Small Wonders: Doll Quilts by Andrea Balosky

Billy Wilder, October, 2001, 15 1/2" x 20"

I'm working on a little catalog for the February, 2011 "Small Wonders" show at Latimer Quilt and Textile Center in Tillamook, Oregon. We're doing a self-published catalog using Blurb print-on-demand services. The catalog will be 120 pages, soft-cover, and we're hoping to break even and keep the cost per copy under $30. That's a tall order, considering the body of work includes 108 quilts! But the first draft is almost done, and I wanted to share some more pictures.

Garrison Keillor, October, 2001, 19" x 21"

Andrea Balosky created this body of work over a four year period. During this time, many things were happening in her life and in the world. Things were changing. The world was changing.

Desmond Tutu, July, 2002, 14" x 15"

Balosky and friend Merrily Ripley were stranded in Africa after 9/11. Balosky had accompanied Ripley, who works with international adoption advocacy, and the two bonded. They eventually returned home and got back to their daily routines, but America was not the same as it was before they'd gone to Africa.

Hermias, a sponsored AIDS child in Ethiopia, June, 2002
13 1/2" x 18"

Balosky continued to make the doll quilts, and they seemed to evolve after 9/11. She had earlier started naming the quilts more specifically for family, friends, and noteworthy individuals - rather than just picking random names. But the post 9/11 quilts seemed to have a greater sense of purpose, whether by designated name or innovative design.

Mr. Rogers, February, 2003, 14 1/2" x 18"

The name choices are very intriguing, and range from Nelson Mandela to Homer Simpson to the artist's mother. A large number of tributes are paid to artists, choreographers, musicians, humanitarians - and Balosky was clearly giving a nod to the freedom of creative expression and the ideal of world peace. At the same time, she was honoring some of the people close to her. 

So, that's all I've got for today. Hope you've enjoyed these quilts! As the show starts to come together, I'll post some more. :)

Rosa Parks, October, 2001, 21" x 24"

Ever Lost a Quilt?

This Lost Quilt is a pattern called Magic Tiles

Ever lost a quilt and didn't know what to do? One of the coaches at the local pool, Jill Black, heard about how I'm interested in quilts, and she asked if there was something she could do to find a lost quilt. "Magic Tiles" was made for Jill by her mother, Shirley Ann Black, at class given by Dianne Stevenson, in January, 1998. Jill thinks there is an inscribed tag on the back. In June, 2004 she may have accidentally given the heirloom quilt to Goodwill / St. Vinnies in Portland when she and her family were moving to a new home. The quilt is a 3' x 4' mosaic of purples, browns, and blues.

I had the perfect place for Jill to post information about her lost quilt. It's a web site called Lost Quilt Come Home (http://lostquilt.com) - a web site devoted to finding lost quilts. The web site publishes pictures and information about lost quilts, and helps owners retrieve family heirlooms.

Kathleen Bissett (http://www.kathleenbissett.com/Magic.html) - is the designer of the pattern, which is available for purchase, and Dianne Stevenson teaches it in a class. I told Jill if she was inclined to try a little sewing, it could be replicated. 

Remaking a lost quilt is sometimes how people will ceremoniously claim back a lost family quilt. The photo is great because it shows the fabrics and arrangement. If she remade the quilt, the two quilts could some day find each other. "It's been known to happen." I said. Someone comes along and says, "I've seen a quilt like that!" Even though it's not the same as the original, the quilt gods have been known to bring good karma to those who pay tribute to a lost quilt in this way.

"The Past Lives On"

"The Past Lives On" by Nanette Fleischman

The Alliance for American Quilts is holding its annual benefit auction this month, and is auctioning some wonderful little gems on eBay. This year's theme is "New From Old" and it is a contest for quilters of all ages that celebrates the past in the frame of the present. There were a bunch of quilts that caught my attention in the first week of the auction, but the bidding for all the lots was ending at the same time - so I had to pick one.

My choice was "The Past Lives On" by AAQ member Nanette Fleischmann of Burnsville, North Carolina. The quilt is made of cotton with raw edge applique, machine quilted, with a nine-patch star on the back. It is 16" square, as are all the other quilts in the auction. Fleischman provided a lovely description of the quilt.

"Living in nothern Indiana for close to forty years, I witnessed the Amish people in their quiet ways of faithfulness to God, to their communities and most of all to their families. These women didn't have zigzag, metallic thread, batik fabrics, rotary cutters, cutting mats or computer sewing machines. They simply cut up their old cotton and wool clothing and recycled them into masterpieces."

I absolutely love pictorial quilts. The irony in that is I haven't collected many, but the reason is I've collected mostly pre-1900 quilts...until recently. The Amish buggy with the orange safety triangle is what drew me to this quilt. I remember seeing these in Pennsylvania when I was 12 years old. My mother and I would drive to Pennsylvania for weekend swim meets, and the buggies with their triangles opened a window to a culture I had not known before. Fleischman's quilt beautifully captures my memories of driving through Pennsylvania with Mom, and for that, I give many thanks.

The auctions will continue this week on eBay. For more details, visit the Alliance for American Quilts web site: http://www.allianceforamericanquilts.org.

NEWS FLASH- Lucy Mingo Made This Quilt!!

Bible Story, by Lucy Mingo of Gee's Bend, Alabama

Last week, I blogged about a quilt from Gee's Bend, Alabama, which had been attributed to Polly Raymond, daughter of Lucy Mingo. During the week, I discovered that Carolyn Mazloomi had purchased the quilt from Lucy many years ago, and sold it to Kyra Hicks, who sold it to me. Carolyn told me Lucy Mingo had made the quilt, and said it was common for the quilt makers of Gee's Bend to sign other names to their quilts to avoid potential repercussions with the IRS for the $50 they were making on each quilt sale. I was stunned by the revelation, and it seemed I had a little mystery on my hands, but I was perfectly happy to do a little detective work.

It was Lucy Mingo, not Polly Raymond, who made this quilt.

Earlier this week, I got Lucy Mingo's address from Joe Cunningham, who had traveled to Gee's Bend with Julie Silber a few years ago, where they met and befriended Lucy. So, I wrote a letter. In the letter, I said I had the quilt and I thought she might be able to tell me something about it. I included a picture of the quilt for her reference, mentioned that I had ceremoniously welcomed the quilt into my life by sleeping under it with my little old cat, who's my very best friend, and included a picture of little Boo.

Black cats are good luck, not bad. This is little Boo.

Lucy called me yesterday evening, and I was so excited, I was literally shaking. She giggled when I told her that. Lucy verified that she had in fact made the quilt, and was so happy to have a picture of it. She also verified the whole story about why it had been attributed to her daughter, Polly. When she'd seen the picture I sent, she recalled selling it to Carolyn Mazloomi. Lucy also gave me permission to publicly make the correct attribution. Wow!! and hooray!! The quilt is part of her legacy, and I am very grateful to be the one to set the record straight.

Once again, little Boo brought me good luck. Lucy enjoyed the picture of Boo, and we both enjoyed our conversation. She had fond memories of meeting Joe and Julie, including cooking dinner for them. I said they had told me what a good cook she was, and she giggled some more. I love Lucy!

Lucy Mingo is part of the group scheduled to travel to Sisters, Oregon, next summer for the Quilter's Affair and the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show. I look forward to meeting her! To add to my good fortune, I also get to meet Julie and Joe on November 20th, when I travel to San Jose for their next Quilt Adventure. I hope to one day meet Kyra and Carolyn, as well. Facebook can be so amazing, even more so if it leads to meeting such extraordinary people in person.

As I said to some of my friends, I am now avoiding feathers, because you could knock me over with one.

Getting My Feet Wet

Baby in Tub quilt, published in "Black Threads" by Kyra Hicks

I feel like a toddler stepping into a washtub and really feeling the warmth of the water for the first time.

The purchase of two quilts through eBay two weeks ago fueled my desire to learn more about African American quilts and quilt makers, and there's a lot to learn! I purchased a quilt from Gee's Bend, Alabama, which, as it turns out, may hold some big surprises in terms of attribution. More about that another time.

I purchased a second quilt, Baby in Tub, published in "Black Threads: An African American Quilting Sourcebook" by noted scholar, author, and quilt maker Kyra Hicks of Arlington, Virginia. Hicks was selling both quilts and two others from her personal collection, including a Smithsonian reproduction Harriet Powers Bible Quilt.

As we know, Gee's Bend received a staggering amount of media attention and acclaim from the arbiters of connoisseurship the art world when the quilts were first brought to the attention of the art world in 2002. But it seems the non-objective aesthetic seen in the quilts of Gee's Bend is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to African American quilts and quilt makers.

"The Wedding, The Lover's Trilogy: #1" by Faith Ringgold

When I started poking around on the internet, I learned that the non-objective works may not even be the most representative of what a majority of artists are doing today. Pictorial, narrative, storytelling quilts seem to be more prevalent among artists. One of these artists is Faith Ringgold, whose work I first saw in New York nine years ago as part of the "Heritage of Genius" exhibition sponsored by the Durst Organization.

The exhibition, curated by L.L. Powers, Eleanor Bingham Miller and Shelly Zegart, was displayed in three locations, and Ringgold's quilt "The Wedding, The Lover's Trilogy: #1" was one of the contemporary works that stood out to me. It was visually engaging, and contained a potent narrative. At the time, I was just at the beginning of my journey as a quilt collector. Two of my antique quilts were part of the show, and admittedly, I knew nothing about contemporary quilt artists. Ringgold's work was almost too much for me to process at the time. It seemed like it was more of the realm of contemporary art than quilt making. Something I would've seen in a New York art gallery or museum of art rather than a quilt show.

Another artist whose work I have recently started to learn about is Carolyn Mazloomi of West Chester, Ohio. Mazloomi, like Kyra Hicks, is a noted scholar and author. Her work also appears to be more part of the realm of narrative, storytelling quilts than the world of non-objective art. How fortunate I am to include Mazloomi, Hicks and a few other artists on my list of Facebook friends. I ask them lots of questions! During one of my Q & A sessions, there was a comment about how some folks have marginalized the work of African American quilt artists. That took me by surprise. Marginalizing this work is probably the last thing that would ever occur to me. I've loved everything I've seen.

The immediate result of all this learning, for me, is a rapidly growing book list. I've had the Gee's Bend catalog for years, and recently received Black Threads and ordered the "Freedom Quilting Bee: Folk Art and the Civil Rights Movement" by Nancy Callahan, and "Threads of Faith: Recent Works from the Women of Color Quilters Network" by Mazloomi. But I'm really just getting my feet wet. If you're reading this blog and have more book suggestions for me, please send me a comment.

Chalice / Goblet Quilt, c. 1910, from Missouri

Chalice / Goblet Quilt, c. 1910, from Missouri

About a month ago, I blogged about the Goblets quilt pattern and the Drunkard's Path. Both patterns had been identified as symbols of the Women's Christian Temperance Union as anti-alcohol messages, and it didn't make sense to me that these patterns were invented by the WCTU as such.

The discussion trailed off with a theory I presented to the group discussing these patterns, and it was that I felt the WCTU adopted pre-existing patterns as vehicles for their political messages. Others seemed to agree. The basis for my theory was the way the imagery was presented, the celebration of the Goblet, the humor in the trail blazed by the Drunkard's Path.

I looked at these patterns in this way because my orientation toward quilts is as a student of art history from a family of collectors, and as a lover of art. I see quilts as great works of art, and feel quilts are truly the most indigenous form of American art expression. I feel the quilt makers, not the painters, invented modernism and non-objective art. I feel quilt makers invented pop art, decades before the pop art movement.

This Chalice / Goblet quilt came from Ann Durley of Mostly Quilts in Independence, Oregon. Originally, it came from Missouri. I had seen it last summer at the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show in Sisters, Oregon but couldn't buy it because my bank account was really tapped out at the time. Luckily, when I attended the Palmer/Wirfs Antique Expo over the weekend, Ann was there. So I bought the quilt. I love it because the goblets are facing both right side up and upside down.

Earlier today, I was speaking with a friend and I asked her, "Why me? Why do these great quilts just seem to find me? Why do the amazing stories fall into my lap the way they do? What in the world did I do to deserve such good fortune?" She told me it is because my heart is open. What a wonderful thing to say. If my heart wasn't open already, it is now.

Wild Thing!

I call this quilt "Wild Thing" and I think I love it!

"Wild Thing, I think I love you," said The Troggs in their classic 1966 cover of the popular party anthem, written by New York City-born songwriter Chip Taylor and first recorded by The Wild Ones in 1965. I was born in 1966, so I get it, but "Wild Thing" is not a song I've found myself singing too often about a quilt.

I found this wildly psychedelic-colored quilt at the Palmer/Wirfs Antiques Expo at the Portland Expo Center over the weekend. It is unlike anything I've ever collected. It's much, much younger than the bulk of my collection, which is primarily pre-1900.

I believe the quilt was made in the late 1960's early 1970's. That would make it the only quilt I have that represents the time period when I was born. No wonder I was drawn to it. I remember these colors and fabric types in the clothing of the period.

Even though I was drawn to this piece and felt connected with the fabrics, I was still asking myself, "Why did I buy this quilt?" It's not really related to anything else in my collection, I don't really intend to collect vintage 1960's or 1970's quilts, unless it's something very unusual like an early art quilt. Then I started singing the song again, and realized why. It's because we're both wild things.