this past thursday was the opening to a wonderful quilt show...that i am elated to be a part off.
"quilt stories" at the riverside mertropolitan museum
for the artist and special guest there was a special pre-opening wednesday. despite everything going on last week...e made the family decision that we were going to go...he told the kids "this isn't a democracy"
weak as a overcooked spaghetti noodle, i tried to just show my face...however there were many people wanting to hear the story behind my quilts, many wonderful artist to meet, and many people that the show's curator brenda wanted me to meet. needless to say, i ended up being there for about an hour...praying i wouldn't pass out...and trying to keep the butterflies in my tummy away.
despite it all....like i said in my previous post, i met some wonderful quilt artist. most exciting for me was meeting a group of african american women, who have a "quilting group" not a guild...and invited me to join and be a part of the group. the quilting skills of the group leader are "shut your mouth" good. she does everything by hand and without a thimble! lots of these ladies i learned in talking to them do things by hand. i mentioned that they were a group of a.a. women because after talking to a few of them, and them asking me where my quilting "heritgage" comes from i learned that they tend to do things in "the old way." i lot of their skills have been handed down...and they follow the ways of their grandmothers, grandmother's mother and so on. some of the women are also like my grandmother and orginally from the south.
The other reason why i am so excited about this group is it gives me a chance to re-connect with my family's quilting "heritage" the skills and quilts has been lost, but not the stories.
before we move on to the pictures, i want to let you know the range of quilts that are in the show:
- gee's bend quilts
- traditional african american quilts
- navajo & hopi quilts
- cultural heritage quilts
- riverside community quilts
- citrus heritage quilt
- family quilts
- gallery children's quilts (my "story" quilts)
the exhibition features 44 quilts...and i think more will be added in the next month or so.
also i feel the need to let you know that the pictures are completely not up to snuff. in addition to me being a bit "out of it" a good majority of the quilts are behind glass, which meant no flash...and the lights are low...which meant bad lighting. i do plan on going back for a number of different lectures the museum is having and trying to get better pictures...if i do i will update the pictures here. not to mention i couldn't photograph as many as i wanted...so expect more.
the entrance to the museum
children's gallery featuring my quilts and a sitting area and drawing tools
mariner's compass quilt
new york, 19th century
pieced
museum collection, purchased with funds provided by metropolitan museum trust
nappy hair quilt
riverside, ca. december 2000
barbara mackenzie for her grandaughter
hand applique, hand quilted
"my grandaughter spent the summer with us and the book nappy hair brought back memories of that special summer"
close up of hand quilting (this is the woman who works purely by hand without the thimble...her stitches were incredibly small and precise)
sweet clara and the freedom quilt
riverside, ca 1997
Barbara Mackenzie
hand pieced, hand quilted
gee's bend
"z" quilt
*unfortunately because of my blurry picture of the label i don't know who the artist is, i will update this soon.
back quilt: flying sparrow star quilt, c. 1977
gee's bend
lucy t. pettway
left bottom quilt: donkey quilt, c. 1939
kerryville, tennessee
mary williams
"mary williams the granddaughter of slaves, was inspired to do this quilt by the family's two favorite donkeys...she came from a long tradition of quilters." i believe this quilt my appear in the book african american quiltmaking in michigan.
right bottom quilt: hog feedsack quilt, c.1900
magnolia, arkansas
ailene mckeller and julie copeland
more information on this quilt can be find in the book african american quiltmaking in michigan
african american quiltmaking in michigan 
here is a "close-up" of the donkey quilt, which had to be one of my most favorites in the show. i got a lot of inspiration from this...and would love to do a similar series of quilts...i gotta let the idea marinate into something...but i just can't wait.
the cool thing about this quilts is that the animals were large maybe 20" or so by 15" i am so used to seeing smaller animal quilts...i found it quite inspiring to see these large animals. it gave me new perspective on blocks...i thought i had...i hope that made sense.
these two quilts by a navajo/seminole woman named margaret wood, each tells the story of her mother's life (rht) and her father's life (lft) in two family quilts. each block outlines a particular family story, event, memory that is held dear about her mother and father. one of the quilt blocks illustrates a hummingbird and sling shot, the particular story is that her mother was an excellent shot and one day while shooting rocks with her brothers she accidentally killed a hummingbird, she was deeply saddened by this and it was something that weighed heavily on her for her life. on the father's quilt there is a particular block that illustrates a "marlboro man" smoking a cigarette, and the story is that the marlboro man looked and resembled her father.
these were two more of my favorite quilts, i found a lot of inspiration in the piecing of a life in a quilt to tell stories and remember loved ones. i can't wait to try my hands at this. i must also add that the seminole style quilting was amazing...i'm looking forward to the quilt stories panel discussions.
here are some more close-ups:
the "hummingbird/slingshot" block
the "malboro man" block (sorry for the blurriness...i tried as best as i could to clean it up in elements and this is as good as it got...but i didn't want to not include it...i'll try and get better pics and update soon.)
my quilt: #2, rumination series, c. 2007
kiandra jimenez
appliqued, hand-dyed fabric (by artist), painted, machine quilted
this quilt was made in celebration of the mexican holiday "dia de los muertos"
well, this was an awesome show, the range of quilts were simply amazing, a few other pictures that i had taken didn't fair well under the circumstances and no amount of ps elements could fix. i hope to be getting more pictures of those soon.
i found so much inspiration in this show...i can't wait to relate it to new series of work. by estimates it will have to be later this year or beginning of next as i have lots of pieces to do for shows this year...and other things...but none the less...i love having inspiration in my brain just waiting to come to life.
love, peace and quilting...
paz,
ki
