The Many Facets of African-American Quilting

The Brown Sugar Stitchers Quilt Guild Proudly Presents "The Many Facets of African-American Quilting." The show runs August 1st through August 7th, 2009 (closed Sunday, August 2nd) at the South Fulton Arts Center, from 10AM to 5PM daily. The show is open to the public (of course!) and is FREE! We are pleased to announce that we will be honored to have Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi, renowned quilter, author, lecturer and curator lecture on Saturday, August 1st, at 2PM at the South Fulton Arts Center, and again on Sunday, August 2nd at 2PM at the Hammonds House Museum. There will be a book signing and reception at both locations. Here are the quilts I will have in the show!

This one is Liberated Shaded Nine-Patch. The pattern is Shaded Nine-Patch and is a swap from the online African American Yahoo Group. Some of us missed the deadline (whoosh!) and decided that we would swap amongst ourselves. Jo said she had been "liberated" from the deadline, so that's why I called it my "Liberated" Shaded Nine Patch. I set it this way to have Adinkra symbols quilted in the negative space:

This is my Carrie Steele Pitts quilt. Carrie Steele is our guild's signature project, where we complete quilts and donate them to the children in the home to have as gifts for the rest of their lives. This quilt is sooooo sweet. You can't see the hearts in the quilting, but it turned out so well, I know the little princess who receives it will have sweet dreams.


This one is Maui Flower Power - the orchids remind me of Hawaii. This is from a class I took in 2004! I should call it Finally Finished!!!


This is my challenge piece, New York Beauty Goes to Africa. The challenge is issued to all guild members to create a piece interpreting The Many Facets of African American Quilting and what that means. To me, European quilting is characterized by repitition, sharp points, and matching patches. Our African heritage is more free-form (like jazz) and colorful. This block features the New York Beauty block, lots of sharp points and matching edges in African Print fabrics. I LOVE this, and am going to start working on blocks to finish this quilt.

And you've seen "Ra," the Egyptian God of the Sun. I thought I would lose my mind completing it. If I ever do that one again, I will put the circle on before quilting, and include that in the quilting.

We have over 140 quilts to display, and from what I saw being turned in on Saturday, it's going to be a great show! I spent all day yesterday cleaning up my sewing room. It looked like a fabric tornado had hit there! I took two big bags of garbage out, but the room doesn't look any different!

"Think of it as a power tool with thread."

La Bella Vita

Ah yes, the beautiful life...

How do you know when you are living the beautiful life?

Well...

When you are living the beautiful life, this is your backyard...

Your neighbors are movie producers who develop...mannequins... to dangle over the side of the house...for the entertainment of passersby...

And this is your gym...back and forth on this three times a week should take care of your cardio needs...

As you can imagine, I've enjoyed my visit to Marina Del Rey in California, and my taste of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. Walking on the beach every day has been great. Pam and I haven't spent this much time together since college, and we've done really well! We go back home on Sunday, to the Lifestyles of the Middle Class and Hardworking! I've only finished one of the five quilts I'm entering into the Brown Sugar Stitchers show, so...time to get going! (Is it the deadline yet?)

"I've been rich and I've been poor. Rich is better." Beatrice Kaufman