International Black Doll Show & Sale May 26 in Philly

If you are in the Philadelphia area on May 26, take time to visit the Pennsylvania Convention Center,12th and Arch Streets for the 23rd International Black Doll Show and Sale from 10am to 5pm.  The show is sponsored by the Philadelphia Doll Museum and   Admission is $7 for adults. Click here and get a coupon for $1 off. A thank you shout-out to doll maker Tonya Montegu and quilter Angela for sharing news of the show with me. Drop a note if you are going to this doll show! I may even take the train up.  Enjoy!
Special thanks to the (very cool!) Black Doll Collecting blog for correcting me on the location of the show - which will be at the PA Convention Center. 

California quilter Sandra Johnson's First Quilt Show

Orange County, California Sistah Quilter Sandra Johnson was featured in her FIRST quilt exhibit in February 2011 at Second Baptist Church in Santa Ana, CA.  Her quilts in this show were inspired by the Gee's Bend quilters. Sandra, thank you for posting this YouTube video. We eagerly await your future quilt exhibits!  Enjoy!

Gifted: Art Quilts Featuring African American History Makers

Just published!  Gifted: Art Quilts featuring African American History Makers by Aisha Lumumba is now available. This 28-page, full-color catalog showcases moving pictorial quilts of famous folks such as Billie Holiday, Whoopi Goldberg, Forest Whitaker (quilt appropriately titled "No Trees Just Forest"), a dignified Sidney Poitier, a notorious and stern Biggie Smalls, and more. The portraits seem real given Aisha Lumumba's talent for putting bits of fabric together in such a way you "see" the real person.  Can't you just feel Billie Holiday dig deep while singing "God Bless the Child" from this cover photo?  Be sure to read this visually delightful art quilt catalog!  Enjoy!

Women of Color Quilters Guild in Dayton, OH Stitch Harriet Powers' Lost Lord's Supper Quilt

There are times when I am just speechless and extremely humbled.

As you may know, I've been researching Georgia quilter Harriet Powers for the last few years and wrote a book about how her two known Bible-themed quilts survived more than a century to be housed today at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Smithsonian American History Museum. In the course of my research, a copy of an 1895/86 letter by Mrs. Powers was uncovered in Keokuk, Iowa.  Mrs. Powers wrote that in 1882 she "... composed a quilt of the Lord's Supper from the New Testament." For reasons outlined in the book, I believe in the possibility that a quilt by Mrs. Powers could have been sold to a woman in Keokuk - and that, if true - that quilt may have been sold at an 1959 auction in Keokuk.

Last year I couldn't shake this thought that a quilt by Mrs. Powers might still be somewhere in a family's collection. To help get the feeling out, I designed what I thought Mrs. Powers' lost Lord's Supper quilt might look like. Elyse Whittake-Paek took my funny stick-figure sketches and drew proper quilt blocks. Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi then took the quilt blocks and made the quilt now on the book cover.  

Mrs. Harriet Powers' spirit was indeed in the project!  Recently Dr. Mazloomi shared the photos below of quilts lovingly stitched by members of the Women of Color Quilters Network, Dayton, Ohio chapter. These sistah quilters are Christians and know well the Bible stories in the Lord's Supper Quilt. I LOVE how they took the patterns and made the designs their own!  Don't you agree?  Look at how unique each interpretation is!  Congratulations, ladies!

 

Thelma Patterson stands behind her quilt!

 

 

This quilt above was made by Verita Robinson!

 

This quilt above was made by Barbara Dammons! 

Happy Mother's Day to the WOCQN - Dayton, Ohio!  Enjoy!

Limited Time - Free Kindle Yo-Yo Flags Quilt pattern eBooklet

For a limited time only - you can download this free YoYo Flag Quilt Pattern by Mary Lou Danielson. 

Note: Though free at the time of posting, prices may change at any time. Please verify that the “Kindle Price” is $0.00.  

Don’t have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or you can download a Kindle Reading App for free for your computer or smartphone!  Enjoy!

Secrets & Stories exhibit at the Visions Art Museum in San Diego

If you are in San Diego, do take a moment to visit the "Secrets & Stories: Narrative Quilts by Nine Artists" exhibit at the Visions Art Museum. The show is open from May 4 - July 22, 2012.  The artist include Rachel Brumer, Michael Cummings, Karen Cunagin, Wendy Huhn, Carolyn Mazloomi, Lori LUpe Pelish, Wendeanne Ke'aka Stitt, Susan Shie and Anna Torma.  Enjoy!

P.S.  This quilt in photo is by Weneanne Ke'aka Stitt and is titled "Birdland".

Senior Crafters Earn Online

Thanks to the article "Seniors Get Crafty for Online Fun and Profit" by Rebecca Rivas, we get to meet seniors like Ioni Dodson, who in retirement, is combining ecommerce and her crafts to showcase her work on etsy.com.  Also featured in the article is Dabanga dos Santos, another sister crafter who is sharing her work online.  Enjoy!

Martha Ann's Quilt for Queen Victoria - Free Kindle Copy

For a limited time only - April 27 - 29, 2012 - you can download a free eBook copy of Martha Ann's Quilt for Queen Victoria to your Kindle. 

Note: Though free at the time of posting, prices may change at any time. Please verify that the “Kindle Price” is $0.00. If you see a price for “Prime Members” or “read for free,” then the book is NOT free any longer.

Click here to download from Amazon for the Kindle: Free

Don’t have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or you can download a Kindle Reading App for free for your computer or smartphone!  Enjoy!

Update: Thank you!  I appreciate all who may have participated. I was overwhelmed with the several thousand downloads of Martha Ann's story!  Thank you!

Free Bonus Quilt Block - The Lord's Supper Pattern Book

In celebration of Spring, here is a link to a free, bonus quilt block - The Angel protects Daniel in the Lion's Den. This block is in the design style of Georgia quilter Harriet Powers. One can use this block to make a pillow to go with the quilt I designed in "The Lord's Supper Pattern Book."  Or, I suppose a Sunday School class could also use this block for coloring (smile)!

 

Don't you think illustrator Elyse Whittaker-Paek did a wonderful job capturing Mrs. Powers' style?  Hope you enjoy the pattern.  Happy Spring!

Be a Quilter + Author by Publishing Your Own Quilt Catalog

So excited! I've been working on a new quilt project.

How would you like to be a quilter/artist + author this year?! If you know how to use Microsoft Word, have Internet access, and at least a dozen digital images of your quilts or other textile art, YOU CAN make your own quilt catalog! And, if you are a cloth doll maker, a mixed media artist, a quilted postcard maker and more - you are welcome to participate as well. If your guild is hosting an exhibit, the steps here can also show you how to easily create a catalog of your guild exhibit!

I will host a series of blog posts showing step-by-step how you can create your own 24-page, full-color catalog - and have it for sale on Amazon.com.

Take a moment to visit the PublishYourQuilts blog and sign up there for emails of each post. The series will start on Monday, March 26. Is this something you might be interested in? What would you want to be sure to learn? Leave a comment here so that I can be sure to include in the series of posts! Enjoy!

Nike's Black History Month - limited edition shoes - Does LeBron quilt?

Nike is celebrating Black History Month with an international flare. They are focusing on three different, emotional moments for players of color from the USA, Brazil, and Kenya. For the US side, the moment is the Women's Basketball team won gold at the 1996 Olympics.

Nike has also issued a limited edition set of Black History shoes. Yeah, I know this is a quilt history blog. But, check out the LeBron 9 BHM shoes. What a fabulous kente cloth inspiration. It reminds me of the 1998 landmark exhibit "Wrapped in Pride: Ghanaian Kente and African American Identity" Have a look here at the Nike Insight site to see the other shoes in the Black History 2012 collection - they also have a quilt-theme going on.

Quilters on the court!? Football great Rosey Grier did needlepoint. Do you think that LeBron quilts? What kind of quilts would LeBron stitch? Traditional, story? hand or machine? What say you!? Enjoy!

The Lynch Quilt Project with LaShawnda Crowe Storm

Are you familiar with The Lynch Quilt Project? This community quilt project is lead by artist LaShawnda Crowe Storm of Indianapolis, IN. (Her 2004 quilt in the photo here is title "Her Name Was Laura Nelson.")

The Lynch Quilts Project is a community-based effort meant to explore the history of lynching and consequences of racial violence. You don't have to be in Indianapolis to participate - visit TheLynchQuiltProject.com website to learn how you can take part. Specifically - LaShawnda tells me they are looking for volunteers to finish the last 100 blocks (out of 440!) for one of the pieces for the Quilt IV segment.

You can read the December 2011 Indianapolis Recorder article about the project by clicking here.

Lynchings as a theme in quiltmaking is not new. Click here to see April Shipp's "Strange Fruit Quilt" or Gwen Magee's Southern Heritage; Southern Shame quilt.

Black Moses Barbie video

Guess I was influenced by the lynching quilts .... here is a thought-provoking video part of Pierre Bennu's "larger series of paintings and films deconstructing and re-envisioning images of people of color in commercial & pop culture." And, if you are looking for a connection between Barbie and quilts .

Kwanzaa Harambee Fabric from Kweli

It's that time of year! Innovative holiday fabrics from Kweli - this print is Kwanzaa Harambee and is available on Spoonflower.com. Enjoy!

Meet Lori Greene Mosaic Artist

WOW - was visiting other blogs and came across Lori Greene, a mosaic artist in St. Paul's, MN. Lori is also a 2010 Bush Artist Fellow. Here is one of her pieces. Do take a moment to visit her blog at http://greenemosaic.blogspot.com. Enjoy!

StorybookQuilts.org creates a new Coffee Tree Quilt

What a wonderful surprise I recently received! The quilers at StorybookQuilts.org take children's books with quilting themes and make actual quilts to share during story time at local schools. Students get to read the actual book and see the quilt. Here is the quilt inspired by Martha Ann's Quilt for Queen Victoria. Take a moment to visit the site and two dozen plus story quilts there! Enjoy!

From July 21 to September 18, 2011, the quilt "Douglass' Kansas Color Light Artillery Battery (Union) Soldiers" quilt will be on display at the Spencer Museum of Art. This quilt is a collaboration between Sistah Kansas quilter Marla Jackson and ninth-graders from Michel Loomis' English class at Central Junior High in Lawrence, Kansas. According to the museum's press release, the First Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry, depicted in the quilt, was the first black regiment to service with American Indian and white troops. Way to go kids! Enjoy!

Laverne Brackens, Texas Quilter is an Award Recipient!

Congratulations to Laverne Bracken of Fairfield, Texas for receiving one of nine 2011 National Endowments for the Arts National Heritage Fellowships for her quilting. You can see more of Mrs. Bracken's quilt at the Quilts and Stories by Sherry Ann blog. You can click here to read about seven other African American quilters who have been Fellowship recipients in the past. Enjoy!

AAQOC Quilts at the Lakeview Library in Oakland, CA

This is the last week that 29 small quilts from the African American Quilt Guild of Oakland are on exhibit at the Lakeview Library, 550 El Embarcadero, in Oakland, California. This is the 8th year the guild has participated in displays at this library. The exhibit is open to the public from Aug 3 - 31, 2011. Enjoy!

“African American Quilters of Los Angeles: A Tradition of Pride” - opens Sept 7, 2011

If you are going to be in the Los Angeles area, “Wrapped in Pride: Ghanaian Kente and African American Identity,” an exhibition at the California State University, Dominguez Hills University Art Gallery opens Sept. 7. This exhibit will explore the art of making kente, its symbolism in the cultures of Africa, and its expression of identity in African American communities.

Concurrently, at the University Art Gallery will be the exhibit “African American Quilters of Los Angeles: A Tradition of Pride” curated by African American Quilters of Los Angeles (AAQLA) vice president Estelle Hamilton and the University Art Gallery, and will feature 30 quilts, including those by Ree Adams, Anne Bastiste, Olga Chachere, Linda Country, Linda Gardner, Ernestine Hadley, Estelle Hamilton, Lou Holland Jones, Debra Knox, Sharon Mathews, Judith Nash, Emma Quinn, Elvis Smith, Toni Terrell-Randolph, and Audrey Williams. An anniversary shout-out to AAQLA, which is celebrating 25 glorious, stitching years in 2011! Both exhibits run through October 18, 2011.

Read more: The Downey Patriot - African cloth on exhibit at university. Enjoy!

Chris Clark, Alabama Quilter 1958 - 2011

My prayers are to the family of Chris Clark, a popular Alabama quilter and folk artist, who passed away Tuesday from diabetes. I first became acquainted with Chris' distinctive painted quilts when I was researching Black Threads: An African American Quilting Sourcebook. I was able to speak with him on the phone and hear him share how he first got started quilting. He also let me know one of his quilts was used for a musical CD cover, Laser's Edge American Sampler (1999). I was able to see one of Chris' quilts in person at the Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum. WOW - what he could do with a nine-patch block and paint! You can see more of his quilts at:

• Chris Clark Art website
• Visionary Art website

According to the Birmingham News, Chris is survived by his wife Deborah Clark; his daughter, Tameika Clark; his mother, Kathleen Clark; and father, Ocie Clark Sr. You can leave a note to his family on Chris' memorial page on Legacy.com. (The photo of Chris here is from the Birmingham News article. Blessings.

Vlisco African Prints - Fashion Catalog July 2011

Just saw the new Vlisco ad campaign on their website. There is video of the runway show! And, if you click here, a copy of the catalog with fashion photos like the two here. Can you see a quilt made from these fabrics!? Enjoy!

Mixed Greens: Saving the Earth One Quilt At A Time - book now available!

Congratulations to Gwen Maxwell-William and the Pacific Northwest African American Quilters guild for publishing "Mixed Greens: Saving the Earth One Quilt At A Time," a catalog featuring environmental and recycle themed quilts. The 64-page, full-color catalog is available from Blurb.

The quilts are on exhibit at the La Conner Quilt & Textile Museum in La Conner, Washington from June 29 to October 2, 2011. The exhibit is curated by Deborah Boone – quilter/fiber artist and member of the Pacific Northwest African American Quilters. Enjoy!

Baltimore Book Festival - Join Kyra Hicks and Maria Murnane

If you are going to be in the Baltimore, Maryland area September 23 - 25, do stop by the Baltimore Book Festival! On Saturday, I will join Maria Murnane, the award-winning author of Perfect on Paper, a novel for anyone who has ever run into an ex looking like crap, to give a fun workshop on how to get published. Together we will explain the difference between traditional and self-publishing and provide a clear, step-by-step guide to each. We'll cover the pros and cons of both routes to help you weigh them against your goals as an author! Terry McMillian and Tavis Smiley will be at the Festival, too! Enjoy!

Smithsonian 14k Bible Quilt Bracelet from QVC

You know you're an extraordinary quilter when your quilt design inspires so many more than 100 years AFTER you stitched the quilt! A friend sent me a link to this Harriet Powers' Bible Quilt inspired 14K gold bracelet from the Smithsonian Collection and available on QVC. This one is available from QVC for $273. This Bible Quilt bracelet is 8 inches. Remember the other Powers' quilt products?

• Bible Quilt Upholstery Fabric from 20 years ago, which I'm still looking to unravel who manufactured.
  
• Bible Quilt watercolor painting by artist E. L. Swanson
• Powers' Pictorial Quilt pattern book
• Bible Quilt bedspread and pillow shams from the Smithsonian - years ago
• Or the rather racy novella "A Lesson in Espionage" by CL Scholey!
  

What do you think about it or the other items inspired by Mrs. Powers' quilts? Enjoy!

A Lesson in Espionage by CL Scholey - a hot novella involving Harriet Powers

On my Kindle reading list is the novella by racy writer and grandmother CL Scholey. For just $3.99 you can read "A Lesson in Espionage." Here's the promo about this eBook (highlights are mine):

"Espionage and daring intrigue in the nineteenth century? Vonnie, a woman of African-American descent, is a reclusive historian searching for her passion. A missing quilt made by Harriet Powers. Her dreams have been haunted mysteriously by the woman since her first visit to the Smithsonian when she was but a child of six. Vonnie is certain there is something of desperate importance Harriet needs her to discover. The only thing Demarco Axel needs to discover is how Vonnie became tangled up in a CIA clandestine investigation. After he kidnaps her to gain the truth, they embark on a perilous mission to unravel the secrets centered around the mysterious missing quilt..."

WOW - who would have thought Harriet Powers and her quilts would also affect literature in this way!? Have you read this story yet? Enjoy!

Update: I did read this novella - and it's really good! Fasted-paced. I could not believe the CIA is on the trail of Harriet Powers' lost Lord's Supper Quilt! Worth a read.

Google's new What Do You Love? - Try Quilting

Google has soft launched a new search engine called What Do You Love? It's a one-stop place to find image results, videos, books, mapping, alerts, trends in online discussions, and more! Here is a quick screenshot of African American Quilting in the new What Do You Love? search engine. Try it yourself - put in your own name, or your guild's name or Underground Railroad quilts, or Obama Quilts, or ..... What do you think of the new search engine? Enjoy!

Kickstarter - One Quilter's Project Awaits Funding

Have you visited the fundraising website Kickstarter? At the moment, sistah quilter Marion Coleman is trying to raise funds to travel to Lithuania this fall as part of the Kaunas Textile Biennial '11 and to attend the European Textile Network conference. Have a look at her project today and view her video. If you decide to make a donation, you won't be charged unless the total amount she is seeking is pledged by a certain date. Marion's six part narrative quilt series will be on exhibit in Lithuania. Best wishes Marion! Enjoy!

Sue Rock Originals Everyone!

If you haven't heard of the fantastic work Sue Rock is doing, you should check out the 5 min video here! Sue Rock Originals Everyone is the only domestic violence non-profit committed to textile support to those suffering from domestic violence. The 501(c)3 non-profit engages volunteers to sew, knit, or crochet new garments for domestic violence survivors.

According to Ms. Rock, who received a Woman of Valor Award for Excellence in Service by New York State Senator John L. Sampson in May 2011, "for seven years we have had the encouragement of the Brooklyn District Attorney's office in supporting the lives of women."



You can donate directly to this charity or purchase garments at the Sue Rock Originals Everyone store in Crown Heights Brooklyn (1069 Bergen Street, NY, NY 11216). Visit Sue's blog http://suerockoriginals.blogspot.com/ or the Sue Rock Etsy store for vintage knitting and crochet patterns. Enjoy!

Marian Wright Edelman - 1966 Visit to Quilters

Marian Wright-Edelman (standing) is visiting quilters at the Mount Beulah Center, operated by the Delta Ministry of National Council of Churches in Mississippi, according to a June 1966 Ebony magazine article. The quilters would send the completed pieces to an African American owned cooperative in Jackson to be sold. Just consider - quilts as a revenue generator way back in 1966! Enjoy!