Clara Ford Foundation

Two Quilt Shows in Atlanta in April

2008-04-06T13:23:00.004-02:00

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.

Antigua Sunrise Offered For Sale

2007-12-06T06:26:00.000-02:00

#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.

Phyllis Stevens Sponsors Fund Raiser for Circle of Friends

2007-10-12T10:22:00.000-02:00

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.

Lisa Shepard Visits Atlanta

2007-10-01T12:34:00.000-02:00

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.

CFF Participates in YWCA Open Your Purse Event

2007-09-23T11:26:00.000-02:00

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.

East Cobb Quilt Show Features African American Quilters

2007-09-10T12:01:00.000-02:00

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.

Quilting Pioneer Cuesta Benberry Dies

2007-09-09T10:58:00.000-02:00

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

2007-06-09T10:10:00.000-02:00

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.

Gees Bend Quilter Files Suit

2007-06-06T20:35:00.000-02:00

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

2007-06-02T09:31:00.000-02:00

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.

Brown Sugar Stitchers Quilt Show Winners Announced

2007-05-09T12:50:00.000-02:00

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

2007-05-09T12:34:00.000-02:00

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.

Quilts: A Common Thread opens at the Arts Clayton Gallery

2007-05-03T21:17:00.000-02:00

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.

Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum Call For Entries

2007-04-30T15:19:00.000-02:00

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.

Clara Ford Foundation Launches New Web Site

2007-04-30T15:11:00.000-02:00

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.

Brown Sugar Stitchers Show is May 5

2007-04-02T10:52:00.000-02:00

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

2007-03-29T10:50:00.000-02:00

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.

Uncommon Threads at Southwest Art Center

2007-03-23T08:31:00.000-02:00

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

2007-03-10T12:37:00.000-02:00

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!

2007-02-25T10:34:00.000-02:00

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

2007-01-21T16:29:00.000-02:00

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.

What are Your Quilt Dreams?

2007-01-14T23:29:00.000-02:00

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

2007-01-07T11:52:00.000-02:00

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.

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

2007-01-07T11:41:00.000-02:00

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

Sacred Threads 2007 Accepting Entries

2007-01-07T11:39:00.000-02:00

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

Brown Sugar Stitchers Bring Cheer to the Gateway Homeless Center

2006-12-31T11:33:00.000-02:00

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

2006-12-31T10:56:00.000-02:00

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.

Applique Society Announces 2007 Conference

2006-12-24T12:14:00.000-02:00

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.

Bulloch Hall Accepting Entries for Annual Quilt Show

2006-12-23T12:15:00.000-02:00

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.

Georgia Quilts: Piecing Together A History

2006-12-12T07:00:00.000-02:00

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.

Seasons Greetings!

2006-12-08T11:45:00.000-02:00

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

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

2006-12-07T21:52:00.000-02:00

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 »

The Quiltmaker's Gift: A Book Review

2006-12-03T11:57:00.000-02:00

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

2006-12-03T10:33:00.000-02:00

Quilts from the Quiltmaker's Gift

2006-12-03T10:32:00.000-02:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

2006-11-13T00:49:00.000-02:00

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

Dollmaker Wows Brown Sugar Stitchers

2006-10-23T12:24:00.000-02:00

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.

Carole Lyles Shaw Show 10/13 – 11/5

2006-10-08T12:51:00.000-02:00

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/

Fiber on a Whim - New Shop in Atlanta Area

2006-10-08T12:17:00.000-02:00

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!

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

2006-09-24T13:10:00.000-02:00

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.

Back to School with Quilt History 101

2006-09-12T20:22:00.000-02:00

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.

Stitched From the Soul

2006-09-11T02:10:00.000-02:00

Civil War Women

2006-08-28T20:34:00.000-02:00

By Barbara Brackman

Black Threads

2006-08-28T20:31:00.000-02:00

By Kyra Hicks

How to Compare and Value American Quilts

2006-08-28T20:30:00.000-02:00

By Stella Rubin

Communion of the Spirit

2006-08-28T20:29:00.000-02:00

By Roland Freeman

A Piece of My Soul

2006-08-28T20:28:00.000-02:00

by Cuesta Benberry

Hidden in Plain View

2006-08-28T20:27:00.000-02:00

Signs and Symbols

2006-08-28T20:25:00.000-02:00

By Maude Southwell Wahlman

Quilt Exhibit at Atlanta History Center

2006-08-26T13:11:00.000-02:00

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.

Make Your Quilting Pay

2006-08-06T01:15:00.000-02:00

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

2006-07-30T11:26:00.000-02:00

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

2006-07-30T11:21:00.000-02:00

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

2006-07-20T12:31:00.000-02:00

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.

Beginners Quilt Class at Intown Quilters

2006-07-20T12:23:00.000-02:00

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.

Gees Bend Quilts Head to San Francisco

2006-07-09T21:52:00.000-02:00

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.

Intown Quilters Opens in New Location

2006-07-09T16:07:00.000-02:00

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.

Heavenly Melody

2006-06-19T11:31:00.000-02:00

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

Heavenly Melody For Sale at Art Station Gallery

2006-06-19T11:30:00.000-02:00

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.

Flowers Hoping to be Free

2006-06-19T11:20:00.000-02:00

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

2006-06-19T11:18:00.000-02:00

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.

2006-06-15T11:36:00.000-02:00

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

2005 Office Quilt Unveiled at Art Station Gallery

2006-06-15T11:01:00.000-02:00

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.

2006-05-12T11:02:00.000-02:00

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

2006-05-12T10:53:00.000-02:00

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.

Great Quilt Documentation Software

2006-05-01T11:07:00.000-02:00

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.

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

2006-04-30T11:26:00.000-02:00

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

2006-04-16T22:04:00.000-02:00

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

2006-04-16T21:56:00.000-02:00

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

2006-03-19T17:35:00.000-02:00

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

2006-03-18T18:07:00.000-02:00

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

2006-03-05T00:38:00.000-02:00

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!

2006-02-25T15:43:00.000-02:00

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

2006-02-04T19:34:00.000-02:00

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.

Clear out that Clutter: Get Organized Now!

2006-01-28T21:11:00.000-02:00

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

2006-01-15T10:51:00.000-02:00

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

2006-01-15T10:11:00.000-02:00

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!

2006-01-02T22:33:00.000-02:00

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

2006-01-02T22:32:00.000-02:00

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!

2006-01-02T22:30:00.000-02:00

© 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!

2005-12-26T10:56:00.000-02:00

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?

2005-12-26T10:54:00.000-02:00

Merry Christmas.2003.

Aleathia's Red Hat Quilt

2005-12-26T10:36:00.000-02:00

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

2005-12-26T10:33:00.000-02:00

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

Bessie's Red Hat Quilt

2005-12-26T10:22:00.000-02:00

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

Fabric is Better Than Food

2005-12-25T16:09:00.000-02:00

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!

2005-12-04T14:47:00.000-02:00

Musical Christmas Star, 77 x 77 inches, 2002.

The Quiltmaker’s Gift: A Book Review

2005-12-04T14:31:00.000-02:00

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

2005-12-04T14:06:00.000-02:00

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!

2005-11-21T23:39:00.000-02:00

Life is Good. 78 x 98 inches. 2002

Take a Moment To Be Thankful

2005-11-21T23:28:00.000-02:00

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

2005-11-20T18:19:00.000-02:00

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.

2005-11-11T00:34:00.000-02:00

India's Prima Ballerina Stars, 2001.

"Black Threads" Reveals Purchasing Power of African American Quilters

2005-11-11T00:25:00.000-02:00

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!

2005-11-11T00:19:00.000-02:00

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

2005-11-06T13:12:00.000-02:00

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

2005-10-30T22:13:00.000-02:00

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/.

2005-10-23T18:45:00.000-02:00

The above article appeared in the Fulton County Daily Report.

Decorating with Quilts

2005-10-23T17:37:00.000-02:00

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

2005-10-23T16:39:00.000-02:00

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.