Morning Make - May 2020

At the end of April my son decided to learn how to sew All. By. Himself. He made 2.5 quilt blocks, they were awesome. He told me he wanted making a quilt big enough to wrap around himself. He also said he wanted to start the day with sewing, like me. So rather than have any machine work on the go in the mornings I made May Morning Make about hand stitching so I could be available for him. And he hasn’t sewn a stitch since!

I, however, got a quilt top finished in May with that hand stitching. One applique shape at a time.

The background fabric was a single piece of linen I picked up in California years ago. It was intended for a different applique project, but things change! I liked that it was a single piece of fabric, as opposed to something I had to sew together. It also constrained the project in a good way. As for the other fabric choices, I simply went into my solids bin and picked mostly based on size. And ability to match with thread I already had in the house. The green and the periwinkle came first then I chose a yellow to have some pops.

It was absolutely coincidence that I had the spool of Aurifil 80W that matched this vintage mystery fabric in periwinkle. But using it made me want this thread in ALL. THE. COLOURS. for any future applique work.

Other than having a general idea of a collage, I started and progressed with no real plan. It looked quite questionable at the beginning, I won’t lie. But halfway through the month I could see the vision come to life. Every couple of days I cut a few shapes out fabrics. Some general shapes are repeated, but never measured to be the same. By cutting a few at a time I could have a bit of control over the distribution of colour. Then each morning I would pick a shape that motivated me or looked good that day and stitch it on.

While it’s been a while since I did any applique, I stuck with my tried and true basting technique. I didn’t invent it, but I will certainly sing its worth.

The original influence came from the collage and painting work of Lisa Congdon as well as the watercolour marks made through Lisa Solomon. That being said, when I was flipping through old sketchbooks I came across an image I made seven years ago that could definitely also be an influence.

One of the most difficult parts of an applique project for me is then deciding how to quilt it. A part of me worries about ruining the applique with quilting. Or questions whether I should highlight the applique or ignore the specific construction. Needless to say, this quilt top will sit for a bit while I figure it out more.

We’re halfway through June and I decided to put the needles down entirely for Morning Make. And my son still hasn’t sewn anymore himself.

Yes, There is Racism in Quilting

Stop the pearl clutching. Let go of your conventions.

Stop saying that politics has no place in quilting. It 100% does.

Stop thinking that white privilege is not a thing. It absolutely is.

Much is being said this week, much is going on this week. I feel like we are at a reckoning for civil action. People are FED UP with the systemic and blatant racism in policing, in society. Thousands and thousands are marching peacefully. Many are raging too. Quilting should be no different.

Like the White House was built by slaves, quilting was also built on the backs, the deaths, the enslavement of people. Cotton. Just think of cotton. Not a person among us should be free of the imagery, the reality, of a cotton plantation. White owners, black slaves. All for cotton. And what is it that is the mainstay of our industry? Cotton.

Of course I am not saying that current quilt shops, fabric companies, and designers are slave owners. But we must absolutely acknowledge that this industry arose as a direct result of slavery.

So, yeah, stop clutching your pearls.

When quilters want to use their skills and their creativity to make a statement with their quilts they are doing so with over a century of tradition behind them. Temperance quilts, church fundraisers, signature quilts all have something to say or show. Block designs acknowledge periods of history or events and we use them now not knowing. So many quilt blocks have Biblical inspirations, those are just as political as a modern interpretation of a raised fist. Quilters use quilts to raise their voices.

The people complaining that politics have no place in quilting are really saying that politics different than theirs don’t belong. It is about silencing a voice they disagree with. And more often than not it is about a white person silencing a voice that is coming from a person of colour or in support of. A perfect example of this is the quilt show reaction to the travelling exhibit Threads of Resistance.

So yeah, quilts always have, and always will be political.

My skin is white. That affords me a luxury of safety and comfort that many others do not have. I do not have to worry that I will be viewed as a thief in a store, just for being in the store. I don’t have to style my hair differently when shooting a class so that I look less ethnic. I am not questioned about whether I am in the right place, ever. All because my skin is white. If you need more explanation or white privilege and you haven’t been watching the news lately, this post is quite succinct. Here is a direct example from the quilt industry. Or take a look at the faculty of nearly every major show, and some of us may remember the defensiveness or organizations when it was pointed out. That is all white privilege.

Look at your book shelf of quilting books, or at the bins in your stash. How many of them were created by black quilters? I’m not saying that the companies are blatantly racist and excluding black designers. It is more that we are all conditioned to see white as better, myself included. I’ve benefited from that system, no doubt. That is white privilege. I had to sell myself, but I had a built in advantage. There are, you should know, a tonne of talented black quilters, designers, artists, and teachers including are Nicole Neblett, Chawne Kimber, and Carole Lyles Shaw. They deserve their spotlight too.

A few years back, it was either at Quilt Market or QuiltCon, a group of women came together to take a photograph. Their point was to show that they were all different people. It wasn’t a group of blonds or middle aged pattern designers, it was a group of black women. Ebony is not Latifah is not Rashida, yet people always want to mix them up. Why? Because they are all notable black quilters and seemingly people couldn’t tell them apart. Why? Because they likely weren’t seeing them as individual people, just ‘the black quilter’. People laughed at the stunt, but it was more telling of the industry than anything.

So yeah, white privilege exists and it is here in quilting.

There is no perfect way forward. And I know that people don’t want to hear that they are wrong or even get the hint that they are racist. Now is the time for all of us to look in the mirror, look at the words we say, and how we act towards all people. I am doing that, so should you.

Don’t be complacent, do the work.

Don’t expect others to educate you, educate yourself.

Don’t assume that you are without fault, we are all a product of history and a system.

I do sincerely hope that time is a reckoning. Here, as a quilter, I want to do the work to make those changes. So I will keep reading, writing, researching, making, listening, amplifying, and respecting. I encourage you to do the same.

As a start, I recommend the following:

The Social Justice Sewing Academy.

The work of both Carolyn Mazloomi and Faith Ringgold.

Checking out the collections of various museums like the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the Berkley Art Museum. There is more to African American quilt traditions than Gees Bend.

Reading Empire of Cotton by Sven Beckert and How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi.

Clearing Crumbs

Are you baking bread these days? I am. About 3-4 loaves of sourdough a week. And that doesn’t include my newfound love of making our own hamburger buns or my daughter’s obsession with pretzels. What I did not account for is the crumbs. With each fresh loaf there is a slippery coating on my kitchen floor, a Goldilocks trail throughout the living room and dining room, and a coordinating set on the butcher block counters. So. Many. Crumbs.

Suddenly the term ‘Crumb Quilt’ makes sense.

A few weeks ago we were talking about scraps on our weekly Virtual Trunk Show (Watch it on Instagram Live or IGTV). I shared my scrap sorting method which involves, among other things, an old bread basket filled with anything cut as I go on all projects. I did my session of the trunk show outside that day and it was a bit windy. There was fabric all over the backyard! Of course, the overflowing basket didn’t help the situation. It was time to sort.

It took about two hours to get through it, the pile was quite large on the cutting table. Strips longer than 6” here, scraps bigger than a few inches in their designated colour sorted bin, and all the little bits together there. Then I decided the little bits needed to be sorted into two more distinctions - big little bits and itty bitty little bits. Don’t ask me the sizes, it was all arbitrary.

On my birthday I was gifted the afternoon home alone - a delightful treat during Covid isolation - and took some time in the sewing room. It was glorious! For a couple of hours I sewed nearly useless scraps of fabric to other bits. Over and over again. Trim, sew, press, repeat. All to the soundtrack of Dolly Parton’s America.

Eventually I got myself to some random block sizes. Then I remembered that I had done the same thing at some point last year so I pulled out those blocks. That’s a bonus to working with scraps this way: they can always play together.

I’m not sure where these will end up, but it does deal with one of the messes in the sewing room. For now it is the perfect antidote to the world. And a perfect reflection of the crumbs in my life.

Not Reaching Your Goals is NOT a Failure

54 is decidedly not 44.

A year ago I set an intention to finish quilts. I had 54 projects on the Quilts Under Construction list. So, in the year I was 44 I thought it would be am good idea to get that list down to 44. It seemed reasonable. It is reasonable. And I did finish 6 projects. Some of those held long time spots on the list, or short spots. Some were started and finished in one go. I did, however, start a number of projects as well. They are taking up room on the list as blocks or completed quilt tops.

So be it.

In a few days I turn 45 and 45 is 54 backwards. That tiny fact appeals to me. Since I can’t be 44 forever, and I still don’t have 44 projects on the Quilts Under Construction list then I will hang on to this little tidbit of cheer.

And really, when it comes down to it, I don’t care about that number. I don’t care that I started more than I finished this year. Why? Because it all represents the joy of making. The process is so, so great. I don’t want to get hung up on the number of finished quilts. If that is all I wanted then I could just go buy a quilt at the mall. Okay, maybe not right now, but you get the point.

As I look through my master list I am reminded on projects started for specific reasons and that memory makes me smile. I see projects that started as a moment of play that grew and grew. I see old projects that I am, admittedly, a little sad, aren’t getting their time in the sun. I see quilt tops I am anxious to quilt (and the 4 big pieces of batting I bought recently calling their names).

Mostly, I see my time invested in myself. That’s right, not invested in the projects, in myself. That’s because this is 80% about my mental health and finding joy in the creative act and 20% about making a quilt. And this past year, especially these past few months, have been stressful and busy. Without a creative practice like quilt making I definitely would be full of anxiety and tears. Those things are there, but I can manage them because I make.

Long time readers will probably think I sound like a broken record. I can’t argue with that. Right now though, we need to see this more than ever. Make for the sake of making.

So on my distanced birthday this year I will likely get a few stitches in a few different projects and none will get finished. It will be glorious. One of these days I will get down to 44, or maybe even less? Or maybe I won’t.