire, was the guest speaker at the October meeting of the Brown Sugar Stitchers in Atlanta. Tonia shared her artistic journey with the group and brought along some examples of her extraordinary work. Her presentation was very inspiring to all.

Her work has been sold at Tiffanys and Neiman Marcus in Atlanta. To see some examples of Tonia's work, check out the book Black Dolls which can be purchased on Amazon.com.

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Carole Lyles Shaw Show 10/13 – 11/5

Submitted By Carole Lyles Shaw

Recently, Carole Lyles Shaw announced her fall show entitled Memories and Dreams which will be held at the Touchstone Gallery in Washington, D.C. The opening Reception is Friday, October 13, 6 to 8:30 p.m., but Carole’s work will be on display through November 5, 2006.

Touchstone Gallery is located at 406 7th St. NW, Washington DC, 2 Blocks south of Gallery Place Metro. Gallery hours are Wednesday – Friday from 11 a.m. -5 p.m. and Saturday – Sunday from 12 - 5 p.m. The telephone number is 202-347-2787.

Carole Lyles Shaw has been an artist for over 10 years, and her work has been shown in museums and galleries in the U.S., Canada and other parts ofthe world. She will be exhibiting a new series of framed collages and artquilts in this show. In the past year, Carole has been exploring new media: painting and staining handmade papers and combining them with fabric and other materials into abstract, layered collages to achieve the depth, transparency and layers of meaning she wants each work to express. In some of the work, she also incorporates photographs that have been digitally altered and transferred.

For a preview of work in this show, please visit http://www.carolelylesshaw.com/

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Fiber on a Whim - New Shop in Atlanta Area

By Bessie

I visited a quilt shop in Sandy Springs yesterday and was pleasantly surprised at some of my "finds." It is Fiber On A Whim. It is located at 326 Sandy Springs Circle, Atlanta, Ga. Their telephone number is 404-705-9164; their hours of operation are: Mon :10-7; Tues-Sat: 10-5 and it is located just off Roswell Road (outside the perimeter). For those of you who are familiar with Mark's (Creative Sewing Center) Sandy Springs store, it is located one block directly behind Johnson Ferry Road.

It is a relatively small shoppe but it is very nice. They are having a sale on some really nice fabric, e.g., Robert Kaufman, Michael Miller @$2.50 and $3.00/yd., respectively. I do not know the duration of the sale but it may be worth your while. Their fat quarters are price differently from the other shops (that I have shopped) inasmuch as the prices range anywhere from $1.06-$2.45. They stock some really beautiful fabrics and they appear to have a large variety of embellishment item, etc. The link to their website is http://www.fiberonawhim.com

Happy Shopping!

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Make Your Pilgrimage to the Post Office Today for Gees Bend Stamps

Gees Bend stamps went on sale to the public August 25, 2006. The stamps are part of The American Treasures series which showcases beautiful works of fine art and crafts. Ten quilts made between 1940 and 2001 are featured on the stamps.

Have you made your trip to the post office to purchase Gees Bend stamps? I certainly hope so.

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Back to School with Quilt History 101

It’s time to head back to school, so let’s study quilt history. I have compiled a list of books that will inform and educate you. They are
Stitched from the Soul
A Piece of My Soul
Civil War Women
Communion of the Spirit
Hidden in Plain View
Black Threads
Signs and Symbols
How to Value American Quilts

Click on the icons below for quick ordering. For more books about African American quilting, visit the Clara Ford Foundation Book Store at http://www.clarafordfoundation.org.

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Stitched From the Soul

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Civil War Women

By Barbara Brackman

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Black Threads

By Kyra Hicks

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How to Compare and Value American Quilts

By Stella Rubin

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Communion of the Spirit

By Roland Freeman

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A Piece of My Soul

by Cuesta Benberry

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Hidden in Plain View

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Signs and Symbols

By Maude Southwell Wahlman

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Quilt Exhibit at Atlanta History Center

An exhibit entitled “Designs of the Times: Twentieth Century Georgia Quilts" will open September 9 at The Atlanta History Center. The opening celebration will run from 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. and will feature demonstrations, hands-on crafts and discussions with the curators of the show.

The Atlanta History Center is located at 130 West Paces Ferry Road, Atlanta, Ga. For more information call 404-814-4116.

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Make Your Quilting Pay

Another book that may help those who are more business minded is Make Your Quilting Pay for Itself by Sylvia Ann Landman. The author takes you through a self analysis to help you determine if you have the right personality traits to start your own business. Then she takes you through each step of starting a buisness, complete with a checklist at the end of each chapter. There is a chapter on copyright.

The book is written clearly and is easy to understand. I recommend it for anyone thinking about making the leap from hobbyist to business person beacause it covers different avenues of making your quilting pay, including teaching, direct sales of your quilts, and publishing.

Publish Your Patterns

If you disagree with the previous post, you may find Publish Your Patterns by Nancy Restuccia helpful. She covers everything from writing and printing to marketing. She has a section on copyright and trademark.

You can get the book on amazon.com by clicking on the picture.

Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery

One of the email groups of which I am a member has had a spirited discussion on copyright issues. Members of the group expressed outrage that someone had stolen a member’s quilt design and claimed it as her own. Suggestions on how to protect or copyright quilts flew back and forth for days.

While I understand the importance of copyright, I guess I am not at that phase of my quilting career yet. Instead, I am still in my infancy of quilting where the main reason to quilt is to share and make friends. In my group of quilting friends, we freely share or copy each other’s work and marvel at how the same pattern looks so different with different colors.

As I read the emails that were permeated with a “what’s mine is mine” attitude, I was a little saddened. It seemed to fly in the face of the giving, loving caring attitude of the true quilter.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. I would be happy for someone to copy my work. If you see something on this site you like, feel free to make it part of your world.

National Black Arts Festival in Full Swing

The National Black Arts Festival is underway in Atlanta and it features some of the finest African American artists in the country in the field of jazz, art, the written and spoken word, dance and theater.

The only quilts on display during the festival are at the Art Station Gallery in Stone Mountain as has been previously covered in this column. www.artstation.org. However, the Brown Sugar Stitchers Quilt Guild will demonstrate quilting techniques in the Children's Pavilion at the High Museum Thursday through Saturday of this week.

The festival started July 14, 2006 and will continue through July 23, 2006. Check out some of the events. I am sure it will inspire your quilting.

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Beginners Quilt Class at Intown Quilters

If you have been thinking about learning to quilt, but didn’t quite know how to start, Intown Quilters beginning quilt class is for you. The class starts this Saturday 7/22/06 and continues 8/5/06 and 8/19/06. The class time is from 12:30 – 4:30 p.m. each session.

You will learn all the basics of quilting as you make a rail fence quilt. Maxine Moore is the instructor.

Intown Quilters is open in its new location at 1058 Mistletoe in Decatur, Georgia. Call 404-634-6924 for additional information.

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Gees Bend Quilts Head to San Francisco

After a very successful run in Atlanta at the High Museum, the quilts of Gees Bend are headed to San Franciso. The exhibit will open July 15, 2006 at the De Young Museum and remain until November 26, 2006.

If you haven't seen the quilts and heard the story of these extrordinary women, you are missing a treat.

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Intown Quilters Opens in New Location

Intown Quilters has moved to a new location. The shop is now located at 1058 Mistletoe Road, Decatur, Georgia 30033. The telephone number is 404-874-7785. Hours are Monday - Saturday 10-6 and Sunday 1-6.

Intown Quilters is one of my favorite quilt shops because they have fabric that other shops do not carry. The shop is known for bright colors, lots of ethnic prints including Japanese, African and Australian, as well as top designers like Kaffee Fassett. It is heaven to art quilters.

The new shop is larger and easier to find. Go for a visit soon. You will definitely be inspired.

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Heavenly Melody

Heavenly Melody, 48 x 48 inches by O.V. Brantley, Atlanta, GA. 2006

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Heavenly Melody For Sale at Art Station Gallery

Heavenly Melody was created specifically to be part of the Brown Sugar Stitchers exhibition of colorful quilts at the Art Station Gallery in Stone Mountain. The design was inspired from a greeting card. The ladies appear to be part of a celestial choir -- hence the name.

Heavenly Melody is hand appliqued and embellished with buttons and rhinestones. It measures 48 x 48 inches and was machine quilted by Sylvia Davis. There is a hanging sleeve on the back.

Heavenly Melody was created by O.V. Brantley and is signed. It is on sale for $2000.00 and will be on display at the Art Station Gallery until August 20, 2006. Contact the Art Station Gallery at info@artstation.org for additional information.

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Flowers Hoping to be Free

Flowers Hoping To Be Free, 75 x 75 inches by O.V. Brantley, Atlanta, GA. 2005

Flowers Hoping to Be Free For Sale at Art Station Gallery

Flowers Hoping to Be Free is on display at the Art Station Gallery in Stone Mountatin Georgia. It is a traditional four block applique quilt that measures 75 x75 inches. The hand appliqued blocks are outlined by red piping and framed by a poinsetta border. The flower centers are embellished with buttons. The back of the quilt is a poinsetta print. It has a hanging sleeve on the back for easy display.

The name comes from the fact that it took the quilter five years to finish the quilt. It was started early in the quilters career and put aside as too difficult. Meanwhile the quilter made Flowers Growing Free which can be viewed at http://www.clarafordfoundation.org/ and then returned to finish Flowers Hoping to Be Free.

This quilt was created by O.V. Brantley and machine quilted by Sylvia Davis. It is signed and sells for $3000.00. Contact the Art Station Gallery at info@artstation.org for more information on this quilt.

Will Litigate For Food, 96 x 112 inches by O.V. Brantley, 2006.

2005 Office Quilt Unveiled at Art Station Gallery

For those of you who follow the ramblings in this blog, you know that I make a signature quilt for my office each year. The 2005 quilt was kept secret until it was unveiled at the opening reception of the Brown Sugar Stitchers Quilt exhibit at the Art Station Gallery in Stone Mountain, GA.

The quilt is called Will Litigate for Food. It is a large quilt containing 42 signature log cabin blocks. It measures 96 x 112 inches. The signature blocks contain sometimes funny, sometimes serious, expressions by the staff. The back of the quilt, which depicts book shelves in a library, is as beautiful as the front.

Will Litigate for Food will be on display at the Art Station Gallery until August 20, 2006.

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Batik Star Swap by Lynette Jackson will be on display at the Art Station Gallery June 3 - August 20, 2006. 

Brown Sugar Stitchers Exhibit Quilts at Art Station June 3 - August 20

The Brown Sugar Stitchers Quilt Guild will present an explosion of color in an exhibit that opens June 3, 2006 at the Art Station Gallery in Stone Mountain, Georgia. The quilts will remain on display until August 20, 2006. Many of the quilts will offered for sale, and the guild will offer fiber post cards for sale as well.

The Opening Reception is Saturday, June 3 from 7:00 – 9:00 pm. Gallery hours are Monday - Friday 10 – 5 and Saturday 10 ‑ 3. The gallery is located at 5384 Manor Drive in Stone Mountain Village. Call 770 469 1105 for additional information. Admission to the gallery is by donation.

Formed in 2000, the Brown Sugar Stitchers Quilt Guild has evolved into a Guild of more than 50 members composed of a diverse group of African American Quilters throughout the Metropolitan Atlanta area. The guild cultivates the expression of this historic craft through shows and annual community service projects. For additional information contact Belinda Pedroso at consuela58@bellsouth.net.

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Great Quilt Documentation Software

Dealing with my grandmother’s quilts has caused me to become particularly interested in quilt documentation. Unfortunately, Clara’s quilts do not have labels or any accompanying information – just my memories. I often wonder what she was thinking when she made her quilts and where did she get her inspiration.

Knowing how curious I am about my grandmother’s quilting past, I am very conscientious about documenting my quilts. I never make a quilt without including a label. At a minimum, future generations will know who made it, where it was made and when it was made.

At one time I could remember each of my quilts. They were like my children. However, now that I have made over 100 quilts over the last seven years, it is getting harder and harder to remember every detail of every quilt. Senior moments add to the confusion.

Recently, I ran across some software that solves my problem. It is called MY ART COLLECTION. This software has a convenient place to store all pertinent information about your quilt collection, and it is super user friendly. Just open it up and get started.

I particularly like the fact that there is a place for several pictures to be included with the record of each quilt. There is a place for the usual factual data such as name, size, description, etc. More importantly, there is a place for your notes. Here you can record any information you want future generations to know.

There is a space to record appraisal information, sales and purchase information so that you always know what your collection is worth. The software also prints out various reports. Best of all, it is only $50.00! Go to http://www.my-artcollection.com/ and order your copy today. It’s a lot easier to enter the information as your collection grows, rather than having to go back and enter information for over 100 quilts.

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Brown Sugar Stitchers participate in GA Public Employee Recognition Week May 1 -5

The Brown Sugar Stitchers will have their quilts on display as part of the Georgia Public Recognition Week activities. The quilts are located on the Plaza Level of the Twin Towers at Piedmont and MLK in Atlanta. Viewing hours are 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m., May 1 – May 5. Following is the announcement that appeared in the brochure announcing the activities.

Brown Sugar Stitchers – Quilt Display
Brown Sugar Stitchers are a diverse group of African American Quilters from all over the metropolitan Atlanta area. The organization was conceived in Winter 2000 as the culmination of the vision of Nancy Franklin and Jocelyn Carter who saw an opportunity to bring quilters in the area together. Brown Sugar Stitchers have been active in the cultural and educational affairs of their community since its formation. They have made quilts for Kwanzaa activities at the Wesley Chapel Library, displayed quilts at the DeKalb County Courthouse, have participated in enrichment activities in local public schools, and have entered quilt shows. Their signature public service activity over the last three years has been the donation of quilts to children residing at the Carrie Steele-Pitts Home for Children in Northwest Atlanta.

Brown Sugar Stitchers Celebrate Gees Bend Quilts June 3

The very famous quilts of Gees Bend are on display at the High Museum in Atlanta, Georgia. The exhibit opened March 23, 2006 and will close June 18, 2006. Visit http://www.high.org/ for additional information.

As all quilters know by now, the Gees Bend quilts were made over several generations by women who lived in Gees Bend, Alabama. Although virtually isolated from the rest of the world, the women found a way to be creative while being practical. When visiting the exhibit, I recommend highly that you view the quilts in conjunction with the audio tour. The audio tour helps to place the quilts in the context of their lives.

Even without the audio tour, the quilts may be enjoyed for their bold design and vibrant colors. You can take the quilts home with you in the form of post cards, note cards and, of course, a book or two. No quilter should miss this exhibit.

June 3, 2006 will offer an added treat to the renowned exhibit. The Brown Sugar Stitchers, the premier African American Quilt Guild in Atlanta will be on hand to demonstrate quilt-making techniques and show off some modern day quilts.

See you there!

A Special Baby Gift

Spring is a time for renewal and new beginnings. Sometimes that means a new addition to the family. If you are looking for a special baby gift, consider a personalized wallhanging made by Laura pictured here. Each one is unique. Order yours in pink, blue or yellow. Each one is $15.00 plus $5.00 shipping and handling. Email Laura at sort-monroe@msn.com to place your order or for more information. Please tell her you were referred by friends at the Clara Ford Foundation

Let Your Travels Inspire You

Spring is usually a time when our thoughts turn toward travel. Spring Break is one of the highlight of our travel season because we usually take a cruise. This year we cruised on Costa Mediterranea to Key West, Florida, Cozumel, Ocho Rios, Jamaica and Grand Cayman. Usually, after such a fabulous experience I am inspired to make a quilt. Look forward to my 2006 Spring Break quilt in future postings. The 2005 Spring Break quilt is still under construction; however, Inspiration, my 2004 commemorative quilt, is pictured here.

May you travel far and be inspired to make a quilt.

Cuesta Benberry Day in St. Louis April 2

The St. Louis Art Museum will honor Cuesta Benberry on Sunday, April 2, 2006, at 3:00 p.m. with a special program. Ms. Benberry, who is a native of St. Louis, has been at the forefront of preserving African American quilt history. A Piece of My Soul is just one example of the outstanding work of Ms. Benberry.

Kyra Hicks, author of Black Threads, will be the guest lecturer at the event. There will be an exhibition of African American quilts themed “A Storied Tradition: Three Quilts Celebrating the Diversity of the quilt making
Tradition.” The exhibition continues through April 16.

If you are in the St. Louis area, please take advantage of this opportunity to meet Ms. Benberry.

Places to See Quilts in 2006

JANUARY
Florida Celebrates Quilts, Fort Myers, FL. January 13-14, 2006. www.swfqg.com

Road to California Quilters’ Conference and Showcase, Ontario, CA. January 19-22, 2006. info@Road2CA.com

Quilt Magic – Celestial Visions, Orlando, FL. January 20-21, 2006. www.cfqg.com


FEBRUARY
Gulf Coast Quilt Expo, Panama City Beach, FL. February 9-11, 2006. www.ExposandTradeshows.com

Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival, Hampton, VA. February 23-26, 2006. www.quiltfest.com


MARCH
Indian Heritage Quilt Show, Bloomington, IN. March 2-5, 2006. www.ihqs-quiltshow.org

Quilt Fest of New Jersey, Somerset, NJ. March 2-3, 2006. www.quiltfest.com

Sewing & Stitchery Expo, Payallup, WA. March 2-3, 2006. www.sewexpo.com

Bulloch Hall Quilt Show, Roswell, GA. March 4 – 12, 2006. www.bullochhall.com

Quiltfest, 12th Annual, Pigeon Forge, TN. March 8-12, 2006. www.mypigeonforge.com

Quilt Show By the Sea, Fort Lauderdale, FL. March 17-19, 2006. ouaq@bellsouth.net

Dallas Quilt Celebration, Dallas, TX, March 17-19, 2006. www.quiltersguildofdallas.org

Glendale Quilt Guild 27th Annual Show, Burbank, CA. March 17-19, 2006. www.glendalequiltguild.org.


Quilts of Gees Bend, High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA. March 26 – 31. www.high.org


APRIL
Quilter’s Heritage Celebration, Lancaster, PA. April 6-9, 2006. www.qhconline.com

International Quilt Festival, Rosemont, IL. April 7-9, 2006. www.quilts.com

AQS Quilt Show and Contest, Paducah, KY. April 26 -29, 2006. www.aqsquilt.com


MAY

Denver National Quilt Festival, Denver, CO. May 4-7, 2006. www.quiltfest.com

Machine Quilter’s Showcase, Overland, KS. May 10-13, 2006. www.imqa.org
Pieces of the Past, Present & Future Quilt Show, Ocean Grove, NJ. May 18-21, 2006 www.allenconsulting.com.

Cultural Expressions Jamaican Retreat. Montego Bay, Jamaica. May 17 -21. www.culturalexpressions.com


JUNE
Quilters Unlimited 33rd Annual Show, Chantilly, VA, June 2-4, 2006. www.quiltersunlimited.org

NQA Quilt Show, Columbus, OH. June 8-10, 2006. www.nqquilts.org

NJ Quilt Convention, Edison, NJ. June 8-10, 2006. www.NJquilts.org

Heart of Oklahoma Quilt Festival, Shawnee, OK. June 9-11, 2006. www.heartofoklahomaquiltfestival.com

Patchwork & Quilt Explo X, Lyons, France. June 22-25, 2006 www.quilts.com

31st Quilt Celebration, Arcola, IL. June 23- July 16, 2006. www.rockome.com

Vermont Quilt Festival, Northfield, VT. Jun 29 – July 2, 2006. www.vqf.org


JULY
Quilt Hawaii, Kaua’i, Hawaii. July 3-9, 2006. www.quiltventures.com

Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show, Sisters, OR. July 8, 2006. www.stitchinpost.com

Quilt Odyssey, Hershey, PA. July 27-30, 2006. www.quiltodyssey.com


AUGUST
Lowell Quilt Festival, Lowell, MA. August 3-6, 2006. www.lowellquiltfestival.org

World Quilt Show, Columbus, OH. August 10-12, 2006. www.quiltfest.com

Pacific Northwest Quiltfest, Seattle, Wa. August 11-13, 2006. www.apnq.org

World Quilt Show, Manchester, NH. August 17-20, 2006. www.quiltfest.com

Quilting on the Waterfront – Machines in Motion, Duluth, MN, August 17-19, 2006. www.quiltingonthewaterfront.com

American Quilter’s Society Quilt Exposition, Nashville, TN. August 23-26, 2006. www.aqsquilt.com


SEPTEMBER
Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza, Fort Washington, PA. September 14-17, 2006. www.quiltfest.com

American Sewing Expo, Novi, MI. September 29 – October 1, 2006. www.americansewingexpo.com


OCTOBER

Quilting in the Tetons, Jackson, WY. October 1-6, 2006. www.quiltthetetons.org

Pacific International Quilt Festival, Santa Clara, CA. October 12-15, 2006.

River City Quilters 29th Annual Show, Sacramento, CA. October 20-22, 2006. www.rivercityquilters.org


NOVEMBER.
Fall International Quilt Festival, Houston, TX. November 2-5, 2006. www.quilts.com


DECEMBER

Brown Sugar Stitchers Exhibit Held Over at Fernbank!

The Brown Sugar Stitichers exhibit which opened at the Fernbank Science Center February 4, 2006 has been held over. The quilts will now be on display until March 20, 2006. If you haven't seen the exhibit, it is definitely worth the trip.

Brown Sugar Stitchers Celebrate Black History Month with Exhibit at Fernbank Science Center

The Fernbank Science Center, located at 156 Heaton Park Drive, NE in Atlanta, is alive with color and creativity. The Brown Sugar Stitchers supplied over 22 quilts for a wonderful exhibit at the museum that is part of the museum's celebration of Black History Month. The quilts will remain on display until February 17, 2006.

The exhibit covers all aspects of quiltmaking from traditional to modern. Beautiful examples of hand quilting as well as machine quilting are on display. Some of the quilts are intricately pieced while others showcase exceptional applique. There is also a lovely quilted jacket in exhibit.

You will definitely enjoy this exhibit.

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Clear out that Clutter: Get Organized Now!

Was being more organized one of your resolutions for the new year? January is a great time to organize your quilting space. Pick a cold, gray Saturday afternoon, put on some jazz and dive into it. Going through all of your things and storing them where you can find them again will greatly increase your productivity throughout the remainder of the year. Plus, if you're feeling broke after Christmas, organizing your quilting space will definitely turn up some fabric you forgot you had.

A new book call Creating your Perfect Quilting Space by Lois L. Hallock has lots of ideas to get you started.

Martin's Dream

Martin's Dream, 2002, hangs in the Fulton County Attorney's office. It hangs in honor of Judge Linda Walker, the first African American county attorney for Fulton County. The border depicts black and white boys and girls holding hands. The black, white and red color theme represents the struggle of the Civil Rights Movement.

Reflect on Martin's Dream

Martin Luther King Day should be a day when we pause to reflect on how far we have come. After I passed the age of 50, I began to realize that I am a walking history book. My daughter cannot imagine a world where segregation was legal. She cannot imagine a group of friends all one color. She cannot imagine packing chicken in a car for a long trip. She cannot imagine a world with boundaries. Each day I thank Martin for that.

I think it is important to remember, reflect and re-focus. Born in 1954, the first six grades of my education were spent in segregated schools. I sat in the balcony at the movies. I drank from colored water fountains. I thought all white people were smart. I lived in colored town. When I reflect, I realize how much positive change I have seen. Thank God for Martin!

Last year I took a step toward preserving a small part of that history by creating the Clara Ford Foundation. The Clara Ford Foundation celebrates quilts that were made in colored town. It celebrates making something beautiful from scraps. It celebrates finding joy in the midst of despair. It celebrates knowing that you and your craft are worthy.

Recently, I took a step toward spreading that history to future generations. I spoke to my daughter's civics class. She happens to be the only African American in that class. I spoke to 14-year-olds about how it used to be. I challenged them to do their part to make the world better. Later in the week, I went with my daughter's basketball team to see the recently released movie Glory Road. Glory Road celebrates the determination and spirit of the first basketball team to start five black players in the NCAA tournament. What seems so common now made the earth move in 1965. I hope my daughter and all children understand that they stand on the backs of others who came before. I hope they realize the importance of standing up for good -- even if you are the only one standing.

These are my reflections. Take a moment for yours. Happy Martin Luther King Day!

Life's Twists and Turns. c. 2003. This quilt was made in a twisted bargello class taught by Vicki Clark at the Quilts 'N Fixins quilt shop in Jonesboro, GA. 

Beginners Quiltmaking Class

If you are a beginning quilter or even a wannabe quilter, I highly recommend an upcoming class at Intown Quilters in Atlanta, GA. http://www.intownquilters.com.
The class description is as follows:


Beginners Quiltmaking Class
1/14, 1/28 & 2/11 Saturdays 1-5p OR
2/18, 3/4, & 3/18 Saturdays 1-5p $85
Learn to make a Rail Fence lap size (42 inches X 54 inches) quilt from beginning to end. In this class, the intimidation of quilting should be eliminated. You will be taught many techniques and rules, such as cutting, strip piecing, seam allowance, pin-basting, quilting, binding and more. The class is taught in 3 sessions (4 hours each) and requires homework and a sense of humor. Taught by Maxine Moore.

Maxine Moore taught many of us in the Brown Sugar Stitchers Guild how to quilt. You can’t go wrong with this class.

Check out one of Max’s personal masterpieces above. This one was raffled off as a fund raiser at the Brown Sugar Stitchers’ Quilt Show.

Learn Something New This Year!

© 2006


The Christmas tree is packed away until next year. The last champagne toast welcoming the New Year has been made. With all the celebrations over and all the traditions observed, it’s time for the sobering task of taking stock of where you are and where you plan to go in the new year.

Many of us will resolve to lose weight -- to finally begin to exercise and eat right. Others will resolve to go to church more regularly and to try to be better people. These are all noble ambitions.

Hopefully, you will also add “learn something new” to your new year’s list. It is so important that we as quilters continue our education. Here are some suggestions. Read a book about quilt history. Take a quilt class. Join a quilt guild. Visit a museum for inspiration.

All local quilt shops have classes for beginners and experts. If you can’t work it into your schedule, check out www.quiltuniversity.com. You can learn in the privacy of your own home.

Local quilt stores have lots of interesting quilt books. If the selection is not to your liking, there’s also the vast universe of www.amazon.com.

Museums and quilt shows inspire us. Get out of the house and soak up some inspiration.

It may be true that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but we’re not dogs. We’re quilters!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I hope all of your holiday traditions have added peace and joy to your life. Mostly, I hope you laughed a lot. Family, friends, food, fabric and quilts -- what more could anyone ask for?

Merry Christmas.2003. 

Aleathia's Red Hat Quilt

Aleathia's intrepretation of the red hat quilt resulted in a beautiful applique quilt. This lady is ready for anything.

Charlotte's Red Hat Quilt

Charlotte's quilt displayed many variations of red hats. Each was beautifully embellished.

Bessie's Red Hat Quilt

Bessie's Red Hat Quilt shows chickens in all of their finery. This quilt is a hoot!

Fabric is Better Than Food

c. 2005

Christmas is all about traditions. My quilting Christmas tradition is my annual Fabric is Better Than Food Brunch held at my home each December. This tradition began after a group of eight quilters took a year long class to learn to make a quilt called Mother Earth in 1999. As the end of the class drew near, we became nostalgic and knew that we would really miss seeing each other. I proposed that we gather at my house for brunch and do a Show-and-Tell of our Mother Earth quilts.

“Brunch at your house!” they hooted. “You can’t even cook.”

“That’s okay,” I assured them. “We don’t really need food. Fabric is better than food. Just bring fabric to exchange.”

And so a tradition was born. Every year we gather for the much anticipated Fabric is Better Than Food Brunch and the good times roll. One member selects either a pattern or a challenge fabric for the upcoming year. The finished quilt is brought back the next year. Show and tell is fabulous, but the conversation! Ohmigod! I know the ears of every black man in American are burning during the brunch. Naturally, they are our favorite topic and my famous mimosas do loosen tongues.

But back to the quilts. The 2005 quilt had to contain red hat fabric that was distributed at last year’s brunch. As usual, the creativity was amazing! My quilt shown here is called Forever Young. Others are posted above.

Wondering about the food at that first brunch? It was simple. I made them cook!

Musical Christmas Star, 77 x 77 inches, 2002.

The Quiltmaker’s Gift: A Book Review

Do you read the Christmas Story to your children as part of your holiday tradition? Expand your tradition to include The Quiltmaker's Gift. It is the heartwarming story of a greedy king who learns the importance of giving from an old quiltmaker who only made quilts for the poor. The book is beautifully illustrated, and captures the reason most quilters make quilts. This book should definitely be part of your library.

For us quilters, there are two spin-off books to spark your creativity to make some of the quilts from The Quiltmaker's Gift. They are Quilts from the Quiltmaker's Gift and More Quilts From the Quiltmaker's Gift.

Reflect on the Reason for the Season

I love Christmas.

I love the shiny lights. I love the parties. I love the beautifully wrapped gifts. I love that it brings families and friends together. I love shopping. I love eating too much. I love Christmas songs. I love decorating the tree. I love stuffing stockings. I love hanging the wreaths. I love making Christmas quilts. I love the way Christmas smells – cookies, evergreen and cinnamon. I love waking up at dawn to open Christmas gifts. I love remembering how special my mother made Christmas. I love wearing clothes that sparkle. I love sneaking gifts into the house. I love having my quilting friends over for brunch. I love knowing my birthday is only a week away and the celebration continues. I love driving around and looking at the decorated houses. I love the mall at Christmas. I love going to the mail box and getting cards from old friends.

In the midst of your Christmas traditions, take a moment to reflect on why we have these wonderful traditions. God gave the greatest gift of all -- his son.

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

Life is Good. 78 x 98 inches. 2002

Take a Moment To Be Thankful

On television, in newspapers, in chat groups, around the water cooler, everyone is talking about their favorite recipe for turkey, collard greens and sweet potato pie. We are consumed with planning the perfect Thanksgiving meal.

Since I am not a cook (too many other people are better at it than I am), I have plenty of time to focus on the true meaning of Thanksgiving. This year, I combined my love of quilting with my personal giving of thanks. In so doing I think I have hit upon a new tradition that will become part of my life, and I want to share it with you.

I created a post card that has a picture of a quilt I made in 2002. The quilt is a leaf quilt with the words “Life is Good. Be Thankful” embroidered on it. I printed a post card for each member of my staff and wrote each a personal note that described a special quality he/she has for which I am most thankful. I also gave each of them a blank post card and asked them to send it to someone and tell them why they are thankful to have that person a part of their life. I never imagined the effect that such a small gesture would have.

Observing the effect on my staff, I moved on to send the cards to my neighbors, to my family and to my close friends. Each time I mailed a post card I felt like I was sending blessings and goodness into the universe. I don’t know you personally, but I didn’t want to leave you out. Life is Good is posted above. Your post card says, “I am thankful that you love quilts and that you are reading my web site.”

Happy Thanksgiving!

Obituary of Ruth Clement Bond, A Trailblazing Quilter

© 2005 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on 11/14/2005.

New York --- Ruth Clement Bond, 101, a prominent educator and civic leader who in the mid-1930s, in her first and only foray into quilt design, helped transform the American quilt from a utilitarian bedcovering into a work of avant-garde social commentary, died Oct. 24. Mrs. Bond was noted for a series of quilts known collectively as the TVA quilts.

Designed by her, the quilts were sewn in rural Alabama by the wives of African-American workers building dams there for the Tennessee Valley Authority. Visually arresting and contemporary-looking even today, the TVA quilts are considered pivotal in American quilt making.

While most quilts of the period were based on the traditional geometric and floral designs, the TVA quilts are dynamic works of modern art. Using solid-colored fabrics appliqued onto stark backgrounds, they depict bold, stylized silhouettes of black people. With their jagged yet elegant lines, the figures have been compared to the paper cutouts of Matisse and to the work of the Harlem Renaissance painter Aaron Douglas.

Mrs. Bond, who had trained as an academic and did not know how to quilt, embarked on the project after her husband was sent to northern Alabama to supervise the black workers at the dam sites there. The Bonds lived for a time near the Wheeler Dam, in one of the segregated villages built for the workers and their families.

The women completed a half-dozen large quilts, all believed to have been made in 1934. Three are extant, as are several very small quilts, made as samples.

The TVA quilts have been exhibited in New York at the Museum of Arts and Design, and elsewhere around the country. They are featured in several books, among them "Soft Covers for Hard Times: Quiltmaking and the Great Depression" (Rutledge Hill Press, 1990), by Merikay Waldvogel.

In later years, Mrs. Bond, whose husband joined the Foreign Service in 1944, taught at universities in Haiti, Liberia and Malawi and worked with women's and youth groups in Afghanistan, Tunisia and Sierra Leone. After returning to Washington, she served as president of the African-American Women's Association.

India's Prima Ballerina Stars, 2001.

"Black Threads" Reveals Purchasing Power of African American Quilters

Check out Black Threads by Kyra Hicks to discover the vast purchasing power of African American quilters. This is a great reference book.

What?! No Black Santas!

Years ago I started collecting African American Santas and Christmas ornaments. At that time these items were extremely hard to find. Whenever and wherever I traveled, I would visit a Christmas shop. After perusing the shop, I would ask in a loud voice, “Where are your black Santas?”

The shop owner would reply in a whisper, “We don’t have any black Santas.”

“What!!? No Black Santas!” I would say in my most shocked and indignant voice. I would mutter something about the shop not being well stocked.

My personal protest against not recognizing African American buying power continued for many years. Now I am happy to say that it is very easy to find black Santas and Christmas ornaments.

My early ventures into quilt shops brought back my memories of NO BLACK SANTAS. Five years ago, my daughter was very young and I was into juvenile prints. I would search and search for prints with cute little brown children on them. Surprisingly, they were hard to find. It didn’t even occur to me at that time to look for African prints amongst the Thimbleberries and the Debbie Mumms. Lately, I’ve discovered a small shift in quilt shop inventories that recognize that African American quilters have buying power. We don’t want to lose momentum though. The next time you go into a quilt shop, ask in a strong voice, “Where are your African prints?”

Take a look at one of my early quilts called India’s Prima Ballerina Stars. It was one of the few prints I could find that had little brown ballerinas.

A World of Quilts: A Book Review

By Beth Ann Williams

If you need inspiration for your African fabric, check out A World of Quilts by Beth Ann Williams. The patterns in the book are easy enough for a beginner. She teaches you how to let the fabric do the work and liberates you from thinking everything has to match or blend. Several of the quilts are fat quarter friendly so start collecting. You will want to make several of these quilts.

African Canvas Memory Quilt Milestone

The African Canvas Memory Quilt™ series is 25% complete! When complete, the series will consist of 100 quilts. Each one is unique, numbered and signed.

African Sunrise is number 25 of the series. It is for sale at the Underground Railroad Quilt Code Museum along with other quilts that are part of the African Canvas Memory Quilt™ series. If interested in purchasing African Sunrise or other quilts in the series call the Underground Railroad Quilt Code Museum at 404-525-1580.

A gallery of some of the earlier quilts in the series can be viewed at http://www.africancanvasquilts.blogspot.com/.

The above article appeared in the Fulton County Daily Report. 

Decorating with Quilts

Don’t practice to the point of failing to share your quilts. After all, you are the only one who knows what it is supposed to look like. If there is an imperfection, just say it was part of your creativity. Or, subscribe to the Amish view: “Only God is perfect!”

I was inspired by the book Decorating with African Fabrics to share my quilts with my co-workers after we expanded our office space. The quilts are a great conversation starter because they are an unexpected surprise in a law office.

Recently the press did an article on my office quilts. Take a look.

The Spirit of African Design: a Book Review

By Sharne Algotsson and Denys Davis




I love looking at pictures of beautiful homes and visiting model homes. I try to figure out what makes it home to the inhabitant. After all, a house is not a home until you walk in the door, exhale and say, “Aha! I’m home.”

The Spirit of African Design inspired me to surround myself with the things I love. In my case that happens to be quilts. I expanded that theory to include my office. After all, we spend most of our time at work.

Need some inspiration for getting in touch with your deepest roots? Check out the Spirit of African Design.

Practice! Practice! Practice!

Flowers and Tea For Me

I recently took my 13-year-old daughter to her first live jazz concert. Lizz Wright was the main event. My daughter, who has loved jazz all her life, stared in awe at the bass player. “He makes it look so easy,” she marveled as she undoubetedly reflected on her attempts to teach herself to play alto saxophone.

“That’s because he has practiced all his life to be ready for this moment,” I replied. We settled back to enjoy the concert, and I secretly hoped my daughter had learned a life lesson.

In the Brown Sugar Stitchers Quilt Guild there are some extraordinarily talented quilters. There are also some beginners. I am sure the beginners are intimidated by the masters. During show and tell, it is easy to think, “I could never do that!”

I say to my sister quilters: PRACTICE! PRACTICE! PRACTICE! You will be amazed at what you can do if you. Don’t be afraid to make a mistake. Go for it!

I make lots of quilts for no other reason except to practice. Lately, I’ve been practicing my appliqué stitch. Tea and Flowers for Me is my most recent practice quilt.

Protecting Your Quilts: A Book Review

I discovered a little book recently entitled Protecting Your Quilts. It contains useful information about insuring your quilts and caring for your quilts so that they will be preserved for future generations. The book also contains a nice glossary of quilt terms.

There is nothing earth shattering in the book, but sometimes it’s helpful to have your common sense confirmed. The book is published by the American Quilters Society and sells for $6.95.

Brown Sugar Stitchers Make Quilts For Hurricane Katrina Victims

Members of the Brown Sugar Stitchers Quilt Guild gathered October 2, 2005 to make quilts for a family victimized by Hurricane Katrina. In assembly line type fashion, the members made eight quilt tops in one afternoon. The quilts included African coin quilts, Tessallation Stars, Rail Fence, Orphan Blocks, Crazy Nine Patch, Square-in-a-Square, Scrappy Blocks and Paneled (for a baby).

Members Bessie Barnett, Cathy Johnson and Maxine Moore took the initiative and got the ladies organized. The owner of Quilting Essentials quilt shop in Stone Mountain, Georgia graciously donated the use of her classroom for the quilters to gather to make the quilts.

Other members of Brown Sugar Stitchers who participated were Roz Newell, Laura Sorton, O.V. Brantley, Marva Swanson, Anita Crosby, Thea Crosby, Maudry Orphy, Nina Moore, Sonia Mack, Patricia Landry and Jocelyn Carter.

American Folklore Society Explores African American Quilts in Atlanta

The American Folklore Society will hold its annual convention in Atlanta October 19 - 23, 2005. The conference will be held at the Renaissance Atlanta Hotel in downtown Atlanta.

During the Saturday, October 22d session there will be concurrent panel discussions that explore African American quilts. One panel is entitled “Ethnographic Complexities in the Study of African American Folklore” and will be chaired by Patricia A. Turner. Topics include the following:

· 8:15 a.m. Deborah Smith Pollard (University of Michigan, Dearborn), Praise Is What We Do: Praise and Worship Music in Detroit's Black Church Community.

· 8:35 a.m. Carol L. Hall (Alabama A & M University), African American Quilts and African American Communities: A Case Study of Gee's Bend.

· 8:55a.m. Susan Roach *(Louisiana Tech University), Re-Presenting the Quilts of African Americans in Lousiana and Beyond.

· 9:15 a.m. Patricia A. Turner *(University of California, Davis), Southern Comfort: Black Quilts and Black Colleges.

· 9:35 a.m. Diana Baird A. N'Diaye *(Smithsonian Institution), Discussant.

Another panel is entitled “The Underground Railroad Quilt Code” and will be chaired by Laurel Horton. Topics include:

· 10:15 a.m. Courtney Brooks (East Tennessee State University),Contravenes, Quilts, and Codes.

· 10:35a.m. Laurel Horton *(Kalmia Research), The Underground Railroad Quilt Code: Traditional Narrative Strategies in Promoting a Good Story.

· 10:55 a.m. Marsha MacDowell *(Michigan State University Museum), The "Secret Code" in Quilts: Creating Authenticity.

· 11:15 a.m. Deborah R. Grayson *(Georgia Institute of Technology), Who Can Speak For Others?: Race and Place in Debates About Hidden in Plain View.

Registration for the Saturday session only is $25.00. Registration opens at 8 a.m. and the first panel starts at 8:15 pm.

For more information about the American Folklore Society visit the web site at www.afsnet.org.

Link

From the Mouths of Slave Quilters

My trip to Savannah caused me to pull Civil War Women by Barbara Brackman off the shelf and read it. Chapter 2 is entitled “Remembering Susie King Taylor and Other Freedwomen.” Through diaries and other recorded history, the author conveys a sense of how quilting fit into a life of slavery.

As mentioned in my previous posting, there seems to be constant debate about whether slaves liked being slaves if they had nice masters. (Absurd, in my view)! I think the reason some people think slaves were happy being slaves is because of their love of music. No matter how bad things are, put on some music and we will dance. In Civil War Women, she quotes from the diary of Martha Watkins, a slave woman, as follows:

“We had a fine time last night with just our own people and Payton to play the violin and banjo, and Simon played on the tambourine. Susan had a quilting and after we got the quilt out they had to dance instead of a supper…”

We love a party don’t we? But the following quote from the diary of Grace Brown Elmore is a sobering statement of how most slaves felt when the party was over.

“I asked Philis if she liked the thought of being free. She said yes, though she had always being treated with perfect kindness and could complain of nothing in her lot, but she had heard a woman who had bought her freedom from kind indulgent owners, say it was a very sweet thing to be able to do as she chose, to sit an do nothing, to work if she desired, or to go out as she liked and ask nobody’s permission.”

Grace Brown Elmore
May 24, 1865

That statement certainly captures how I feel about life.

Book a Trip From Savannah on the Underground Railroad

Recently I spent five lovely days in Savannah, Georgia. Savannah is a coastal city that is often described as having lots of old world charm. It has gorgeous majestic oak trees and antebellum mansions. It is a city proud of its role in the Civil War and it celebrates it unabashedly. There are civil war forts that have been restored, civil war re-enactments, and lots of monuments of fallen generals.

Being African American, I could not help but wonder about the dark side of the idyllic life that was being portrayed. I believe that every creature on earth yearns to live a free life. Any suggestion that blacks were happy living on plantations because they had nice masters, in my view, is totally absurd. That is why I know for a fact that the Underground Railroad was a living breathing thing. I also know that when people are most stressed, they wrap themselves in the familiar and the things that bring them comfort. That is why I know quilts played a large part in the Underground Railroad.

So now I am inspired to finally make my version of an Underground Railroad quilt. I have taken the first step and purchased Eleanor Burns’ book Underground Railroad Sampler.

For further inspiration I visited two quilt shops in Savannah. Colonial Quilts, located at 11710 Largo Drive and Let’s Sew located at 361 Commercial Drive. Be sure to pay them a visit when you are in Savannah.

Phyllis Stephens Quilts at Hearne Gallery

The Hearne Fine Art Gallery in Little Rock, AR recently had an exhibition of quilts by Phyllis Stephens. The show was called The Journey of the Piece Maker and ran from June 6, 2005 through July 5, 2005. Ms. Stephens, who is based in Fayetteville, GA was on hand June 10, 2005 during 2nd Friday Art Night, to discuss her work. Works by emerging artist Bisa Butler were also featured.

Phyllis Stephens quilts are distinctive by their pictorial quality. She does wonderful quilts depicting beautiful women. You can view some of Ms. Stephens’ quilts on the Hearne Gallery web site at http://www.hearnefineart.com.

The Hearne Fine Art Gallery is one of the oldest African American galleries in the United States. The director is Garbo Hearne. Strategically located in the River Market district of Little Rock, it is hard to visit Little Rock and miss it. It is within walking distance of the President Clinton Library. The gallery is filled not only with beautiful works of art by African American artists, it also includes an impressive book collection and lots of gift items. Many Thomas Blackshear pieces are available for purchase.

Do not miss the opportunity to feed your spirit when in Little Rock. Visit the Hearne Gallery.

Link

Treasure or Not? How to Compare and Value American Quilts

By Stella Rubin


I found Treasure or Not? How To Compare and Value American Quilts by Stella Rubin educational, but disappointing. The book which is part of the Miller’s Treasure or Not? series on valuing antiques provides useful information on how to take care of your treasures. Pictures of beautiful quilts are included. However, the book only gives lip service to African American quilts. She devotes 2 pages out of 163 to the subject. She basically concludes that it is too hard to describe the genre, but that one description is that “African American quilts are the visual equivalent of jazz ­­– they share boldness, multiplicity of patterns and improvisational qualities.”

The book attempts to teach you how to value quilts by contrasting two similar quilts and then discussing the aspects of the quilt that make one more valuable than the other. Ultimately, as in all appraisals, many of the factors are subjective.

After finishing the book, I didn’t feel that I had learned very much about analyzing African American quilts in particular, for historical significance or value. But for the totally uninitiated she suggests the following:

(1) Intricate needlework is more valuable than simple.
(2) A documented quilt is more valuable than one where the quilter is unknown,
(3) One-of-a-kind quilts are more valuable than those where many examples still exist.
(4) The condition of the quilt may play a role in its value.


Even so, I do recommend that the book be part of any serious quilter’s library. You can purchase it on Amazon.com by clicking below.

Willie's World, 88 x 88 inches. 2003

Willie’s World: A Forever Friendship Quilt™

One of the most satisfying aspects of quilting is to give a quilt to a friend to commemorate a special occasion. Willie’s World is such a quilt. It was given to my friend Willie as a wedding gift.

The quilt has a log cabin center with a village border. The border depicts aspects of Willie’s life including his humble beginning in Savannah, Georgia, his graduation from Harvard Law School, and of course, his marriage to his lovely bride.

The quilt measures 88 x 88 inches. It was quilted by Sylvia Davis and embroidered by Maxine Moore.

East Cobb Quilt Show September 16 -18

The bi-annual East Cobb Quilt Show will be held September 16-18, 2005 at the Cobb County Civic Center in Marietta, Georgia. This year’s theme is "Georgia Celebrates Quilts." The show is a juried and judged show and will exhibit over 300 quilts.

Quilts will be judged in several categories, and the following prize money will be awarded: Best of Show $150.00; Best Hand Quilted $200.00; Best Machine Quilted $200; First in Miniature $75; and First in Category $150.00. Ribbons will be awarded for Judges’ and Sponsors’ Choices, Viewers’ Choice, Quilters’ Choice, Miniature Quilts and Second and Third in Category.

Atlanta Album (This Ain’t Baltimore) shown below will be one of the quilts on display. Stop by and see it in person.

Atlanta Album (This Ain't Baltimore!) 75 x 96 inches, 2004. My version of a Baltimore album!

Georgia Quilt Documentation Project

The Georgia Quilt Documentation project is almost complete. The book that flows from this important work of documenting Georgia quilts will be published in 2006.

I am proud and excited that one of my quilts will be included in this important work. Atlanta Album (This Ain’t Baltimore!) will be featured as an example of modern African American quilting. The quilt is an appliqué quilt depicting flowers in vases using African fabrics. The title is a tongue-in-cheek jab at the fact that, although I love admiring Baltimore album quilts, I knew I would never make one. Atlanta Album (This Ain’t Baltimore!) is my adaptation.

Hopefully, 100 years from now Atlanta Album (This Ain’t Baltimore!) will still inspire the joy in others that it inspired in me as I made it.

O.V.'s Private Moments, 1999. The beginning of my recorded quilt history. 

Make History: Document Your Quilt

None of Clara Ford’s quilts have labels. I wish they did. I would love to know the exact date my grandmother took that last stitch. I would love to see her name written in her own hand.

Your quilt is not finished until you put a label on it. At a minimum, your label should include your name, the place the quilt was made and the date it was finished. Historians will be delighted to read any other personal information you wish to include such as the occasion or something about the recipient of the quilt. I also sign and date the front of my quilts because an artist’s signature adds value to a work of art.

Make life easy for future historians. Document your quilt. Your label can be a simple handwritten message on muslin. Some quilters add pictures and embroidery. HP sells computer software specifically designed to help you create spectacular labels. The sky is the limit.

So do your part to accurately record history. Put a label on your quilt.

Evora's Earth. 2001. A tribute to my mother. 

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Today is my Mom’s birthday. Although she died in 2000, in my heart she is 78 years old today. I miss her.

Although this site started out as a tribute to my grandmother, there would be no grandmother without a Mom. Have I made a quilt to honor my Mom? Of course! It’s called Evora’s Earth. I call it my personal masterpiece. It took me 18 months to finish and got me through my grief.

Evora’s Earth hangs in my office so that I can touch it everyday. When things get tough, I touch it. When I’m happy, I touch it. Whatever the need, my Mom’s spirit comes through that quilt and saves me.

At heart, I’m a country girl. Evora’s Earth never lets me forget it. I grew up in a place where everyone knew everyone else by name. I grew up in a place where if you messed up, everyone knew it , but forgave you. I grew up in a place where if you did good, everyone knew it, and were proud of you. I’m glad I’m a country girl.

So no matter what quilting style I may adapt for the moment. Evora’s Earth always takes me back to my roots. Good strong roots planted by my Mom.

Happy Birthday, Mom, with much love!

Spirits of the Cloth: A Review

If you couldn't make it to the National Black Arts Festival, browsing through Spirits of the Cloth by Carolyn Mazloomi is the next best thing. The quilts contained in the book will absolutely amaze you. The collection, which is comprised of quilts made by African American quilters from across the country, is eclectic and diverse. I like that about the book because every quilter I know sees the world differently. It was revealing to have the quilters explain what they were thinking when they made the quilt.

I especially like the title of the book because I too believe that my quilts have spirits. I leave a little of me inside each quilt I make. Often I use quilts to express my inner most thoughts and emotions. Grief, love, happiness, disappointment and inspiration are all stitched up in my quilts.

So if you need something to kick-start your creativity, open Spirits of the Cloth and be inspired.

National Black Arts Festival Will Inspire

The National Black Arts Festival begins the third Saturday in July each year and continues for 10 days in Atlanta. While there are few quilts featured in this year's festival, there is still a lot to enjoy and be inspired by.

The quilts of Aisha Lumumba are on display at Greenbriar Mall. You can also see quilts at the Underground Railroad Quilt Code Museum in the Underground Entertainment Complex. The Brown Sugar Stitchers Quilt Guild will show some of their quilts and demonstrate quilting techniques at the High Museum of Art July 22 and July 23. Each year the festival is different. For instance, last year renowned quilter Faith Ringgold presented a lecture about her astounding career.

Even if you are not looking at quilts per se, the wide range of talent and creativity presented during the festival will surely inspire your creativity. Get out of the house and go get inspired!

Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt: A Review

Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt by Deborah Hopkinson tells the story of Clara, a 12-year-old slave girl who lives on a plantation. She longs to escape.

First, Clara worked in the fields which was very hard work. A kind older woman taught Clara to sew and eventually got Clara assigned to the “big house” to sew for the missus. The sewing room was near the kitchen, and Clara began to learn all kinds of new things as she listened intently to the grown-ups talk. That’s where she first learned of the Underground Railroad.

She learned that if you followed the Underground Railroad you could be free. There was one small catch. You needed a map. Clara did not even know what a map was!

But she listened and she learned. Then Clara came up with the idea of piecing a quilt that was a map of the way to freedom. It took her a long time but she finished it. After it was finished, with the memory of the quilt firmly embedded in her head, Clara escaped to freedom.

This book is a wonderful book to read to your child to teach hope perseverance and most of all courage.

Dressed For the Dance, 2005. Presented to the Carrie Steele Pittts Orphanage July 16, 2005.

Brown Sugar Stitchers Gather for Tea

The highlight of the social season for the Brown Sugar Stitchers Quilt Guild occurs July 16, 2005, when they assemble at the Four Seasons Hotel in Atlanta for tea. The quilters adorn their fanciest hats and best smiles ready for much fun and fellowship.

During the tea, the new officers are sworn in, and awards are handed out to the quilters for various accomplishments during the year. However, the most special part of the tea is when the quilts are presented to the Carrie Steele Pitts Orphanage. Making quilts for the kids at the orphanage has long been a service project of the Brown Sugar Stitchers. My personal entry was called Dressed for the Dance.

The quilts being presented at the tea were exhibited at the Brown Sugar Stitchers Quilt Show held in May at the Wesley Chapel Library in Decatur, GA.. They were all beautifully colorful with themes that would delight any young person.

After the tea, the hats are packed lovingly away and it’s back to the quilt frame!

Hidden In Plain View: A Review

Before visiting the Underground Railroad Quilt Code Museum in Atlanta, Georgia, you may want to read Hidden in Plain View by Jacqueline Tobin and Raymond Dobard. This book unlocks the code of the use of quilts in the Underground Railroad. According to the book, quilts held a hidden code that helped escaping slaves navigate their way to freedom. Whether you agree with the premise or not, the book is an interesting read that is brought to life in the Underground Railroad Quilt Code Museum in Atlanta, GA. The owner/curator of the museum is a direct descendent of the quilter who revealed the code.

Without a doubt, quilts always have meaning to the quilter. Sometimes that meaning is evident. Sometimes it is hidden. Hidden in Plain View inspired me to create my African Canvas© memory quilt series. (See related article on this site). I think it’s fun to hide clues to your life in plain view.

Southern Comfort

a Forever Friendship Quilt

Southern Comfort is a Forever Friendship quilt made for a special friend who had to have major surgery. This was definitely a quilting bee quilt. On the eve of our friend’s surgery, the friends gathered and pieced this quilt in one night. Those who couldn’t quilt, ironed. Martinis were consumed. Trash was talked! What fun we had! Love heals all.

Quilts and Forever Friendships

c. 2005

I have a very special close group of friends. Some I have made quilts for, some I have made quilts with. They are all as different as night and day; yet I love them all. Whether they are quilters or not, they all know quilts.

We talk about all kinds of stuff when we get together – mostly men, of course. Can’t live with them. Can’t live without them. Low down dogs but we love them anyway. Lots of talk about children too. Whether we’re raising them right. Whether this new generation is just a lost cause, How proud we are when they do good.

I wonder what my grandmother and her friends talked about. The same thing I imagine. With no distraction from television they probably had plenty to talk about. Sitting around a quilt frame working on a quilt is a perfect place to cry, cuss, laugh and solve the problems of the world. After all, some things can’t be discussed on a party line—the town ‘ho,’ for instance. Talk about getting an education! Sitting under the quilt frame is a great place to learn about the real world – better than the beauty shop.

Maybe that’s why quilts have survived for centuries. Maybe that’s why we hold onto them even after they are tattered and torn with the stuffing coming out. All that love. All that laughter. All that crying. All that wisdom – stitched up in a quilt.

Caribbean Branches (Pt. 3) African Canvas Series 6/100. 2005

Future Heirlooms: African Canvas Quilts

© 2005

African Canvas quilts are very special memory quilts. Each quilt is a unique, handcrafted African coin quilt. Different embellishments are added to each quilt to make them truly one of a kind. There will be 100 quilts in the African Canvas quilt series, and each one will be signed and numbered by the quilter.

You can take your African Canvas quilt home and hang it on your wall just as it is, (a hanging sleeve is on the back) but it is much more fun to turn it into a memory quilt. Add snippets from your life to the quilt. Here are some examples to get you started: an old “go steady” ring, conference pins, service pins, pressed flowers from a special date, jewels, charms, sorority/fraternity symbols, candle wax from that special date, etc. The possibilities are endless, and each addition will only enhance the uniqueness of your work of art.

Your friends will immediately recognize some of the clues to your life on your African Canvas – but some additions will be your special secret hidden in plain view. African Canvas quilts can be purchased exclusively at the Underground Railroad Quilt Code Museum http://www.plantationquilts.com/ in Atlanta, GA and on Ebay.

Have fun!

Link

Quilters Travel Companion

Summer travel is in full swing. Wherever your travels take you, include a visit to the local quilt shop. No matter how many shops you visit, each one is unique and reflects the special personalities of the quilt artists who work there. However, one thing they all have in common is friendliness.

I never leave home without consulting my trusty Quilters Travel Companion. This book lists all quilt shops by state. It includes directional maps, hours of operation and a description of the shop. It is currently in its 8th edition and is updated periodically.

You can find this book in your local quilt shop or on www.amazon.com. The web site of the publisher is www.chalet-publishing.com.

A Piece of My Soul: A Review

Of all the quilt books in publication, I am most partial to A Piece of My Soul: Quilts by Black Arkansans by noted quilt historian Cuesta Benberry. Although my grandmother Clara Ford is not featured in the book, Jessie Jones, a quilter from my home town of Crossett, Arkansas, is featured.

The cover of the book is beautifully done, and invokes a feeling of peace each time I look at it. Most of the beautiful quilts inside are housed at the Arkansas State House Museum in Little Rock, Arkansas. The quilts date from the 1890’s to the 1980’s. The styles are eclectic as they should be.

This book represents an important documentation of African American quilts, and records forever their importance in history. The book treats the quilts and the quilters with the respect and reverence they deserve.

This book should be part of the library of all quilters.

Flowers Growing Free 84 x84 inches. 2004

Future Heirloom: Flowers Growing Free

© 2004


I made Flowers Growing Free because I loved the way the flowers seemed to have a mind of their own. The quilt has an appliqué center with pieced borders all around. It measures 84 x 84 inches. It was exhibited in the Bulloch Hall Quilt Show in Roswell, GA in March 2005. For information on the 2006 quilt show, check www.bullochhall.org periodically.

Flowers Growing Free can be purchased exclusively at the Underground Railroad Quilt Code Museum www.plantationquilts.com in Atlanta, GA.

Delta Menopause 84 x 84 inches 2004

Future Heirloom: Delta Menopause

© 2004


Those of us approaching menopause are only too familiar with our private summers. So when I decided to make a fan quilt, the name had to commemorate this rite of passage.

I love red and white quilts and have made several. Delta Menopause has appliqué fan blocks with alternating white blocks. A flying geese (delta) border frames the center of the quilt. It was lovingly hand quilted over two years and measures 84 x 84 inches.

Delta Menopause can be purchased exclusively at the Underground Railroad Quilt Code Museum www.plantationquilts.com in Atlanta, GA.

Visit a Quilt Museum

The summer travel season is underway. Why not add a quilt museum to your list of must see places? Here's a list.

Underground Railroad Quilt Code Museum in Atlanta, GA
http://www.plantationquilts.com


New England Quilt Museum in Lowell, MA
http://www.nequiltmuseum.org


Museum of the American Quilter’s Society in Paducah, KY
http://www.quiltmusem.org.


Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum in Golden, CO
http://www.rmqm.org


San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles in San Jose, CA
http://www.sjquiltmuseum.org/


La Connor Quilt Museum in La Connor, WA
http://www.laconnerquilts.com/


People’s Place Quilt Museum in Intercourse, PA
http://www.ppquiltmuseum.com/


Virginia Quilt Museum in Harrisonburg, VA
http://www.folkart.com/museums/m_vqm.htm


Latimer Quilt and Textile Center in Tillamook, OR
http://www.oregoncoast.com/latimertextile/


Quilters Hall of Fame in Marion, IN
http://www.quiltershalloffame.org/


Lancaster Quilt and Textile Museum in Lancaster, PA
http://www.quiltandtextilemuseum.com/

Black Family Dinner Quilt Cookbook: A Review

Now that we have shelled the peas, how about a new recipe. Check out the Black Family Dinner Quilt Cookbook published by the National Council of Negro Women. The title of the book comes from the fact that many African American families covered the dinner table with quilts for Sunday dinner. (I’ve seen that decorating suggestion in Country Living magazine. Who knew a trend was set 50 years ago).

The book contains recipes, quilts and a bit of history. The recipes are excellent soul food recipes and have been updated for modern times – modified to have less sugar and fat. Even better, for those of us who are not history buffs, the book gives you small doses of fascinating history. There are many stories about Mary McLeod Bethune, founder of Bethune Cookman College in Daytona Beach, Florida and the National Council of Negro Women. Stories recalled by people who knew her, make you feel like you are getting to know an old friend rather than an icon of African American history.

The quilts and the stories behind them, spice up the recipes. Renowned quilter Faith Ringold’s Tar Beach 2 is on the cover. Carolyn Mazloomi, founder of the Women of Color Quilters' Network, helped to develop the book. Most of the quilts in the book are picture quilts.

The book is available on http://www.amazon.com/. No well stocked kitchen should be without this book. You will enjoy returning to it again and again.

Shell Some Peas

When was the last time you shelled peas? I had not thought about shelling peas in a long time until my daughter asked me recently, “Mommy, do you remember how my cousins and I used to have to shell peas at Granny’s house?” she asked with a reminiscent smile on her face. I remembered indeed.

Throughout my childhood, I had to shell peas. I hated to shell purple hull peas. They are long and skinny and leave you with purple fingers. Butter beans were much easier to shell and, definitely, my preference. You could fill up a pot quicker.

Shelling peas is almost a lost art like quilting. Shelling peas forced you to slow down. You could have a conversation while you shelled peas. We had a big oak tree in our front yard. We would sit under that oak tree, wave at the people going by, and gossip. You could talk and laugh while you shelled peas. Now that’s multi-tasking at its best. Where can we do that now?

I say we need to bring back the shelling of peas. The dietary benefits are obvious. To steal a line from Subway, “EAT FRESH.” More importantly, instead of paying money for a massage, or worse, therapy, call a friend over and shell peas. Relax and gossip over a bowl of peas. You will feel better and live longer.

GA Quilt Council Challenge

"Not Your Grandmother's Quilt: Taking a Traditional Block or Pattern in a New Direction"


The Georgia Quilt Council has issued a challenge to its members. Members are challenged to make a quilt that takes a traditional block in a new direction.

The quilts may be made from any fabric using any technique, but they must not exceed 24 inches.

The winners will be chosen at the GQC Fall Convention by Viewer’s Choice Balloting. Entries will become part of an exhibit traveling around the state from October, 2005 until March 2007.

You must be a member of the Georgia Quilt Council to enter. Visit www.georgiaquiltcouncil.com/museum/GQMChallenge05.htm to download the entry form.

Underground Railroad Quilt Code Museum

The Underground Quilt Museum is now open in world famous Underground in Atlanta, GA. The museum tells the story of the Underground Quilt Code and features the quilts of the Farrow-McDaniel family. It features eight generations of quilts.

To learn more about the Underground Quilt Code, check out Hidden in Plain View: A Secret Story of quilts and the Underground Railroad by Jacqueline Tobin and Raymond G. Dobard.

In addition to viewing some very old and historical quilts, there are many items for sale in the museum including quilts that are sure to become future heirlooms, books, African textiles, art and other handcrafted items.

Museum hours are Monday – Saturday 11 am – 7 pm. For more information, visit http://www.plantationquilts.com/.

Future Heirloom: Clara's Scrap Bag

70 x 89 inches
©2001


One of the first quilts I made when I started quilted was Clara’s Scrap Bag. It was a block of the month from a little quilt shop named Quilt ‘N Stitch in West Monroe, Louisiana. Because it was made of 1930’s fabrics, I immediately dedicated it to my grandmother. Clara’s Scrap Bag is a sampler quilt that has 12 different blocks. I hand pieced it, but had it machine quilted. I tea dyed it to give it an antique look.

Take a look.

Clara's Scrap Bag 2001 

Cheap Quilt Books

Cheap Quilt Books


One of my favorite sources for cheap quilt books is Edward R. Hamilton Booksellers. You can get very nice quilt books for as low as $3.95. You can check them out online at http://www.edwardrhamilton.com/.

Recent offerings include Dresden Flower Garden by B. Young and L.Y. Bingham, Through the Garden Gate by Jean and Valori Wells, Quilts Say it Best by Eileen Westfall and A Thimbleberries Housewarming by Lynette Jensen. Each book is only $3.95.

Once you’re on the mailing list, you will receive a catalog periodically. It’s a great way to build up your quilt library.

Link

Brown Sugar Stitchers Quilt Show Huge Success

Brown Sugar Stitchers Quilt Guild held its bi-annual quilt show Saturday, May 7, 2005 at the Wesley Chapel Library, 2861 Wesley Chapel Road, Decatur, Georgia. From the minute the doors opened at 11 a.m., excitement was in the air. When the show closed at 5 p.m., approximately 500 people had viewed the beautiful quilts.The theme for the show was "Quilt Me a Story." As usual, a highlight of the show were the quilts made by the guild members for the children at the Carrie Steele Pitts Orphanage in Atlanta, Georgia. Artfully arranged in the children’s room of the library, 17 beautiful quilts dazzled kids of all ages. The quilts served as a beautiful back drop for the interactive children's activities that included storytelling, hand quilting, and designing quilt blocks.

New this year were the challenge quilts. In keeping with the theme, guild members truly told their individual stories as they created quilts from Alexander Henry’s “Soul Sister” fabric. The quilts were unique and awesome.

99 quilts were on display. They were all truly a feast for the eyes and covered all genres including hand quilting, appliqué, precision piecing and art quilts. Visitors lingered and visited some quilts over and over. Visitors eagerly and attentively participated in the demonstrations hosted by the guild members. Cameras were everywhere and flashing nonstop.

At the end of the day, the beautiful donation quilt was headed to Buffalo, New York where it will have a loving home. Although those who did not get to take the donation quilt home were disappointed, the memories of the 2005 Brown Sugar Stitchers Quilt Show will more than compensate. It was truly a show to remember.

For more information about the Brown Sugar Stitchers, visit http://www.quiltsites.com/brownsugarstitchers.htm

Link

BSS 2005 Donation Quilt

Gees Bend Quilts

When the quilts of Gees Bend exploded onto the artistic consciousness of the nation, a raging debate broke out in my quilt guild. Was this really art? Why do we have to have a white man tell us it’s art? Why did they pick something with such poor workmanship?

Whatever the answer to those questions, it appears the quilts are here to stay. They have become a licensing, mass marketing extravaganza with rugs and other household items utilizing the designs. The quilts will be in my city Atlanta, March, 2006 at the High Museum of Art no less. Who would have thought that some quilts some black women made could be exhibited in the same building as the great masters. That’s a good thing.

For me, the quilts opened my eyes to a different way to look at my grandmother’s quilts. Did she know she was creating works of art? Of course not! Her quilts were designed to keep us warm in the winter. Without the influence of the quilts of Gees Bend, maybe I would not have seen the value of preserving Clara’s quilts for her great-grandchildren and their children.

With 50 years of hindsight, old things become new. Ordinary things become art.

Clara's Shoo Fly Quilt

61 x 72 inches

Circa 1960



Clara’s Shoo Fly consists of 15 shoo fly blocks bordered by sashing strips; Red, yellow and blue are dominant colors. There are alternating solid red squares. The quilt has a plain white muslin back. A yellow outer border forms a fold-over binding. It is hand quilted with white thread in grid pattern.

Here's Clara's Shoo Fly Quilt!

Clara's Shoo Fly

Clara’s Half Square Triangles

69 x 75 inches

Circa 1960


20 scrappy half square triangle blocks form Clara’s Half Square Triangles. The blocks are set off by orange sashing and an orange inner border. The red outer border forms the fold-over binding. The quilt is hand quilted with white thread in grid pattern. It has a plain white muslin back. The quilt is very frayed around the edges.

Take a look at Clara's Half Square Triangles

Clara's Half square Triangles

Clara's Waves of the Sea

75 x 75 inches
circa 1960


64 Waves of the Sea blocks form Clara’s Waves of the Sea. The theme is carried out with a turquoise and cream stripe color scheme. The turquoise flower fabric is used on the border and also used on the back of the quilt. The back folds over to the front of the quilt to form the binding, and it is machine stitched. The quilt is hand quilted with white thread in a grid pattern. Some staining

Take a look at Clara's Waves of the Sea!

Waves of the Sea

Here's Clara’s Diamond Star

67 x 75 inches
circa 1960



Clara’s Diamond Star has 16 blocks -- 7 lavender, yellow and red diamond star blocks, 5 lavender, white and red star blocks. Orange and lavender sashing divide the blocks. The quilt has a lavender inner border and a red outer border that forms fold-over binding. The red border is pieced with different fabric in one corner as if she ran out of the red border fabric. The quilt is hand quilted with white thread in a grid pattern.

Clara's Diamond Star

Clara's Sunbonnet Sue

67 x 75 inches

circa 1960



Clara’s Sunbonnet Sue has 12 Sunbonnet Sue blocks with alternating solid red and white blocks. A red border frames the sides. The green outer border forms a fold-over binding. The quilt has a plain muslin back. It is hand quilted with white thread in a grid pattern. A buttonhole stitch used on Sue’s arm and hat.

Clara's Sunbonnet Sue

Take Care Of Your Treasures

If you want to be sure your quilts will be around for future generations to enjoy, you must treat them with tender, loving care. Do not leave them in sun light for prolonged periods of time. They will fade.

Store the quilts in acid-free tissue paper in a cool dark place. If folded, re-fold them periodically so that the quilt does not develop a permanent crease along the fold.

Wash in cold water if you must. I use Vintage Textile Soak to remove age stains. You can find Vintage Textile Soak at your local quilt shop or visit them on the web at http://www.starspangledsampler.com/. Air drying is probably best, but I have used a dryer. Remove it immediately.

Following these simply guidelines will ensure that your treasure will be around for future generations to enjoy.

Vintage Textile Soak 

A Word about Grandmothers and Quilts

My grandmother Clara Ford was born December 12, 1892 and died May 20, 1966. She was a quilter. The most memorable thing about her small home in Crossett, Arkansas was the huge quilt frame that took up the entire living room. She always had some scraps around. My sisters and I called her Big Mama.

Big Mama taught me how to sew. I had lots of feed sack skirts that we made on her Singer peddle sewing machine. I was glad she taught me to sew. When I got to high school I skipped the required home economics class and took French instead. No need to learn what you already know. I didn’t see the value in quilting at the time.

When my mother died in 2000, I inherited some of Big Mama’s quilts. They had been locked away in a trunk stored in the back of the closet. By then, I had become a quilter. I understood the value of my inheritance and knew I would forever be rich.

I plan to create the Clara Ford Foundation so that my grandmother’s quilts can be preserved for future generations. I hope they live forever – just like the Declaration of Independence – just like Michaelangelo’s paintings.

I hope you enjoy Clara’s quilts and her legacy.