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.