I hate to see fabric scraps go landfill, so when a kindergarten teacher asked me for some, a few years ago, I overdid it with several big bags, I've been giving them to kindergarten ever since. I dropped a bag off this morning. Reuse! It is much easier to decide if a scrap is worth keeping, when you know it is moving to another artist.
#sewing #quilting

I hate to see fabric scraps go landfill, so when a kindergarten teacher asked me for some, a few years ago, I overdid it with several big bags, I've been giving them to kindergarten ever since. I dropped a bag off this morning. Reuse! It is much easier to decide if a scrap is worth keeping, when you know it is moving to another artist.
#sewing #quilting

*DJ. Khaled voice* Another one! All my active hobby projects wrapped around the same time, heh #sewing #quilting https://making.melanie-richards.com/nursery-mug-rug/

RE: https://mastodon.art/@inarticulatequilter/116013126825237803

Before #CelebratingBlackQuilters, I did not know that column quilts are a traditionally African design. It's made me re-evaluate a lot of quilts I've come across, seeing influences that I wouldn't have before

I've actually learned a lot about the African-American influence on contemporary quilting - later this month, I'll be spotlighting a woman who almost singlehandedly introduced 3 separate modern quilting techniques!

#Quilting

*DJ. Khaled voice* Another one! All my active hobby projects wrapped around the same time, heh #sewing #quilting https://making.melanie-richards.com/nursery-mug-rug/

RE: https://mastodon.art/@inarticulatequilter/115996166561993824

Going to be posting from a new group of famous (and deserve to be more famous) African-American quilters each day during #BlackHistoryMonth - be sure to follow #CelebratingBlackQuilters to see samples of their work and learn more about each of them

I'll also be boosting last year's daily quilter too - 2X the quilty goodness every day this February!

#Quilting

#CelebratingBlackQuilters
#BlackHistoryMonth

Viola Burley Leak (1944-) earned four separate art degrees on her path to world-renowned painter, printmaker and quilter. A one-time toy designer, her #quilting work is known for combining African-American heritage with mystical elements, often with lots of movement to the designs

Representative work:
Katrina Wreckage and Tears…And Still We Rise
Cotton/Lame/Paint
77½ x 72½”
2012

More info:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viola_Burley_Leak

Photo credit: CE & Mary Martin

#CelebratingBlackQuilters
#BlackHistoryMonth

Celeste Butler (??-) is an Omaha, Nebraska-based artist who communicates through salvaging/deconstructing fabrics and other material. Seeking to create teachable moments with her work, she has been quoted as saying that quilting is more than art, it’s a lifestyle that touches everything

Representative work:
Ancestors
Cotton/Denim/Wood
Unknown
2020

More info:
https://celestebutlerart.com/
https://boldjourney.com/meet-celeste-butler/

Photo credit: Artist

#Quilting

#CelebratingBlackQuilters
#BlackHistoryMonth

Jo-Ann Morgan (??-…) began making quilts in 2020 as a way of processing both the pandemic and the murders of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd. Since then, the former art history professor has developed a unique appliqué style she uses to memorialize dozens of victims of police killings, gun violence and war

Representative work:
Elegy for Elijah
Cotton/Lace/Fur
50” x 41”
2021

More info:
https://www.picturingblackpower.com/

Photo credit: 803 Labs

#Quilting

#CelebratingBlackQuilters
#BlackHistoryMonth

Wini “Akissi” McQueen (1943-) still has bits of the quilt she made at six with scraps her grandfather brought home from his work at a cotton mill. The Howard alum, who found a home in Georgia, used hand dyeing/image transfers in her early quilts though her recent work has explored more conceptual ideas

Representative work:
Ode to Edmund
Cotton/Photo transfer
40” x 61”
1992

More info:
https://historicmacon.org/wwwhistoricmaconorg/blog/2022/11/3/thats-how-we-survived

Photo credit: High Museum

#Quilting

RE: https://mastodon.art/@inarticulatequilter/116013126825237803

Before #CelebratingBlackQuilters, I did not know that column quilts are a traditionally African design. It's made me re-evaluate a lot of quilts I've come across, seeing influences that I wouldn't have before

I've actually learned a lot about the African-American influence on contemporary quilting - later this month, I'll be spotlighting a woman who almost singlehandedly introduced 3 separate modern quilting techniques!

#Quilting

#CelebratingBlackQuilters
#BlackHistoryMonth

Harriet Powers (1837-1910) learned to sew while enslaved in Georgia. After the Civil War, she and her spouse owned a farm, but financial difficulties forced her to sell the quilt shown (for $5!) She is known to have made many quilts with religious and astronomical themes, though only two of her works have survived.

Representative work:
The Bible Quilt
Appliqué
88”x74”
1886

More info:
https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object/nmah_556462

Photo credit: Smithsonian

#Quilting

#CelebratingBlackQuilters
#BlackHistoryMonth

Wini “Akissi” McQueen (1943-) still has bits of the quilt she made at six with scraps her grandfather brought home from his work at a cotton mill. The Howard alum, who found a home in Georgia, used hand dyeing/image transfers in her early quilts though her recent work has explored more conceptual ideas

Representative work:
Ode to Edmund
Cotton/Photo transfer
40” x 61”
1992

More info:
https://historicmacon.org/wwwhistoricmaconorg/blog/2022/11/3/thats-how-we-survived

Photo credit: High Museum

#Quilting

Your Black History Month art post for today features quilting: by Beverly Y. Smith (born 1957), “Minerva,” mixed media quilt, graphite portrait, vintage flour sacks, ticking fabric, vintage bow-tie quilt patterns, drunkard’s path and patchwork quilt design, 71x40inches, completed 2022, ©️Beverly Y. Smith. #BlackHistoryMonth #quilting #blackart #blackartist #womenartists #womanartist

https://www.beverlysmithquiltart.com/artist-statement

https://www.instagram.com/quiltbev

From the artist’s Instagram: “After the Civil War, freed slaves placed wanted information ads in newspapers to find family members separated by slavery. The ads verify the persistent efforts made to reunite with love ones. Through my quilts, my ancestors beckon me to find family members separated as early as the 1700s and to call them by their names.
1. I found her…my gg- grandmother’s twin Minerva! They were born in 1821 and were separated during slavery.
2. The rocks which serve as headstones reveal a secret yet conscious coding system that the living slave community designed for their deceased. These small stones surrounded Minerva’s gravesite.
3. Cherokees believed that cedars contained powerful spirits, including the spirits of the departed buried beneath them. Eastern red cedar is known as the “graveyard tree.
4. My gg-grandmother Moriah born enslaved, owned by Jeremiah Blaylock
5. Toni Morrison speaks on connecting with the ancestors.”

#CelebratingBlackQuilters
#BlackHistoryMonth

Rosie Lee Tompkins (1936-2006) learned quilting as a child but didn’t pursue the craft seriously until later in life. 500+ works from her 2½ decade quiltmaking career are in the permanent collection of the Berkeley Art Museum. Born Effie Mae Martin, Tompkins was a pseudonym used to protect her privacy.

Representative work:
Untitled
Cotton, wool, polyester
104” x 145”
c. 2002

More info:
https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/rosie-lee-tompkins-0

Photo credit: Ben Blackwell

#Quilting

Your Black History Month art post for today features quilting: by Beverly Y. Smith (born 1957), “Minerva,” mixed media quilt, graphite portrait, vintage flour sacks, ticking fabric, vintage bow-tie quilt patterns, drunkard’s path and patchwork quilt design, 71x40inches, completed 2022, ©️Beverly Y. Smith. #BlackHistoryMonth #quilting #blackart #blackartist #womenartists #womanartist

https://www.beverlysmithquiltart.com/artist-statement

https://www.instagram.com/quiltbev

From the artist’s Instagram: “After the Civil War, freed slaves placed wanted information ads in newspapers to find family members separated by slavery. The ads verify the persistent efforts made to reunite with love ones. Through my quilts, my ancestors beckon me to find family members separated as early as the 1700s and to call them by their names.
1. I found her…my gg- grandmother’s twin Minerva! They were born in 1821 and were separated during slavery.
2. The rocks which serve as headstones reveal a secret yet conscious coding system that the living slave community designed for their deceased. These small stones surrounded Minerva’s gravesite.
3. Cherokees believed that cedars contained powerful spirits, including the spirits of the departed buried beneath them. Eastern red cedar is known as the “graveyard tree.
4. My gg-grandmother Moriah born enslaved, owned by Jeremiah Blaylock
5. Toni Morrison speaks on connecting with the ancestors.”

#CelebratingBlackQuilters
#BlackHistoryMonth

Jo-Ann Morgan (??-…) began making quilts in 2020 as a way of processing both the pandemic and the murders of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd. Since then, the former art history professor has developed a unique appliqué style she uses to memorialize dozens of victims of police killings, gun violence and war

Representative work:
Elegy for Elijah
Cotton/Lace/Fur
50” x 41”
2021

More info:
https://www.picturingblackpower.com/

Photo credit: 803 Labs

#Quilting

My grandfather's workshop table served me well as a sewing machine table for over a decade, but my body demands fewer ergonomic hacks that barely hold together these days. I now have an adjustable desk!

BTW the sewing machine mat was an impulse purchase but I can't BELIEVE how much quieter my machine is, and it was pretty quiet already.

(Old ironing surface repurposed as a new side table, workshop table folded & stored away for later use to support quilts) #quilting #sewing