Sisters in Stitches Quilt Show 2005

Sisters in Stitches Quilt Show - 2005

Holbrook, Massachusetts

by Patricia Cummings
photos by James Cummings

"Minding the Herd" quilt - Sisters in Stitches show
"Minding the Herd," was made by Michelle Harrell from an African mud cloth panel.
This was Jim's favorite quilt of the show.

On Friday, April 29, 2005, we traveled to St. John Episcopal Church in Holbrook, Massachusetts to attend the Sisters in Stitches Quilt Show. The guild which sponsors the two-day show is comprised of twenty-nine African American quilters. Susi Ryan is serving as this year’s president.

As we entered the basement of the church in which the show was held, we immediately noticed the "African Kaleidoscope Quilt," a colorful “opportunity quilt.” Whoever put this quilt together knows how to make colors sing. Reportedly, the women who worked on the quilt had lot of fun. They all brought scrap strips to a meeting and wondered how all those colors would “go” together. Yet when the quilt was finished, they were very proud of their efforts!

As usual, the quilts in the show reflect both the pride of the quiltmakers in wanting to do a good job, and they also mirror the strong ties that these women have for their African roots. Several of the quilters spoke of either having traveled to their ancestor’s home of origin, or of their plans to go there in the future.

Ancestral Quilt: This strip-pieced star quilt was made by the late Adell Brown Clark of Epes, AL.

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A special exhibit of antique quilts, hanging in close proximity to each other, were offered for display by Hattie Jackson-Talley. They had been made by Adell Brown Clark (1914-1997), Hattie’s mother. All three quilts were retrieved from underneath a bed in Adell’s home in Epes, Alabama after her death.

One of the vintage quilts is a string-pieced, star quilt. A second quilt’s unusual feature is the material on the back made from heavy sacking with the word “Railroad” printed on it. Hattie Jackson-Talley tells us that her father worked on the railroad and brought these cement sacks home with him for her mother.

A third quilt is made of sturdy, utilitarian fabrics including a very unusual print with horses (on denim?). Other fabrics are a heavy, striped pillow ticking, and what appears to be recycled patches from clothing. All of the quilts were meant for warmth, and not just to be admired.

Another antique quilt is a yo-yo quilt made by a member of Celeste Janey's family. That one consists gathered circles of fabric that are joined together by small whipstitches at four equidistant points of the circle. The fabric appears be from the 1930s/40s era, a time period when yo-yo quilts were popular.

In the twenty-first century, the quilters of this guild might be making some utilitarian quilts. However, that is not apparent if the art quilts in the show are an overall indication of their quilting preferences.

One outstanding quilt that we marveled about is one made in the Liberian style. Annette Thomas learned from a friend how to make the all-satin quilt that has four large appliquéd flowers which resemble the Bible-based, traditional, American quilt pattern, “Rose of Sharon.”

Annette made the tiniest appliqué stitches to affix the layers of the flower together and to appliqué it to the background of white satin. The quilt features rows and rows of “echo quilting,” about a finger apart. This hand quilting task looks as though it must have been quite a challenge! The white, textured, satin background bounces light off of its surface. Presumably, that would make seeing the quilting stitches very difficult.

Annette spent a long time visiting with us and explained her love of quilting. Her mother liked to sew, and she herself has made doll clothes since she was just seven years old. She recalled begging her mother for a chance to use the old treadle sewing machine that was kept constantly whirring, but her mother refused, saying that she was too young. Now, Annette is making up for lost time. She has six quilts in the show, including one called, “Out of Africa” which features authentic African print fabrics.

She told us that people ask her why she bothers to quilt when anyone can just buy a quilt from the store. She exclaims that they just “don’t get it!” For her, quilting is about art. After seeing all of the quilts in the show, we would surmise that that statement is true for most of these quilters. We especially liked the appliqué work depicting human figures.

We loved the sinuous flowing lines of these figural quilts. The quilt on the left, "Earthly Woman," was made by Susi Ryan in 2001, and was designed by her daughter, Gina E. Ryan.

There are two quilts shown in the right hand photo. The quilt on the left, "Sassy Lady," was made by Millie Maines. The quilt on the right, "Posing," was created by Michelle Harrell.

Haywood Fennell, Sr. was on hand to autograph copies of his new book, Coota and the Magic Quilt, a book for children.

The friendliness of everyone at the show, including all of the vendors, the greeters, and other members of the guild was noteworthy and exceptional.

Vendor Chris Covert from Maine, a.k.a. "The African Lady," travels to Africa on buying trips for her business a number of times each year. She brought many of her “finds” to the show including many wonderful pieces of cotton damask cloth, batik panels from Africa, mud cloth, and jewelry. Chris travels to give talks to guilds, too. Contact her at: jobo@acadia.net or call (207) 422-9529 in Hancock, Maine.

All of the quilts in the show were a feast for the eyes and we thank these fine ladies for sharing a bit of their artistry with the public.

To see an additional review, visit: See Sisters in Stitches 2001

For more information about joining the Sisters in Stitches Quilt Guild, call:
(508) 853-1899, or write to the president, Susi Ryan, at:
isusquilts@yahoo.com.