Life is Good. 78 x 98 inches. 2002
posted by O.V. Brantley @ 11:39 PM
Monday, November 21, 2005
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!
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!
posted by O.V. Brantley @ 11:28 PM
Sunday, November 20, 2005
Obituary of Ruth Clement Bond, A Trailblazing Quilter
© 2005 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on 11/14/2005.
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.
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.
posted by O.V. Brantley @ 6:19 PM
Friday, November 11, 2005
"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.
posted by O.V. Brantley @ 12:25 AM
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.
posted by O.V. Brantley @ 12:19 AM
Sunday, November 06, 2005
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.
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.
posted by O.V. Brantley @ 1:12 PM
