An Examination of Three African American Quilters in Florida Qadira M

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Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School

2009 An Examination of Three African American Quilters in Florida Qadira M. Davidson

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FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF VISUAL ARTS, THEATRE, AND DANCE

AN EXAMINATION OF THREE AFRICAN AMERICAN

QUILTERS IN FLORIDA

QADIRA DAVIDSON

A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Art Education in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

Degree awarded: Spring Semester, 2009

The members of the committee approve the dissertation of Qadira Davidson defended on November 7, 2008.

______Tom Anderson Professor Directing Dissertation

______Maxine Jones Outside Committee Member

______David Gussak Committee Member

______Pat Villeneuve Committee Member

Approved:

______David Gussak, Chair, Department of Art Education

______Sally McRorie, Dean, College of Fine Arts

The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members.

This is dedicated to my family. Thanks for your confidence in me and cheering me on.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I want to thank my major professor, Tom Anderson, for his support and guidance over

the years and the members of my committee for their assistance and counsel.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Figures vii Abstract ix 1. INTRODUCTION 1 Statement of the Problem 3 Research Question 3 Supporting Questions 3 Objectives 3 Overview of the Study 4 Rationale 5 Scope and Limitations of the Study 6 Definition of Terms 6 Summary 7 2. LITERATURE REVIEW 8 Quilts: An Overview 8 Historical Overview 10 Traditional African American Quilts 13 European and African Connections 15 The Gee’s Bend Quilters 15 Quilting in Florida 19 The Transition to Art Quilts 21 African American Art Quilts 23 Faith Ringgold-Art Quilter 25 Quilt-Making and Art Education 26 Summary 28 3. METHODOLOGY 29 Statement of the Problem 29 Research Question 29 Supporting Questions 29 Objectives 29 Research Design 30

Sample 32 Setting 33 Methods 33 Instruments 33 Quilter Survey 38 Summary 38 4. LYNETTE JOHNSON 47 5. LAUREN AUSTIN 87 6. DORIS GEORGE MANNING 121 7. COMPARE AND CONTRAST 136 Thematic Analysis 136 Pre-figured Foci Presented in Synthesis 136 8. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS 157 Research Question 157 Supporting Questions 157 Emergent Foci 171 Conclusions 176 Implications 181 APPENDICES 185 REFERENCES 256 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 258

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1. Lynette at Home 48 Figure 2. Lynette with Ghanaian Fabric 53 Figure 3. Wedding Ring Quilt 57 Figure 4. Lynette with her Warrior Women Quilt 62 Figure 5. Graph Wave Formation 65 Figure 6. Warrior Women with Graph Like Machine Quilting 66 Figure 7. Lynette's Circle Quilt 68 Figure 8. Lynette Lining up Fabric Before Cutting 71 Figure 9. Lynette Before Interview 74

Figure 10. Lynette Cutting and Trying out Fabrics 77

Figure 11. Lynette Browsing through her Fabric Near her Sewing

Machine 81

Figure 12. Lynette in her Studio Browsing for Fabric 82

Figure 13. Lynette's Exotic Silks and Embroidered Fabrics 83

Figure 14. Changing Course 85 Figure 15. Midnight in a Wisteria Garden 85 Figure 16. Atlantic Center for the Arts Entrance 89

Figure 17. Visitor Center 90

Figure 18. Sign Outside of Lauren's Studio 92

Figure 19. Lauren’s Sewing Area 92

Figure 20. Lauren in her Studio with her Quilts on the Design Wall 93 Figure 21. Hester's Quilt 94 Figure 22. Lauren Working on the Quilt Bottom 96 Figure 23. Rusted Chain Lauren uses for Fabric Surface Design 97 Figure 24. Longarm Quilting Machine on which Quilts are Draped 98 Figure 25. Machine Quilted and Drawn Hand 99

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Figure 26. Quilt Featuring Lauren's Mother 101 Figure 27. Lauren's Adinkra Tattoo 103 Figure 28. Lauren Holding her Hand-Dyed Fabric 109 Figure 29. Lauren in the Kitchen to Dye Fabric 112 Figure 30. Dye Baths, Adinkra Stamp, and Chemicals 113 Figure 31. Different Colored Dye Baths in the Kitchen 115 Figure 32. Lauren Preparing to Paint on Fabric 116 Figure 33. Lauren's (Orange) and my Fabric Paintings 117 Figure 34. Lauren's Fabric Painting 118 Figure 35. Adinkra Symbol Made with Discharge Paste 119 Figure 36. Piano Man in Textural Rhythms 120 Figure 37. He Drums Lubolo in Textural Rhythms 120 Figure 38. The Walkway Near Doris' Kitchen Door 122 Figure 39. Doris' Collards and Other Plants 123 Figure 40. Doris in her Living Room 124 Figure 41. Doris and her Quilt with a View of the Courtyard in the Background 125 Figure 42. Doris with Quilting Paraphernalia Around her 127 Figure 43. Food Cooking on the Stove 128 Figure 44. Fish to be Fried and Glazing Turnovers 129 Figure 45. Templates from the Quilting Conference 130 Figure 46. African Themed Fabric from the Quilting Conference 131 Figure 47. Doris Hand Piecing 132 Figure 48. Dishwashing Liquid Aprons 133 Figure 49. Doris' African Fabrics Quilt Top 134 Figure 50. Doris' Quilted Pillow 134 Figure 51. Doris Holding up one of her Large Quilts 135

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ABSTRACT

Studies have been done on contemporary non-traditional quilts in the larger quilting context in Alabama (Arnett et al., 2002; Callahan, 1987), Arizona (Hazard, 1993), Arkansas (Benberry, 2000), and Kentucky (Benberry, 1992). However, from my examination of the literature no intensive study had been done on contemporary, non- traditional African American quilts in Florida. This study examined the quilts and quilting processes of three African American contemporary non-traditional women quilters in Florida. Although there are African American male quilters my focus was on women quilt artists. For this study I defined traditional quilts as those quilts that utilized long-established patterns, designs and exacting construction techniques and that were usually used as bed coverings. Contemporary non-traditional quilts were made within the last twenty-five years for artistic purposes, did not largely consist of established patterns, and were without a planned functional use. The study explored the meaning of quilting to the quilters and the overall implications for art education. I began by exploring the general history of quilting and African American traditional quilting and ended with the more recent history of art quilts and African American art quilters. Participants were sought through a combination of online and mail-in surveys. The surveys or survey links were sent to Internet quilting groups, Florida quilting guilds, and quilt shops in an attempt to locate members of the African American quilting population in Florida. Of the quilters interested in participating in the study I selected three African American quilters based on their survey information that reflected the diversity in experience and quilting I sought. The quilters were from different areas of the state, represented different age ranges, and quilting techniques. Quilters were videotaped and photographed as I interviewed and observed them. The report takes narrative form (Eisner, 1998) and addresses themes that arose during the study as well as the research questions.

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

I am interested in the development of contemporary non-traditional African American quilts. Since non-traditional quilts, which I define as quilts created solely for artistic purposes, are a recent development of the late 1960s to early 1970s (McMorris & Kile, 1986), I also examined the history of traditional quilts by African Americans as context for my interest in contemporary non-traditional quilts. For the purpose of this study I define traditional quilts as those quilts that utilize long-established patterns, designs and exacting construction techniques and that are usually designed for use as a bedcovering. Contemporary non-traditional quilts are those quilts made within the last twenty-five years for artistic purposes not largely consisting of established patterns and without a planned functional use. Additionally, some African American quilts, both traditional and contemporary, incorporate design elements and techniques from West African textiles so I will explore this as appropriate. Historically speaking, I am interested in the period from the late 1970s to the present. The late 1970s to early 1980s saw the emergence and celebration of the art quilt and in particular, of the works of Faith Ringgold whose work has been shown at the Quilt National exhibition. Quilt National, a biennial juried exhibition of art quilts, began in 1979 (McMorris & Kile, 1986). Ringgold, a painter, soon became the most prominent and recognizable contemporary African American quilt artist. In 1980, Ringgold created her initial quilt, Echoes of Harlem, in collaboration with her mother, fashion designer Willi Posey (Cameron, D., Powell, R. J., Wallace, M., Hill, P., Gouma-Peterson, T., & Roth, M, 1998; Ringgold, 1995). It was her work that first stimulated my interest in contemporary African American quilts. I became interested in quilting approximately 13 years ago influenced by my lifelong interest in sewing and art. Initially, I experimented by creating a small quilted wall hanging and a tote bag using traditional pieced patterns. The next wall hanging I made was composed of cut out and applied images, a technique known as appliqué, that I attached by sewing machine and hand quilted. My first large contemporary non-

traditional quilt, approximately 30” x 45”, was a self-portrait. Since then I have created, exhibited, and sold numerous contemporary non-traditional quilts. Although there are male quilters, both traditional and contemporary in style, my focus is on women quilt artists. Women create quilts for many reasons. Historically, for traditional quilters, keeping warm was a priority (Arnett, 2002). With heating now available to most, cost not withstanding, quilting is no longer the necessity it was, for functional purposes. A group of poor African American women in Gee’s Bend, Alabama, were originally quilters of necessity (Arnett, W., Beardsley, J., Arnett, P., Livingston, J., Beardsley, J., & Arnett, P., 2002). However, their quilt patterns and construction techniques were not all strictly traditional. Many reflected the quilters’ own creativity or adaptation of traditional patterns. Construction and quilting techniques often varied from traditional quilting in that the stitching was not always small nor the fabric meticulously pieced. After Gee’s Bend received electricity in the 1960s, during the era of civil rights, and the women’s quilts were made famous by national exposure, many of them began to make their quilts more artistic, although retaining their utilitarian status (Arnett et al., 2002). The Freedom Quilting Bee, formed during the civil rights era to economically assist the women in this poor community, was instrumental in exposing the quilters to different designs, artists and methods of quilt making (Callahan, 1987) which they often incorporated into their own quilt making. The materials, subject matter, and design of contemporary non-traditional quilts may be extremely different from those used by traditional quilters. Contemporary non- traditional quilters are likely to use materials such as paint, fabric markers, beads, rayon, silk, hand dyed fabric and expensive non-cotton fabric in addition to the established cotton fabric and thread used by traditional quilters (Duke, Harding, & Harding, 1987; Mazloomi, 1998; McMorris & Kile, 1986). Contemporary methods of construction may include fabric glue, stitching, or other experimental methods. Numerous traditional patterns and methods of construction are detailed in the over 400 pages of The Ultimate Quilting Book (Gordon, 2001). However, designs from contemporary artists, even when grouped by general subject matter or themes, present a wide variety of techniques, materials, and interpretations (Mazloomi, 1998).

This, then, sets the context for this study: that is, contemporary non-traditional quilts in the larger quilting context. Studies have been done on such quilts and quilters in Alabama (Arnett et al., 2002; Callahan, 1987), Arizona (Hazard, 1993), Arkansas (Benberry, 2000), and Kentucky (Benberry, 1992), but from my examination of the literature no intensive study has been done on contemporary, non-traditional African American quilts in Florida. That is the focus of this study.

Statement of the Problem

Due to the limited amount of information about contemporary African American quilters in Florida I am exploring the motivations and methods of African American women quilt artists in Florida and drawing from my conclusions implications for art education theory and practice.

Research Question

The guiding question in this study is “How and why do three contemporary African American women quilt artists in Florida make quilts, what is the meaning and significance of that activity to them, and what are the implications for theory and practice in art education?”

Supporting Questions

To help answer the research question for this study there are four supporting questions. 1. What are the three quilt makers’ education, artistic and other influences? 2. What processes and qualities are present in their quilts? 3. What are the distinctive traits related to their Florida origin (anything specifically Floridian about them)? 4. What does it mean to these quilters to make and exhibit their quilts?

Objectives

The necessary steps and procedures to answer the research and supporting questions, stated as objectives, are to:

1. Review the literature on African American quilting in America to set a context for the structure of the study, 2. Construct, distribute, receive, and analyze a general interest survey from which to gain general information and select quilters for the study, 3. Contextually examine the work of three African American quilt artists in Florida and interview them about the meaning and significance they see in what they do, 4. Draw conclusions from the data, 5. Make critical connections to art education theory and practice.

Overview of the Study

After conducting the review of literature, which conceptually frames my study, I contacted Internet quilting groups, Florida quilting guilds; quilt shops, and fabric shops to locate members of the African American quilting population in Florida. I hoped to contact at least 75 African American quilters from these sources. In fact, I located approximately 70 Florida quilt guilds (http://www.floridaquiltnetwork.com/guilds.htm), numerous quilt and fabric shops statewide (http://www.floridaquilting.com), and a handful of Florida Internet quilts groups that are not affiliated with a quilt guild. Participants were sought through a combination of online and mail-in surveys. I distributed the general interest surveys to these groups for interested quilters to complete. The point of this survey primarily was to give me the information I need to select the artists I observed and interviewed. In addition, this survey asked basic demographic questions and general quilting-related information that added foundational context to the study. Quilters were asked to indicate on the survey whether they were willing to participate in an in-depth videotaped interview and studio observation(s). Of those interested in further participation, three quilters were selected based on their demographic profiles and quilt related information to reflect diversity. Since the intent of this study was to find out more about contemporary African American quilt making in Florida I selected quilters from different areas of the state, representing different age ranges, and quilting techniques for further study. The three quilters I selected were sent consent forms and more details about the study. Dates and times were scheduled for an initial meeting, two to three other

observations, and an open-ended interview or interviews. Quilters were observed, using field notes to record detailed observations, impressions, and pertinent information as well as videotaped as they went about the quilting process. Interviews with the quilter about her and about her quilt making processes (including pre-quilting routines and post quilting activities) were videotaped and further documented with written field notes made of responses, impressions, and whatever else occurred. Notes and videotapes from the observations and interviews from each quilter were reviewed regularly by the participants and by the researcher to present opportunities for clarification, and questions that arose from the data (Emerson, Fretz, Shaw, 1995). Data were transcribed and analyzed for patterns, themes, motives, and goals that developed from the research (Eisner, 1998). A report of the data and findings from their own interviews and observations was made available to each of the quilters for purposes of clarification and/or feedback. The report takes narrative form (Eisner, 1998) and addresses themes that arose during the study as well as the primary and supporting research questions.

Rationale

The contemporary non-traditional African American quilting tradition in Florida is essentially undocumented. No books or studies exist that focus upon the tradition of these quilters as far as I can determine. Since the popularity of quilt artists such as Faith Ringgold there has been a renewed interest in African American quilting, both traditional and contemporary. From my personal experience, Ringgold’s quilt images and books that feature her quilts, are often used in the K-12 grades by classroom teachers and art teachers alike. Art education catalogs such as Crystal, Sax, and Nasco have reproductions and videos available of Ringgold’s quilting art works and artistic history. This availability makes it quite easy for teachers to plan lessons that focus on Faith Ringgold and her quilt art. But other artists are not as accessible so I want to expand the potential resources related to African American contemporary quilting. This study is to provide a content base for such development. Also, teaching students about African American quilts will be of additional benefit to African American students, as they will benefit from the affirmation of the

validity of African American art. This would possibly allow for a resurgence or newfound interest in quilting by young African Americans, thereby preserving this art form. Thus the results of this study will be used to draw implications for K-12 art education, and particularly for African American female students, and non-traditional learners who may be academically at risk.

Scope and Limitations of the Study

The information from the general interest surveys distributed to Florida quilting groups helped to set foundational information and context, as well as determine the three quilters chosen. Thus the three quilters are a purposive sample (Wallen, 2001) from a broad, diverse, group of African American female quilters from Florida, but no generalizations can be made beyond the population studied. The results of this study are limited to the study itself, but the implications may be broadly useful. The researcher is a member of the population being studied and thus will necessarily use her experiences and knowledge in the design of the research and analysis of the results. This may be an asset and a limitation (Eisner, 1998).

Definitions of Terms

Appliqué – “A cut-out shape sewn to a larger piece of material” (Kuhn et al., 2002). “The process of sewing one or more smaller pieces of fabric onto a larger background. Appliqué can be accomplished by hand or by machine” (Wickell, 2006). Art Quilt - Quilts created solely for artistic, not functional, purposes. Contemporary - Quilts made within the last twenty-five years for artistic purposes not largely consisting of rigid, established, traditional patterns and without a planned functional use. Functional – A quilt that, regardless of appearance, was created with a specific use in mind; usually as a bedcovering. Functional is synonymous with utilitarian. Hand quilted -- Stitches were made by hand using a quilting needle and thread through the layers of the quilt sandwich. The quilt sandwich consists of the quilt top, a middle layer of batting, and the backing fabric of the quilt.

Machine quilted – A sewing machine was used to stitch together the layers of the quilt sandwich. The quilt sandwich consists of the quilt top, a middle layer of batting, and the backing fabric of the quilt. Non-traditional – Quilts that are not composed solely of established patterns, without a planned functional use and represent issues, themes, and/or ideas. Patchwork – “Patchwork is a fabric ensemble that is created when smaller pieces of fabric, also called patches, are sewn together. Large pieces of patchwork can be created by joining random or identical patches, or by first sewing pieces of fabric into smaller blocks, then joining the blocks” (Wickell, 2006). Pieced – The process by which patchwork is created (Wickell, 2006). Quilt – Consists of three layers of material, known as the quilt sandwich, which are held together by stitching. The quilt sandwich consists of the quilt top, a middle layer of batting, and the backing fabric of the quilt. Traditional - Quilts that utilize long-established patterns, designs and exacting construction techniques and that are usually designed for use as a bedcovering. Utilitarian – A quilt that, regardless of appearance, was created with a specific use in mind; usually as a bedcovering. Utilitarian is synonymous with functional.

Summary

Because of the essentially undocumented contemporary non-traditional African American quilting tradition in Florida, in this study, I interviewed and observed the quilting processes of three African American women quilters in Florida and from this data made connections to art education. The driving question is: How and why do three contemporary African American women quilt artists in Florida make quilts, what is the meaning and significance of that activity to them, and what are the implications for art education? Although the results will not be generalizable, because of the small number of participants (Bogdan and Biklen, 2007), I sought to find what quilting means to them and what role, if any, art education has played in the development of these quilters, and to determine what role quilting may play in art education.

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

Quilts: An Overview

Numerous books are available that are very comprehensive resources of general quilting information. This information includes instructions on how to quilt, specific techniques, materials, supplies and patterns. The Ultimate Quilting Book by Maggi McCormick Gordon (2001) is a massive book containing 448 pages, and is very accurately named. It provides a complete education and reference guide on all aspects and techniques of traditional American quilting. Gordon (2001) also includes a few quilting styles from other cultures, such as molas from Panama. African American quilts are included in a few sections. The book is illustrated with photos of quilts that demonstrate the particular pattern or technique discussed in the chapter. Antique as well as newer quilts are featured. Quilters are photographed as they make the particular pattern, use tools and techniques. Patterns for quilting and making quilt blocks or appliqués are included. Fabric choices and design pointers are among the many areas of instruction in this comprehensive quilting book. Literature on both traditional and contemporary quilts by African Americans is not as widely published or available as those on quilt making created largely by European Americans. Most information focuses on traditionally styled utilitarian quilts. However, there are dedicated groups and individual quilters who have written and continue to write books in the field (Hicks, 2003). Hicks’ (2003) Black Threads: An African American Quilting Sourcebook provides resource information about African American quilting and African American textiles in general. This book has a small number of black and white and color photos depicting quilts and quilt related items. It is truly a sourcebook about African American quilting and as such does not concentrate on imagery but on providing written information and resources. Hicks, a quilter and quilt historian, includes a large bibliography and resource chapter, timeline, and the results of her surveys on Internet usage and fabric purchasing among African American quilters. Her bibliography and her resource chapters include dissertations, theses, journal, magazine and newspaper articles and many other African

American quilt related information sources. Hicks makes some useful comparisons between African American and European American quilters’ habits based on her internet study. Additionally, she provides numerous feasible suggestions for improving the experiences, resources, and documentation of African American quilters and their quilts. The salient points from this book are addressed later. Literature on both traditional and contemporary quilts by African Americans is not as widely published or available as those on quilt making created largely by European Americans. Most information focuses on traditionally styled utilitarian quilts. However, there are dedicated groups and individual quilters who have written and continue to write books in the field (Hicks, 2003). Hicks (2003), lists 27 non-fiction books by 22 different authors that “are exclusively devoted to African American quilt making or quilters” ( pp. 15-18). A few are out of print or available by special order. Hick’s (2003), descriptive list shows that six of these sources concentrate on contemporary non-traditional African American quilts. None that I found, include, nor focus on contemporary non-traditional African American quilts in Florida. In contrast, the bibliography, not the total number of books in existence, in America’s Glorious Quilts (Duke et al., 1987) reveals 127 sources that focus on quilts made by European Americans. The differences in the number of sources are even more apparent when doing a library or Internet search. Using ‘quilting’ as the subject in a basic search of the Florida State University library catalog revealed seventy-three sources; ‘African American quilting’ revealed zero sources. Using the same search terms as keywords, however, eighty-six and four sources were found, respectively. Internet searches revealed bigger differences. For instance a search on the Internet search engine Google.com found 1,200,000 references to ‘quilting’. ‘African American quilting’, by contrast, had 52,800. Because, the Internet references included any mention of these subjects that were found, they were repetitive and undifferentiated. This often led to duplication of the same sources and also to somewhat unusable sources. For instance, frequently links mentioned the word quilt metaphorically in writing or just showed a picture of a quilt from a newspaper without any relevant information. Hicks (2003) lists a few quilt related dissertations and masters’ theses that focus on African American quilt making in addition to books, articles, and exhibition catalogs

that have any reference to African American textiles of any sort. Information can also be found on the websites of individual African American quilters and African American quilting groups. Sites such as http://www.QuiltEthnic.com/ (Magee, 2002) provide extensive information, links and networking about African American quilting, as well as many other ethnic groups. The Hicks (2003) book and selected websites thus provided a foundation for many of the sources found in this literature review, especially those focused on African American quilting.

Historical Overview: Utilitarian Quilts

According to Gordon (2001), utilitarian quilts probably originated out of necessity. Gordon stated that: Patchwork and quilting most likely developed from necessity, the former allowing the most economical use of scarce textiles by joining scraps together to make larger pieces of fabric. Quilting may have arisen from the need to make thick clothes or covers for warmth, and padding for protection on the battlefield. Appliqué is probably purely decorative (p. 8). Gordon (2001) noted that “quilts used as bedcovers date from about the fourteenth century – the earliest known example is from Sicily – but quilted garments and household textiles are much more ancient” (p. 8). Ancient China and Egypt both produced quilted garments. Since quilts have a tendency to disintegrate over time the surviving quilts are often all that is available to date and document the existence or beginnings of quilt making. In this case, however, Gordon (2001) mentioned that “historical evidence from paintings and carvings” (p. 8) confirm their earlier existence. Aldrich (2001) credits ancient Asian and Indian cultures with the invention of quilting, but declares, “sixteenth century England is the birthplace of the quilt as we know it” (p. 9). According to Aldrich, quilting in North America developed as the colonists from Europe settled in North America and brought with them their skills of creating quilted clothing. Gordon (2001) noted, “this technical expertise went with the colonists wherever they settled, and their knowledge of stitching, together with their necessarily frugal habits…” (p. 10). Gordon asserted that the nineteenth century is when “the quilt as we generally think of it today came into its own” (p. 10).

Stitched from the Soul: Slave Quilts from the Antebellum South (Fry, 2002) contains many photos of quilters and their families, both African American and European American in some cases. Fry (2002) began her research in 1979 and originally published this book in 1990. At that time there were very few known existing quilts made by slaves. Through her years of research she received bits of information from people that had relatives or knew someone or knew of organizations that possessed slave made quilts. Fry (2002) was initially inspired to find out more information about her great-great grandmother Amanda, who was an enslaved seamstress. Fry determined that quilts and other textiles featured prominently in the lives of slaves. Unlike in Africa where men dominated the textiles field, women in America, slave or not, were expected to play the major role. Male slaves were expected to be dominant in the fields, building, and similar activities. However, men were not excluded from quilting. Fry located many examples of slave made quilts, crocheted, and knitted throws and other textile items. Photographs of Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, and Harriet Powers are included in the book. Photographs of two of Harriet Powers’ quilts are featured. Many of the quilts are intricately pieced and stitched. One quilt, located in a museum in England, looked very contemporary in style. It features black chalices on white squares on edge. According to Fry (2002): When the Anglican bishop came each year to baptize, confirm, and perform marriages, the slaves made him a quilt—thus the reason for the chalices that form the design of this quilt. When the bishop left, the quilt was used by the children or the slaves. (p. 45) Most of the quilts documented by Fry (2002) were made in the late 1700’s to mid 1800’s and look to be in good to fair condition. A few of the quilts are shown photographed on beds. Interesting to me, one of the family photos shows a family outside of their cabin in nearby Thomasville, Georgia, in 1890. The cabin and cooking pot were typical living quarters and possessions for slaves in that area. The house is about the size of a large outdoor storage shed. Some say that quilts were used during slavery to help escaping slaves to safety. Brackman (1997) in her chapter entitled Emancipation Without Proclamation Quilts and the Underground Railroad (p. 14) questions the idea that quilts were used to

communicate on the Underground Railroad. She maintains that many of the quilt patterns that are thought to be symbolic in the Underground Railroad are not. Brackman (1997) concedes that perhaps “quilts did mark safe houses in the ante-bellum United States” (p. 17). However, she disputed whether the patterns, could have been used as a specific means of communication. Many of the patterns said to be signals, according to Brackman, were not yet invented. In contrast, quilt historian and researcher Raymond Dobard in the introduction to A Piece of My Soul (Benberry, 2000) when discussing knots and large stitching on quilts made by African American Arkansans said “I believe that these so-called awkward stitches and large knots were once part of a mapping vocabulary for quilts used on the Underground Railroad”. He goes on to say: I suspect that the stitching-knots, the uneven or large visible stitches, and quilt patterns worked in tandem to indicate landmarks, mileage, and safe dwelling places. The large knots left visible on the quilt top and/or backing are distinct from those found in quilt ties. (Benberry, 2000 p. xv) Many of the slave made quilts and possessions did not survive the Civil War period. Brackman (1997) examined quilts from this era. She described many instances of Union soldiers taking quilts and other valuables from both slaves and slave owners. Brackman stated that “during the 1930’s ex-slave Sam Word recalled that a Yankee stole a quilt from his mother” (Brackman, 1997, p. 96). When Johnson’s mother confronted the soldier he called her a liar. In apparent corroboration of the same or similar incident Benberry (1992) described an incident in which a Yankee soldier looted numerous quilts and other items from a newly freed slave’s storage chest in her cabin. Another example given as a reason for little documentation of early African American quilt making involved the spread of American quilting into Canada and Liberia through fleeing slaves and re-colonization of former slaves, respectively (Benberry, 1992). Brackman’s (1997) Quilts from the Civil War contains numerous photos, etchings, and quilt patterns from the Civil War period. She also has included photos of quilt reproductions that she and other present-day quilters have created in the style of the Civil War quilts. The photos of people from that time period help the viewer visualize how important textiles were and how they were used. Quilts during this period showed connections to what was going on in the land at that time. Brackman (1997) states:

Many white Americans initially resisted the idea of absolute freedom for all African-Americans, but they also realized the hypocrisy of a system of slavery thriving in a nation rooted in liberty. Abolitionists forced this disparity into the center of a national debate about American identity. Using tactics familiar today they relied on the written word to raise consciousness about the evils of slavery. (p.8). Quilts were one of the many writing surfaces that abolitionists placed their messages upon (Brackman, 1997). Quilters in Boston and Philadelphia were particularly noted for having anti-slavery fairs. Many different items were inscribed with abolitionist verse and or mottos. Brackman (1997) included an article from the Liberator, an abolitionist newspaper, in Boston, that stated in part that “bunches of quilts bore the label, Twenty-five Weapons for Abolitionists. A baby quilt from Lancaster, Pennsylvania contains the following poem inked onto a star shape: ‘Do thou, sweet babe, in safety sleep Beneath this canopy so fair. Formed thy fragile limbs to keep Protected from the chilling air. Formed in love for Freedom’s Fair To aid a righteous cause To help its advocates declare God’s unchangeable and equal laws’. (Brackman, 1997, p. 12) Brackman (1997) provides large patterns in the back of the book enabling readers to recreate their own civil war quilts. But, although there are etchings and pictures of some African Americans and African American families, no African American quilts or quilters are identified or included in Brackman’s book.

Traditional African American Quilts

Two books by Cuesta Benberry, an African American quilt scholar, depict quilts by African American quilters along with historical information. One book, A Piece of My Soul: Quilts by Black Arkansans (Benberry, 2000) features quilts from the 1890’s to the 1990’s. The majority of the quilts, eighteen, are from the 1940’s. Sixteen are from the

1930’s, ten from the 1980’s and one from the 1990’s. Most of the quilters lived in rural areas and were essentially quilters of necessity. Quilting was often an activity that was passed down through the generations. Benberry (2000) profiled individuals and families of quilters. Although information is known about quilters from earlier years very few works remain (Benberry, 2000). Nearly all of the quilts were pieced. The quilts ranged from intricate traditional patterns, the majority, to the more free form in nature, strip quilts (slim lengths of fabric, often scraps sewn together using straight seams). A small number of novelty quilts, such as yo-yos (quilt constructed of many individual circular pieces stitched together at the edges) and pine cones or pine burrs (an elaborate, heavy quilt consisting of layered small triangular pieces of fabric in concentric circles reminiscent of a pine cone) were also present. Although the quilts were intended as bed coverings, many were solely for decorative use on the bed and were removed before sleeping. Benberry’s (1992) second book, Always There: the African American presence in American Quilts accompanied the exhibition of the same name. Ms. Benberry was the exhibition curator. The Kentucky Quilt Project produced the exhibition and book. Originally, research on quilts in Kentucky revealed a lot about European American quilters and their quilts. However, according to Benberry, information about African American quilt making was lacking. Influenced by the interest of the Kentucky Quilt Project and their members’ interest in Benberry’s extensive research on African American quilts and quilters the show featured African American quilts in America instead of just Kentucky. African American quilts from the 1800’s to the 1990’s including those referenced in other formats such as paintings and novels also were historically explored (Benberry, 1992). Benberry presents historical information, including some photos, about some of the African American quilting families and individual quilters in America. This book introduced a variety of African American quilters and quilts from the early 1800’s to early 1990’s demonstrating the long-term presence of African Americans in American quilt making and emphasizing the need for more research to uncover further information.

European and African Connections

A master’s thesis entitled Comforts of Home: African-American Quilts in Tucson, Arizona, (Hazard, 1993) maintains that other factors should be considered as influences on the styles of African American quilting and not just that of comparisons to design aesthetics from Africa. The author, Peggy Jean Hazard proposes that the intermingling and sharing of European and African American heritage in America have influenced American quilt making. Other sources support this view frequently mentioning either African American quilters’ use or adaptation of traditional patterns (Fry, 2002; Gordon, 2001). Fry (2002) also located quilts that demonstrated an African influence based on colors, specifically symbolism from countries in Africa. Additionally, Grudin (1990) says the origins of story quilts in the exhibition she curated can be clearly traced to the African story cloths of Benin and Dahomey. Signs and Symbols: African Images in African American Quilts by Maude Southwell Wahlman (2001) addresses the aesthetics of African American quilts as they relate to African images, protective charms and symbols reflective of cultural practices. She also addresses the areas of religion, appliqué, and the contemporary non-traditional African American quilt. Wahlman compares the quilted images and techniques present in each African American quilt in the book with the African tradition, symbol, or image it reflects. She believes that the appearance of these images in so many different areas and quilts means it is not coincidental. Wahlman states that a cultural connection based on childhood visual imagery exists in African American artists, especially folk artists, which visually connects the cultures. She specifically mentions countries and areas of West Africa. This book is a great resource in terms of photographs of quilts, quilters’ biographical information, language charts and even maps of Africa and the Caribbean. She has included a mixture of both traditional and contemporary quilts with the majority being traditional quilts.

The Gee’s Bend Quilters

Callahan (1987), in The Freedom Quilting Bee, recounts the history of the Gee’s Bend area of Alabama and The Freedom Quilting Bee cooperative. The cooperative was instrumental in helping African American women in Gee’s Bend and surrounding areas feed their families and in some cases buy homes of their own. Through orders for quilts from the cooperative the women were able to sell their quilts and other related items to businesses and individuals across the nation. This eventually led to the exhibition of their work in a major museum sparking the controversy of whether quilts and particularly their quilts were art and did they represent the style of African American quilting. When the Gee’s Bend quilters and their quilts became popular because of their exhibition in the Whitney many viewed their quilts as the authentic style of African American quilts (Wahlman, 2001). Their quilts had many of the characteristics described by Wahlman (2001) that African American quilts possessed. Wahlman (2001) stated there were: Seven traits that seemed to distinguish African American quilts from the Anglo- American tradition: an emphasis on 1) vertical strips, 2) bright colors, 3) large designs, 4) asymmetry, 5) improvisation, 6) multiple patterning, and 7) symbolic forms. (p.7) Wahlman (2001) identified those characteristics in conjunction with her study of “possible connections between African textiles and African American quilts” (p.7). However, according to Wahlman (2001), many mistakenly perceived these characteristics as rules that validated the quilts as authentically African American. Wahlman (2001) specifically credits Cuesta Benberry (1992 her book not in Benberry’s book in Mazloomi’s) with dispelling the notion of one style of authentic African American quilt making. Benberry, in her foreword in Mazloomi’s book, Spirits of the Cloth (1998) refers to the conflict. Benberry mentioned unnamed white scholars that wrongly labeled one style of African American quilting as the only authentic style of African American quilting. She said that Mazloomi (1998), began researching and documenting the variety of styles present in the work of African American quilters. In discussing Mazloomi’s (1998) research Benberry stated: She knew that the respected scholars were not motivated by any desire to denigrate African American quilters. Instead they were guilty of an innocent

arrogance. They believed that through their scholarly analysis they could determine certain qualities that were inherent in the work of black, as opposed to white, American quilters. But ironically, because these scholars discounted the larger, more diverse body of African American quilters in favor of a small subgroup, their impact on the community they sought to recognize was adverse. (p. 10) Wahlman’s (2001) book is published by Tinwood Books which is owned by the family that brought the Gee’s Bend quilters into national prominence. With that in mind the focus on the Gee’s Bend style of quilting as the purported style of African American quilting appears slightly more purposeful than innocent. With the support of actress Jane Fonda, Tinwood Books published two books that accompanied the exhibitions of the Gee’s Bend, Alabama quilts. The Quilts of Gee’s Bend (Arnett, W., Beardsley, J., Arnett, P., Livingston, J., Beardsley, J., & Arnett, P., 2002) and Gee’s Bend: The Women and Their Quilts (Arnett, 2002) provide comprehensive sources of information about the women, their community, and their principally utilitarian quilts. The women, impoverished African Americans in Gee’s Bend, Alabama, originally made quilts out of necessity to keep their families warm. Their quilt patterns were not all strictly traditional. Many reflected the quilters’ own creativity or adaptation of traditional patterns. For the most part, overall quilt designs reflected less rigid versions of geometric shapes and patterning. Asymmetrical piecing and a wide variety of fabric colors and textures reflected a different aesthetic than the symmetrical, meticulous piecing, and small, even quilting stitches of traditional European American quilts. Many of these quilts were tied to hold the quilt layers together rather than quilted. After Gee’s Bend received electricity in the 1960’s, during the era of civil rights, and the women’s quilts were made famous by national exposure many of them began to make their quilts more artistic although retaining their utilitarian status (Arnett et al., 2002). The Freedom Quilting Bee, formed during the civil rights era to economically assist the women in this poor community was instrumental in exposing the quilters to different designs, artists and methods of quilt making (Callahan, 1987) which they often incorporated into their own quilt making.

Arnett (2002) and Arnett et al. (2002) present historical information from the early 1800’s through 2002. Both books are oversized and filled with a multitude of photographs of the Gee’s Bend area including glossy full-color photographs of the quilters and their quilts. In The Quilts of Gee’s Bend (Arnett, et al., 2002) the women’s photographs and interviews are grouped in chapters by the style of the quilts. The traveling exhibition of their quilts began in 2002 at The Museum of Fine Arts in Houston then proceeded to The Whitney Museum. The exhibition was later picked up by other museums in the nation including the Museum of Art in Mobile, Alabama. That is where I viewed the exhibition. The Museum of Art in Mobile, Alabama, was then approximately five years old and very modern in style. The upstairs landing gave a view of the first floor lobby area and the floor to ceiling height glass windows. The Gee’s Bend exhibition was in an upstairs gallery. The quilts were hung on all four walls of the gallery with several freestanding walls of quilts located in the middle of the room. This created a maze-like effect. One or more guards, without fail, appeared wherever I lingered, apparently keeping an eye out for prohibited photography and/or vandalism. The majority of quilts were composed of patterns created by using squares and rectangles. A few quilts were abstractly designed without the use of geometric patterning. None of the quilts had any pictorial imagery. Most of the quilts showed signs of wear demonstrated by faded colors, stains, and threadbare areas. Wall or floor labels near each quilt gave information about the date, materials, and inspiration. The inspirations for making the quilts ranged from needing something warm to trying out a quilting pattern to memorializing a loved one. Many quilters used clothing from family members, often meant to memorialize a family member. Overall, I was initially quite surprised at how worn and stained many of the quilts were. Rarely was any material purchased to create a quilt. The label information made the quilts come alive for me as they were then no longer just worn bedcovers on the wall. More information from the quilters was available on videotape in a smaller gallery just outside of the main gallery. At the entrance to the main gallery there was a seating area where the videotaped interviews of some of the quilters was played continuously. A few quilts were also hung in this smaller gallery. I

viewed the quilt show in the main gallery before I watched the video. In the video the quilters were interviewed individually at their own homes and in groups at quilting bees. Their interviews provided marvelous insight into their lives. Their poverty was overwhelming. I appreciated their work even more after seeing the video. I realized how much of a struggle their lives were and thus how incredible it was that they created their quilts.

Quilting in Florida

Jeana Elizabeth Brunson’s (1996) dissertation, Patterns of Community: Quilt making in Florida During the Depression Era made use of information found in Florida’s quilt registry, The Florida Quilt Heritage Project. Brunson studied Florida quilts made between 1926 and 1940 and available information about quilters from this time period. Her interest was in discovering what effect, the depression had upon quilt making, determining the influences on and importance of quilt making within Florida communities and amassing a demographic profile of Florida quilters. Brunson (1996) used a material culture model and historical research to accomplish her research goals. She compiled and produced numerous charted facts about the quilts such as predominant colors used, patterns and techniques employed, quilt functions (utilitarian or decorative), and the type of borders. Color photos of some of the quilts are included. She also looked at sources of quilting education, patterns and supplies. A national Sears and Roebuck quilting contest (with three winners) held by the Jacksonville store, advertisements for quilting patterns in a magazine, Florida Works Progress Administration sewing rooms, and home improvement projects through the Florida Cooperative Extension service illustrated that quilting information was easily obtained by Floridians, including those in rural areas. In 1936, African American women in a Florida district were noted to be interested and proficient at using the smallest pieces of fabric available. Brunson’s (1996) analysis of the data suggested that economics played a big role in quilting. Many of the WPA sewing rooms had to be closed and minimal materials were available for use in other projects. Quilts were often considered a good way to help the needy. Rarely were they used to actually make money.

Florida Quilts by Charlotte Williams (1992) documents The Florida Quilt Heritage Project. The state of Florida, like a few other states nationwide, has a statewide record of quilts because of this project. The Florida Quilt Heritage Project was started by some of the members of the Quilters Unlimited Quilting Guild of Tallahassee. The goal of the group was to locate, document, and preserve the quilt history of the state of Florida. Quilters were located by contacting quilt guilds and quilt shops in Florida. Once identified, participants brought their quilts to the Florida Museum of Natural History in Tallahassee to be photographed. Some of the quilts were donated to the Museum’s permanent collection during this process. Oral histories were obtained from quilters who hand delivered their quilts for photographing. Over 5000 quilts were located. After screening which included location, family history, artistic and technical merit, relation to Florida history, and differences in traditional patterns 500 quilts were initially selected for the project. Further screening of slides and quilt information reduced the total number to 175 quilts to represent the variety and quality of Florida’s quilting tradition. Williams (1992) groups quilts by historical time period from about 1850 to 1988. She makes thorough mention of quilting by African American slaves and European American women. Often the entire enslaved family would participate in making quilts for their family. Four quilts by African Americans are included. One quilt was made by a slave, another quilt was designated as having the African-American design characteristics of bold colors, large patterns and random fabric choices, another was made by the African American nurse to a European American family and a Pine Cone quilt from Marianna, Florida. The latest of these quilts, the Pine Cone quilt was made in 1966. Williams (1992) sums up the project by stating that Florida doesn’t have a particular tradition of quilting but rather reflects a variety of creativity. She states that quilting began in Florida with quilts brought in from other states by settlers. Seminole patchwork, made by Seminole Indians, is the only quilt related tradition identified as specific to Florida. The relationship between Seminole Indians and African American freed and escaped slaves was complex. Although the Seminoles provided refuge and protection to escaping slaves they also owned slaves. However, their method of owning slaves was

very different from that of the white slave owners. In fact, according to Kenneth Porter, author of The Black Seminoles: History of a Freedom-seeking People (1996), the Seminoles treated the African Americans as equals providing them with materials and their own areas to create villages. African Americans worked their own land and also had leisure time in which to hunt or fish. They kept most of their harvest; sharing a small percentage with the Seminoles. A bond was forged between the Seminoles and the African Americans against the colonists. Many African Americans were translators for the Seminoles in both language and predictions of likely actions of the colonists (Porter, Amos, & Senter, 1996). This collaboration between the two groups presents a further dimension to the idea of the Seminole (Black Seminole?) quilting tradition. Perhaps the women in both groups contributed to the development of the Seminole tradition in quilting. Further study in this area is certainly needed, however, it is beyond the scope of this research.

The Transition to Art Quilts

Quilts in Florida that were included in Williams (1992) study appeared to become more artistic and less traditional in appearance during the 1980’s. These quilts commemorated events or people and judging by size and overall appearance were meant to hang on the wall. Mary A. Baber’s (1978) Florida State University dissertation was produced during the time that quilts were becoming accepted as art. Baber’s (1978) dissertation, entitled Contemporary Quilted Wall Hangings: The Creative Process from Design through Finished Product explores the actual process of creating a quilted wall hanging. Baber experiments with batik, tie-dye, silkscreen, appliqué, and other design processes to inform artists of successful methods. She mentions that the quilt was being recognized as an art object because of the recent quilt exhibitions at The Whitney and three other museums. Thus artists may be interested in incorporating different design processes in their work. Illustrations of patterns, stitches, and suggested tie-dye folds, photographs and pieces of dyed, stitched, or silk-screened fabric are included in the experiments and the literature review sections of Baber’s (1978) dissertation. Work by contemporary quilters

of that time, as well as those of the author applying the different processes to the fabric are also included. In the final chapter Baber provides recommendations she would employ to improve the way the processes were carried out and advises craftspeople to stick with it when encountering difficulties in manipulating the medium. The Art Quilt by Penny McMorris and Michael Kile (1986) features art quilts created for The Art Quilt traveling exhibition. It began at the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery. Full color photos of the quilts are in the back of the book. McMorris details the history of the development of the art quilt with numerous references to quilt artists that began their careers as painters. She documents the start, in 1979, of the biennial Quilt National. The Quilt National is a juried exhibition of contemporary art quilts. On a national level this represented the beginning of contemporary quilts being slowly accepted as art and thus art quilts. This newfound acceptance reflected the entry of artists, primarily painters, into the world of quilt making. Many of the painters were also sewers who had a strong desire to incorporate their love of fabric with their love of painting. Although McMorris doesn’t include any identifiable African American artists quite a few men are mentioned. Robert Rauschenberg’s 1955 Bed, which features a traditional log cabin patterned quilt with paint splattered on it, is spotlighted. Women's Work: Traditional Quilt makers of Southern Indiana, a dissertation by Mary Stevens (1989), explores why and how women in southern Indiana make quilts. She investigates both traditional and contemporary quilters to compare the aesthetics of each. Stevens intends to balance the research previously done on craftsmanship that concentrated mainly on men. Similar to my study, Stevens (1989) audio taped the quilter’s interviews and photographed the quilters and their quilts. Mother Work, Quilts and Art: A Material Culture Study, a dissertation by Diane DeVaul (1998), focuses on the differences between traditional quilters, non-traditional quilters, and their respective quilts. She attributes many of the differences as reflections of culture. Traditional quilters create quilts that are constructed by following the rules of traditional quilt making and are determined to be reflective of traditional societal viewpoints. Whereas, non-traditional quilters are considered to be those who don’t follow the rules and community values and produce work that is more personally relevant. DeVaul explores all aspects of their quilt making process including

interpretation of the finished quilts. She employed material culture theory and ethnographic techniques to explore the differences and similarities between the two quilting groups. Drunell L. Levinson’s (2001) dissertation, A descriptive study of art at the margins: The work of Jennifer Kotter, Ray Materson and Bonnie Peterson didn’t deal exclusively with quilters. Levinson (2001) examined the work of three artists, who represented the marginalized categories of women’s art, feminist art, prison art, and folk art. Peterson, the sole quilter of the group besides the researcher, is interviewed as are the other two artists. Similar to Stevens (1989), Levinson (2001) investigated the history of traditional quilts and their evolutionary journey into art quilts. She incorporated references to the groundbreaking quilt shows at The Whitney Museum and Faith Ringgold’s traveling exhibition, Dancing at the Louvre.

African American Art Quilts

The most comprehensive book in the field of contemporary African American quilting, Spirits of the Cloth, comes from Carolyn Mazloomi (1998), quilter, historian, curator and lecturer. A preface by Faith Ringgold and a foreword by Cuesta Benberry attest to the interest and enthusiasm with which this book has been received. Spirits of the Cloth contains the work of 64 artists with glossy, often full page, color pictures of 150 of their quilts. Mazloomi (1998) provides historical and some biographical information about the quilters, type of quilting, and subject matter. Chapter themes include “Social and Political Protest,” “Visions of Africa,” and “Sacred Space.” The last chapter, “The Gallery” focuses on a wide variety of quilts that are intended to emphasize the diversity of quilts made by African Americans and debunk the theory of the so-called black aesthetic, that claims that there is only one true style of African American quilt making. Most of the quilters described how they came to be quilters and their inspirations for quilting. For instance, twenty-three of the quilters mentioned having a background in sewing. Six specifically said they had a degree in art, ten others had non-art college degrees. However, the majority did not mention their educational level. Ten of the quilters said they were self-taught quilters. Fourteen had family members that quilted and in some cases specifically taught them how to quilt. Only four mentioned taking

quilting classes. The remainder of the quilters stated what inspired them to quilt but not how they actually learned the process of quilting. Quilter Della Collins’ first quilt was created by her desire to exhibit African American made quilts (Mazloomi, 1998). Collins stated: I kept hearing, however, that African Americans “couldn’t do” and “didn’t do” certain kinds of quilts, and I got tired of it. Never intending to make quilts, I asked Karey Bresenhan, founder of the Houston International Quilt Exhibition, if I could curate an exhibition of African American quilts. I wanted to show that all African Americans did not make quilts with crooked seams, big stitches, and patterns that were not sewn together properly. I wanted to dispel the myth that we couldn’t produce well-made traditional and art quilts. The Guild members insisted that I have a quilt of my own in the exhibition, and this is how I came to make my very first quilt. (Mazloomi, 1998 p. 179) The range of quilts that Mazloomi featured successfully highlights the diversity in contemporary African American quilting. Roland Freeman (1996), quilt designer, collector and photo documentarian, is the author of A Communion of the Spirits. Freeman interviewed and photographed African American quilters, and their quilts, from many walks of life. Well-known African Americans such as Maya Angelou as well as many unknown quilters are well represented. The author traveled and interviewed quilters from 38 states, including Florida,) over a period of approximately 20 years until 1996. Often befriended by the quilters he got referrals to other quilters and sometimes - even gifts of quilts. In 1993, Freeman interviewed quilters in Orlando, Tampa, Gainesville and some of the surrounding areas. Of the ten quilters interviewed, including one man, all but one of the quilters learned to quilt from her mother or grandmother. The quilters predominately used traditional patterns and methods of construction. The information presented about the quilters was overall not covered in great detail. Photographs of the quilters with one or more of their quilts, illustrating the traditional patterns, were helpful in noting unwritten observations about the quilts. The youngest quilter was born in 1951. Freeman (1996) has played a major role in calling attention to African American made quilts. In A Communion of the Spirits, Freeman (1996) showcases a diverse group

of quilts from traditional to contemporary in style and from individual quilters to quilting groups and from the famous to the unknown. He is a staunch believer in the variety of quilts that constitute African American quilt making rather than a designated single type of African American made quilt. A photograph in Freeman’s book of quilter Annie Mae Young and her quilt sparked the interest of William Arnett (2002) to find her and eventually explore the quilts in the Gee’s Bend area. Stitching Memories: African American Story Quilts is a catalog of the exhibition by the same name, written and curated by Eva Ungar Grudin (1990). The exhibition was in celebration of the hundredth year of Williams College. It is one part of a three part series on African American art. The first and oldest quilt, made in 1870 is made of silk. The college commissioned a commemorative quilt by Faith Ringgold to celebrate the history of African Americans at Williams College. The quilt, 100 Years at Williams College, features paintings of prominent alumni in the border. Gathered in the center of the quilt are fictional characters at an outdoor event celebrating Williams College. The characters recount events that deal with being an African American at a predominantly European American College. The majority of the quilts are pictorial. They represent many aspects of the African American experience in the United States. Quite a few are commemorative of relatives, institutions or events. Grudin (1990) notes that narrative quilts such as these are rather rare. However, their origins can be clearly traced to the African story cloths of Benin and Dahomey. She distinguishes narrative quilts as a form of story quilts that present the story in a more evident manner while revealing information about the maker.

Faith Ringgold-Art Quilter

Dancing at the Louvre (Cameron, Powell, Wallace, Hill, Gouma-Peterson, & Roth, 1998), designed to accompany the exhibition of Faith Ringgold’s French collection provides a very complete history of the development of her work from oil painting to painted canvas quilts. Ringgold’s paintings and quilts usually portray an aspect of African American life. Often fictionalized characters are portrayed with written dialogue in the borders of her quilts. She addressed racism through angry and sometimes stereotypical imagery. Ringgold’s acceptance of feminism marked a change in the nature

of her work. She became more accepting of that which is usually considered women’s work and was willing to explore the fabric medium. Her soft sculptures eventually led her into collaboration with her mother on her first quilt. The French collection works feature quilts that resemble famous paintings but with African Americans, often famous ones, as the subjects. The Sunflowers Quilting Bee at Arles features a group of historically famous African American women (Sojourner Truth, Rosa Parks) quilting while Vincent Van Gogh approaches with a vase of sunflowers.

Quilt-Making and Art Education

Ringgold’s work is also used in elementary classrooms and art rooms (Heintz, 1994). Heintz, an elementary school art teacher incorporated some of the art, ideas and themes from Ringgold’s (1991) book Tar Beach into her unit on “Dreams, Fantasy and the Imagination” (1994). Many of the articles on quilt making in art education, were set in the elementary classroom and were similar in structure to Heintz’ art unit (Masenas, 1999; Willing, 1997) incorporating text with art. In these lessons, students, although given a general idea usually chose specifically what to do based on their personal interests (Heintz, 1994). For example, a middle school consumer sciences teacher had her students create hand-sewn quilts for premature babies (Hastings, 2004). There was no mention of the visual or thematic aspects of the quilts. However, the teacher, Sandy Brier, described her hands off approach thusly: I don’t lecture and I never have. There’s a teacher who’s retired who’s like the dean of AP history teachers. He’s always said, “The more I say in class, the less my students learn.” Students learn more when they’re active. I really try to do more of experimental learning, putting the burden on them and trying to get them to do a lot of activities. (Hastings, 2004, p. 8A). Masenas (1999), a quilter and third grade teacher incorporated quilting into all aspects of the third through fifth grade curriculum focusing upon Family Ties. Projects demonstrated that Vermont’s curriculum standards were met. She taught her fellow teachers how to quilt. Masensas said the school got a grant to bring in four artists for a

week. Culminating events included display, songs, dances and a book of color photographs of all the quilts. At least one quilt making experience at the college level turned out to be less successful than at the elementary level. Quilt Making in Art Education: Toward a Participatory Curriculum Metaphor by authors Linda Ettinger and Elizabeth Hoffman (1990) examined the classroom dynamics and educational outcome of a college undergraduate art education course that utilized quilt making. Most of the students didn’t consistently participate and appeared to be dissatisfied with the collaborative nature of their assignment. Students, that happened to be all women, participated in the ongoing production of a collaborative quilt. The instructor presented information about quilting, women and quilting and other historical information in a slide format. Many issues related to student attitudes, concerns, art or sewing background caused some initial resistance to working as a group. There was so much resistance that the instructor changed the format of the class back to lecture for a while. Eventually, students made individual quilt blocks that they could give to the class to create the whole class quilt. Not all of the students did, thus requiring recalculation of the quilt piecing format. The quilt was eventually assembled in a separate session with a volunteer quilter and 10 of the 27 students. The authors state that most of the students learned a lot about participation with others and the subject matter. My own quilt making experience at the graduate college level, by contrast, was very successful. The professor provided us with general ideas for the subject of the quilt such as current events and personally relevant themes. She gave very clear instructions on how to actually make the roughly 12” x 15” individual quilts. Although none of us were enthusiastic about quilting by hand most appeared to enjoy the process and we created a diverse group of quilts. Only a few of us had ever quilted or sewn prior to the class. Unlike in a quilting bee, which consists of a group of people quilting together on a quilt, our collaborative efforts in arranging individual paper portions of a quilt into one design were a bit more intense. Of course at a quilting bee collaboration typically takes place after the design of the quilt rather than during.

Summary

Quilters interviewed in most sources (Arnett et al., 2002; Arnett, 2002; Benberry, 1992; Benberry, 2000; Cameron et al., 1998; Freeman, 1996; Stevens, 1989; Wahlman, 2001; Williams, 1992) gave factual information about their quilt making and motivations, but not much of the literature focused on contemporary African American art quilts. Interviews of traditional quilters were at times in depth focusing on many issues that shaped their individual quilting persona. Most sources, with the noted exception of Dancing on the Louvre (Cameron, et al., 1998) and to some degree Spirits of the Cloth (Mazloomi, 1998), however, didn’t provide in depth discussions and interviews with contemporary non-traditional quilters. Brief biographical data was present in many cases. The literature provided many methods of obtaining information through documentation of research performed in other states and/or with traditional quilters. The sources with the most visual information and biographical data were usually exhibition catalogues. In addition to these books, it would be useful to see more books published that aren’t necessarily produced in conjunction with an exhibition. Due to the limited amount of information about contemporary African American quilters I am further exploring the motivations and methods of African American women quilt artists in Florida and in so doing draw from my conclusions implications for art education theory and practice.

CHAPTER 3

METHODOLOGY

Statement of the Problem

Due to the limited amount of information available about contemporary African American quilters I set out to explore the motivations and methods of African American women quilt artists in Florida and in so doing drew from my conclusions implications for art education theory and practice.

Research Question

Supporting Questions

In order to answer the research question for this study I developed the following four supporting questions. 1. What are the three quilt makers’ education, artistic and other influences? 2. What processes and qualities are present in their quilts? 3. What are the distinctive traits related to their Florida origin (anything specifically Floridian about them)? 4. What does it mean to these quilters to make and exhibit their quilts?

Objectives

The necessary steps and procedures to answer the research and supporting questions, stated as objectives, were to: 1. Review the literature on African American quilting in America to set a context for the structure of the study, 2. Construct, distribute, receive, and analyze a general interest survey from which to gain general information and select quilters for the study,

3. Contextually examine the work of three African American quilt artists in Florida and interview them about the meaning and significance they see in what they do, 4. Draw conclusions from the data, 5. Make critical connections to art education theory and practice.

Research Design

The methodology is phenomenological. Within phenomenological research researchers look for meaning in the human interactions they observe. Bogdan and Biklen (2007) state “researchers in the phenomenological mode attempt to understand the meaning of events and interactions to ordinary people in particular situations” (p. 25). While this is necessarily a subjective occurrence it does not mean that facts unchanged by human experience are overlooked. Bogdan and Biklen (2007) use the different, subjective, viewpoints of what occurred according to each witness of a car accident as an example. The witnesses individual perceptions, which were all quite different from one another, versus the factual knowledge of whether or not there were stop signs present at the scene of the accident, illustrate the difference between the witnesses perceptions, what they feel happened and a verifiable fact. While the fact can be checked and determined to be accurate or inaccurate the same can’t be said of the witnesses’ statements as they all potentially reflect reality as each witness saw it. As the police officer in this example stated, “’it all depends on where you are sitting, how things look to you’” (Bogdan & Biklen, 2007, p.25). Thus the focus of a phenomenological methodology is “the subjective aspects of people’s behavior” (Bogdan & Biklen, 2007, p. 25-26). Similar to the car accident example, observing three African American quilters, who may have some similar experiences related to their quilt making would not mean that they constructed the same meanings from those experiences. The meaning they attach to their experiences was unique to their own particular viewpoint. That viewpoint encompassed all aspects of who and where they were in their lives. The meaning that I attributed to their experiences, based upon information from the interviews and observations, was influenced by my own understanding (Eisner, 1998; Wallen & Fraenkel, 2001).

The method for this study is qualitative. Eisner (1998) summarizes that “qualitative researchers observe, interview, record, describe, interpret, and appraise settings as they are” (p. 33). Wallen and Fraenkel (2001) state “research studies that investigate the quality of relationships, activities, situations, or materials are frequently referred to as qualitative research” (p. 432). Qualitative research has a “descriptive and exploratory focus” (Wallen & Fraenkel 2001, p. 433) and “an emergent design” (p. 433). An emergent design refers to the likelihood that as the study progresses new areas of focus may develop based on the data. This study was descriptive and emergent as is appropriate to the qualitative model. I described in detail the environment, participants, and what I actually observed the quilters doing. The quilters provided the data through what they said and did (Wallen & Fraenkel, 2001). This was an exploratory process because I did not have any preconceived notions or hypotheses of what I would learn from these observations. Wallen and Fraenkel (2001) state “the focus of inquiry is broadened or narrowed after the study has begun rather than before it starts” (p. 433). According to Eisner (1998) qualitative research may focus on the locations where people are as they go about daily actions as well as upon created objects. He states that qualitative research is often “field focused” (Eisner, 1998, p. 32). Wallen and Fraenkel (2001) describe “a natural setting” (p. 434) as a characteristic of qualitative research. Observing people in their natural environment allows for “understanding the experiences of people in context” (Wallen & Fraenkel, 2001, p. 434). For this study I observed the quilters in their usual and thus natural locations for quilting. This research was field focused and naturalistic since I was observing the quilters and their quilting processes in their usual environment. This environment primarily was the actual studio of the quilt artist, a location in her residence that she uses for quilting. Qualitative research is often conducted through the use of a purposive sample in contrast to the large random sample often used in quantitative research (Wallen & Fraenkel, 2001). Qualitative research relies on a small sample chosen with the specific “purpose of the study” (Wallen & Fraenkel, 2001 p. 433) in mind. A purposive sample was used in this study. I chose the sample group of quilters by looking for diversity in

their demographic and quilting information thus providing a look into the quilting processes of a group of three demographically diverse African American quilt artists. The researcher has a major role in a qualitative study as both the collector and analyzer of the data (Wallen & Fraenkel, 2001). Wallen and Fraenkel (2001) refer to this as “an emphasis on the researcher as instrument” (Wallen & Fraenkel, 2001, p. 434). The data for this study came from the quilters being personally interviewed and observed by the researcher. Additionally, the data was coded and analyzed by the researcher. Thus the role of the “researcher as instrument” (Wallen & Fraenkel, 2001, p. 434) or “self as an instrument” (Eisner, 1998, p. 33) required the researcher to determine what data is relevant within the study and analyze and interpret it. These judgments were necessarily and openly influenced by the personal knowledge and experiences of the researcher. The data collected in a qualitative study are the “words and actions” (Wallen & Fraenkel, 2001 p. 434) of the people. This is another characteristic of qualitative research listed by Eisner (1998). Methods for collection of this data included observation and interview with the use of field notes, videotape, and photographs to record the data (Wallen & Fraenkel, 2001), all of which were used in this study. Since the intent of this study was to find out more about contemporary non- traditional African American quilt making in Florida I selected quilters from different areas of the state, different ages, and quilting techniques for further study.

Sample

Using qualitative research techniques, I interviewed and observed three quilt artists. The three quilters were a purposive sample of African American quilters in Florida. I selected quilters that represented different styles and/or techniques of quilting and various regions of the state, as much was possible. I endeavored to interview non- traditional quilters who represented contemporary issues, working patterns and styles in their work. The three quilters I selected were Lynette Johnson, Lauren Austin and Doris George Manning who represented the diversity I sought based on geographical locations, quilting experience, and style of quilting.

Setting

Quilters were observed in their own studios or wherever they quilted in order to observe the processes and techniques that they usually employed. According to Eisner (1998) “qualitative researchers observe, interview, record, describe, interpret, and appraise settings as they are” (p. 33). Observing and interviewing the quilters in their own environment and videotaping them also allowed for structural corroboration (Eisner, 1998). By observing the quilters I saw what they actually did and was able to note its occurrence in information expressed during the interviews.

Methods

After surveying to get general information and to select a sample the primary method I used was interviews, with observation as the supporting method (Anderson, 2000). I observed the quilting process within the quilters usual working area, from the initial planning stages of the quilt idea, inspirations, sketches and any other preliminary processes, quilt construction-techniques, tools, and materials, finishing, and finally post quilting activities. Informal and open-ended interviews took place throughout the observation process.

Instruments

I used a variety of different types of data collection in order to enhance structural corroboration (Eisner, 1998). Eisner (1998) states, “the use of multiple types of data is one way to foster credibility” (p. 110). A survey, interviews, and observations were the strategies for research supported by notetaking and videotaping (Wilkinson & Birmingham, 2003). Observation, largely informal interviews, videotaping, photography, and notetaking were the methods of data collection I used in this study. Eisner (1998) notes the importance of these methods to document what actually occurs in a particular setting and time frame. To strengthen the validity of the interviews and observations I videotaped the sessions (Eisner, 1998). As this study is an area with necessarily visual appeal, the research will include photographic images of the quilts, quilting processes and

also of the quilters as found in the literature of Arnett (2002), Mazloomi (1998), Benberry (1992; 2000), and Williams (1992). Survey The participants, adult female members of the African American quilting population in Florida, initially were sought through queries to Internet quilting groups, Florida quilting guilds, quilt shops, and fabric shops. I located the guilds and shops by Internet searches for “Florida quilt guilds” and “Florida quilt shops.” The Florida Quilt Network (http://www.floridaquiltnetwork.com/shops.htm) and Florida Quilt Guilds (http://www.quiltguilds.com/florida.htm) were the two sites that I found that had listings for the entire state. The Florida Quilt Network included listings for guilds and shops while the Florida Quilt Guilds’ site included listings for quilt guilds. After downloading and printing the lists I eliminated any duplicates between the two lists and compiled a listing of the guilds and shops that had email and postal addresses. There were 42 quilting guilds and 29 quilt shops. Participants were sought through a combination of online and mail-in surveys. I distributed the general interest surveys to these groups for interested quilters to complete. The point of this survey (Appendix B) was to give me information I needed to select the artists I observed and interviewed and secondarily to obtain general information to set a context for the study. On the survey I asked basic demographic questions and general quilting-related information. Quilters were asked to indicate on the survey whether they were willing to participate in an in-depth videotaped interview and studio observation(s). Of those interested in further participation, three quilters were selected based on their demographic and quilt-related information to reflect diversity. Since the intent of this study was to find out more about contemporary non-traditional African American quilt making in Florida I selected quilters from different areas of the state, different ages, and quilting techniques for further study. Details of this process and of the participants I selected are in Chapter Four. Interviews According to Wallen and Fraenkel (2001) “the purpose of interviewing people is to find out what is on their mind—what they think or how they feel about something”

(p. 440). Seidman (1998) describes a three part interviewing process that allows for in- depth exploration of the relevant backgrounds of the participants, what they actually do and what it means to them. I contacted each quilt artist to set up the interviews that each lasted no less than one hour (Seidman, 1998). The interviews were largely informal and followed the structure of Seidman’s (1998) recommended three interviews (Seidman, 1998). The first part of the interviews focused on the background information of the quilter; the second on what the quilter did; and the third on what it meant to her (Seidman, 1998). The answers revealed during these interviews led me in different directions with each quilter. I explored the areas that developed from these questions as appropriate. This and my observations funded informal conversations throughout the observation process. Some of these informal conversations occurred during observations and were videotaped. Others occurred before and after interviews and observations and I made written note of them. Observations The observation process is an important way to check the validity of impressions and information noted during an interview (Anderson, 2000; Wallen & Fraenkel, 2001). Lynette was observed four times and Doris and Lauren were observed three times as they worked on their quilts. I also attended and participated in a workshop that Lauren held which was separate from the three times that I observed her. Since Lauren, a full time quilt artist, quilted most of the day, several days a week, I was able to observe her for most of the day from as early as nine in the morning until six-thirty in the evening on four different days. Whereas a part time quilter may only quilt for short periods of time after part-time or full-time work or on the weekends between errands and family or social life. Doris and Lynette were observed for several hours at a time beginning as early as 10:30 in the morning and ending as late as five-thirty in the evening for Doris and beginning as early as one in the afternoon and ending as late as six-thirty in the evening for Lynette. I observed Lauren on three weekdays and one weekend day, Doris one weekday and two days on the weekend, and Lynette on four weekend days. Each observation lasted as long as it took to naturally reach completion, in no case less than an hour. I observed Doris for 12 hours, Lynette 14 hours, and Lauren 24 hours. I observed the quilt making process from the planning stages to a finished or near finished quilt. Time limitations and work

habits allowed that I saw these different stages on different quilts in some cases. Although different quilts were sometimes viewed in different stages of development rather than one quilt through all stages this still gave an overall view of each quilter’s quilt making process. Notetaking I used field notes to provide descriptive illustrations of the settings, quilters, quilts, and my perceptions. According to Emerson, Fretz, and Shaw (1995) “fieldnotes are accounts describing experiences and observations the researcher has made while participating in an intense and involved manner” (pp. 4-5). My notes consisted of descriptive, analytic and interpretive passages as they naturally arose (Anderson, 2000; Eisner, 1998). They are best taken as close to the time of the actual observations of people, places and things as possible (Emerson et al., 1995). Emerson, Fretz, and Shaw (1995) state: In immediately written fieldnotes, distinctive qualities and features are sharply drawn and will elicit vivid memories and images when the ethnographer rereads notes for coding and analysis. Furthermore, the distinctive and unique features of such fieldnotes, brought forward into the final analysis, create texture and variation, avoiding the flatness that comes from generality (Emerson et al., p. 14). So, I took notes on location and immediately afterward. However, the notetaking did not override interactions with the artists as I made sure that I was present in the interview and attentive during the observations and I had the video recording to check my perceptions after the fact, as noted below. Emerson et al (1995) asserted, “in valuing more natural, open experience of others’ worlds and activities, field researchers seek to keep writing from intruding into and affecting these relationships (p. 19). Videotaping Videotaping was used to record both the interviews and the observations. This provided a visual and audio record of the events and the environment. A photograph or a videotape will often capture what exactly is going on in a situation (Eisner, 1998). One image can replace pages of notes that may have inadequately described the environment and situation at hand (Eisner, 1998). Wallen and Fraenkel (2001) state, “tapes may be replayed several times for continued study and analysis” (p. 440). I videotaped the

interviews and observations of the quilters. I set up the camera on the tripod for the more stationary portions of the interview and held it by hand when there wasn’t enough room for the tripod or there was a lot of movement within the room or from room to room. The same day or within a few days I initially reviewed the videotapes. I also sought out sections of the videotapes, on an ongoing basis, that corroborated information from the surveys and interviews and that further enhanced my remembrance and understanding of the information for analysis. Photography I took photographs of the quilters, their quilts, and their studios, using a digital camera, before and after the interview/observation sessions to document the various stages of the quilt making process including the final products. Eisner (1998) states “photographs, videotapes, and film can be very useful for displaying what a situation is like” (p. 187). Researcher as Instrument The role of the researcher in a qualitative study is significant. The researcher collects, codes, and analyzes the pertinent data (Wallen & Fraenkel, 2001). Wallen and Fraenkel (2001) refer to this as “an emphasis on the researcher as instrument” (Wallen & Fraenkel, 2001, p. 434). I used my experience and knowledge to devise the areas of focus for this study, determine the relevancy of the data I collected, analyze, and report my findings (Eisner, 1998). The data for this study came from the quilters being personally interviewed and observed by the researcher. Eisner (1998) said, “The self is the instrument that engages the situation and makes sense of it.” (p. 34). My experiences as an African American quilter were both a strength and a limitation as my experiences affected how I interpreted, and reported the data I observed. Coding the Data I began with prefigured foci (Eisner, 1998) rising from the supporting questions in this study. With prefigured foci, according to Eisner (1998), the researcher focuses on predetermined areas. These predetermined areas were determined based on my personal experiences and issues that were revealed in the review of literature. However, as the interviews and observations proceeded I did, as described by Eisner (1998), “allow for an emergent focus” (p. 176). An emergent focus develops from the data of interviews and

observations. This data were organized by categories (Rossman & Rallis, 2003) and themes that naturally occurred during the processes of data collection (Eisner, 1998). I reviewed my notes, interviews, audio and video recordings for any recurring statements, practices, and beliefs. I noted these in the margins of my notes, interview transcripts, and on separate sheets while reviewing videos. According to Rossman and Rallis (2003), themes can be identified by noting “recurring ideas or language, patterns of beliefs and actions that signal something more subtle and complex than categories” (p. 284). From these themes I developed meaning from my interpretations of the data (Rossman & Rallis, 2003). Quilter Survey

To locate quilters to take the survey and subsequently choose three quilters for observations and interviews for this study I contacted Florida quilting guilds and quilting shops. Two sources provided comprehensive lists for these groups: The Florida Quilt Network and the Florida Quilting and Quilt Shops. After removing duplicate addresses found on the two lists I compiled an initial list of addresses that included email contacts and mailing addresses. In addition, by using the search engine, Google.com, I found four other organizations of individuals who were not listed with either of the two initial sources. I used Survey Monkey for the online version of the Quilter Survey. Information about the research along with two to three typed surveys with the link for the online survey were included in each conventionally mailed envelope. The email invitation contained the same informational letter about the research and a clickable link to the survey site. Both mailed and emailed surveys requested that recipients share the questionnaires and survey links with other quilters. Survey Monkey cautions against spamming people by sending unsolicited email, when possible I used the postal mail address first and provided both a paper survey and a survey link. Whenever this approach was unsuccessful and I had an email address for the quilter or quilting group I used it. I sent 74 surveys by postal mail and received only three responses over two months. I sent out the survey by email to 90 addresses. Minutes later one survey was completed, and twenty addresses came back as invalid. The next day four more surveys

were completed. E-mailed survey links were accessed with a faster-paced turn around than conventional mail. I found only two Florida African American quilters online by their websites, Lauren Austin (http://www.thatblackgirlart.com), and Valerie Goodwin (http://www.quiltsbyvalerie.com). I contacted one Florida quilter, Lauren Austin, after finding a link to her website on a site by Kyra Hicks author of Black Threads (Hicks, 2003) (http://www.black- threads.com/links.html), about African American quilters. I contacted Hicks about placing a blog entry on her website about my search for African American women quilters in Florida. After taking and providing feedback on my Quilter Survey, Hicks placed a blog entry informing readers about the survey for African American Florida quilters. I was excited and grateful for the exposure on her site. Although, a few people took the survey as a result of the blog entry, they were not from Florida. One reader of the website, also not from Florida, who is a friend of Hicks asked me to let her know what my results were. Hicks and I corresponded a few times about quilters in Florida. She suggested I check out a Miami group of quilters, Big Mama Quilters that had a show in Miami. I looked up the Big Mama Quilters and found out they were having an exhibition at a branch library. I called, and was able to talk to one of the members. She worked in the library branch where the exhibition was being held. I introduced myself, gave her some information about my study, and asked if I could send her and the group an email link or survey by mail. She provided me with her address and invited me to see the exhibition. Unfortunately, it was ending in a few days, and I was not able to attend. I thanked her for her time and willingness to take my survey and provide it to the other guild members. Two of the members returned the surveys. One was interested in further participation. Ultimately, I did not select the members for participation because they did not match the selected demographics I hoped to achieve. I mailed Lauren Austin an information letter and paper survey using the contact address listed on her website. The mail was returned as undeliverable. I tried the email address and provided the survey link along with information about the research. Lauren responded and completed the survey.

In February, I sent out email survey links to groups that hadn’t responded to my initial letters or emails I sent in November. Between October 2006 and March 2007, I received ten replies by conventional mail, and 39 online. Six were returned as undeliverable by postal mail. Four responses by conventional mail were from Caucasian women and four from African American women. Of the 39 online responses, five were from African American women, 21 from Caucasian women, ten did not respond to that question, one wrote American without specifying race, one from a mixed race woman, and one from a Native American woman. Four of the Caucasian women answered “yes” that they would like to participate further although the survey specified African American women were sought. Two responded online and two by conventional mail. Quite a few of the quilters’ surveys provided detailed quilting histories that had me racing ahead to the bottom of the survey, hoping each quilter wanted to participate further. After realizing that I should check whether the quilter was qualified for further study, before I became so excited, I tended to check out the race and gender of the quilter, then whether she was interested in further participation, and finally her answers to the questions. That made for less suspense and disappointment. Overall, four Caucasian women and four African American women indicated they wanted further information about participating in the study. One African American quilter said “maybe.” Eight survey respondents listed another quilter or quilting group I should contact. All of these were African American. I contacted all of the referrals. One referred African American quilter had moved to California. She took the time to write me a letter stating that she was interested but no longer a Florida resident. Another African American quilter said yes. One quilter, referred by a guild member on March 1, 2007, did not respond to my letter or my three calls. She did not have an email address. The other referrals were conventional addresses and email addresses. These sources were either no longer in existence or did not respond. At this point, I had three quilters that said yes, they wanted further information about participating. There was also the one who said “maybe.” I found one of the quilters through a link on Kyra Hicks’ website, a second quilter was a referral, and the third quilter was located by calling the library, in Miami, where her guild was having a show.

Of this group, one of the quilters had very limited quilting experience. I was concerned whether the amount of data I would collect from her would be sufficient for my research. The quilter that said “maybe” had a bit more experience and quilted in a very different manner than the other two. So, I called the “maybe” intent upon her becoming a “yes.” She agreed but seemed a bit reluctant and more interested in whether I was including the quilter she referred to me in the study. I was. When I called to schedule the initial interview with her she told me that she wasn’t interested in participating. Although, I wasn’t surprised, I was disappointed. While I considered confirming participation with the quilter with limited experience, I decided to first check if I could find another quilter willing to participate. I had already begun the interviews and observations with the other two quilters and was getting a little anxious about confirming a third quilter. I checked the quilter surveys, both online and paper, to see if I’d missed anyone who wanted to participate. I also looked to see if there were any new quilting guilds or shops that I had not contacted. During this process, the quilter I’d unsuccessfully tried to reach in March left a message to contact her. It was June 2007. She told me that she did want to participate. She had surgery in March and May and was still recuperating. I sent her a printed survey and informational letter instead of an email link because she didn’t have an email address. After two weeks without a response, I called her. She had misplaced the survey and informational letter. I sent her another set by mail. I received her completed survey shortly thereafter. Her quilting and quilting experience were different from the two quilters that I was currently interviewing and observing. She was interested in participating in the research. I confirmed her participation and set up the first interview. The three quilters I selected for the study were Lynette Johnson, Lauren Austin, and Doris George Manning. I chose them because they were three of the four African American quilters that were willing to participate and the other quilter had very limited individual quilting experience. The three quilters had the following characteristics:

Quilter Characteristics

Lynette Johnson Lauren Austin Doris George Manning Location Tallahassee New Smyrna Beach Gainesville Age Range Late middle age Late 40s Early 60s Experience 11 years 30 years 35 years Quilting Style Geometric/Abstract Figurative Traditional/Modern

Quilter Survey Results

Nine quilters mailed in paper surveys and 39 quilters responded online through Survey Monkey for a total of 48 responses. Of the 48 quilters I found 10 that were African American women and nine of them lived in Florida. The five African American quilters who completed the survey online were non-traditional quilters. One of those submitting a paper survey was non-traditional, one was traditional and two worked in both traditional and non-traditional styles. Each following question may have a different number of respondents since some of the quilters did not answer every question. I will report the total number of respondents for each question (See Appendices F and G for survey results). Length of time you have lived in Florida Of the 48 respondents, 36 answered the question with a date or number of years. Three of them responded “all of my life” with only one not including her birth date to allow for calculation. The results were calculated using the 35 responses. The range of responses was 60 years with quilter responses from eight months (rounded up to one year) to 61 years. The average number of years was 29. Do you think of yourself as Floridian? The majority of the 36 respondents, 23, said yes. Seven said no, five wrote statements that were mostly affirmative. One quilter wrote that she was starting to feel like one, and another said that she was trying. Birth date

Birth dates were from 1935 to 1970 with the vast majority, 27, of the 31 respondents being born in the 1940s through the 1950s. Thus, the average age of the responding quilters were 52 years with an average birth date of 1950. Birthplace There were 37 responses with quilters coming from 15 different states and two foreign countries. Quilters were born in all areas of the country. Fifteen were from states in the northeast area of the country, 12 from the south, including seven from Florida. Occupation The quilters had a wide variety of occupations. Of the 35 responses, eight were retired, five shop owners; three of these were quilt shop owners, six were in the field of education from a Foster Grandparent to teachers and professors, and the remaining 17 were in different fields including one housewife. Race/Ethnicity With a total of 37 responses, 10 were from African American quilters, 24 from Caucasian American quilters, one Native American quilter, one unspecified mixed race quilter, and one quilter who listed her race/ethnicity as American. How long have you been quilting? There were a total of 40 responses. The average number of years quilters had been quilting was 17. What size are most of your quilts? Most of the 41 responding quilters made large to medium sized quilts. Specifically, 14 quilters indicated that they made large quilts (larger than 6 ft x 6 ft), 23, made medium (larger than 3 ft x 3ft but smaller than 6 ft x 6 ft), and four made small (3 ft x 3 ft or less) quilts. Approximately how many quilts have you made? Answers for the 41 respondents were mostly numeric with specific numbers or ranges. Quilters made from 2 to 600 quilts. Three of the respondents said they didn’t know or didn’t keep track. Based on the 35 numerical responses, ranges were rounded to the highest number in the reported range (25-30 quilts was counted as 30), which showed that quilters averaged 64 quilts. There were two numbers that appeared most frequently,

five times for each. Five quilters indicated that they had made 100 quilts and five other quilters indicated that they had made 10 quilts. Describe some of your quilts (materials, patterns, designs, subject matter). There were 41 total responses that varied widely from traditional styling to mixed media, and from commercial to hand-dyed fabric. The most common material mentioned by 34% of the quilters was cotton fabric. Fifty-one percent of the quilters that responded mentioned using traditional patterns. This figure is likely higher as it does not include more ambiguous references to pieced, paper pieced and appliqué. Quilters bought fabric from quilt shops, JoAnn Fabrics, and Wal-mart. They used 100% cotton fabric, Victorian, batiks, bright colors, hand-dyed, faux hand-dyed, hand painted fabric, African fabric, mixed media, and ethnic fabrics. Traditional patterns such as Log Cabin, Double Wedding Ring, Nine Patch, and Churn Dash were mentioned. Appliqué, piecing, patchwork, patterns by published quilters, standard patterns, and Native American strip piecing were also listed. Quilters wrote that they used Victorian, abstract, geometric, nautical and improvisational designs. What ways, if any, has being in Florida influenced your quilting? There were 38 total respondents with 45 responses in 16 different areas. Seven quilters said that being in Florida had not influenced their quilting. This was the highest number for any response. The second highest response was the weather. Six quilters mentioned weather. The third highest selected response was a tie between nautical designs/images and quilting education. There were five responses for each of these categories. The quilting education category included responses such as learned to quilt in Florida and take quilting classes in Florida. The remaining responses were made by one, two, or three quilters. Are you a member of a quilting group? If so, what’s the group’s philosophy and how has that influenced you? There were 39 total respondents. Thirty-four said they belonged to a quilting group, five said they did not.

Eleven stated that their group’s philosophy was to donate quilts as a community service, 10 quilters said it was to learn and share knowledge, and six said it was to promote quilting. Influences mentioned were others’ work is an inspiration, expanded knowledge, never too old to try new things, fellowship, ideas, techniques, and support. What other influences do you have? There were 59 responses from a total of 37 respondents. The top three influences were friends/family members with 10 responses, books/magazines with six, and TV/video with five. What do you usually do with the quilts you make? Thirty-five quilters responded to this question with most quilters giving more than one answer for a total of 72 responses. The majority of quilters, 32 women said they gave away their quilts, 16 said they kept them, and 10 of them donate them to charities for fundraiser. Five quilters said that they exhibited their quilts and four of the responding quilters sell their quilts. Have you exhibited your quilts? A total of thirty-nine quilters responded. Twenty-five quilters said yes. Fourteen of the quilters said no. Describe. Nineteen quilters responded to this portion of the question. Six said they had exhibited their work in a quilt show, three in a museum or gallery, three in the library or government office. The other seven quilters responded guild (three), quilt shop or other store (two), and state or local fair (two). Have you won any awards for your quilts? There were a total of thirty-eight quilters that responded to this question. Of that number 11 said they had won awards and 27 said they had not won any awards for their quilts. If so, please list them. There were 11 responses, however, some quilters listed more than one item or category. Two listed the type of item that won the award such as a quilted orchid vest. Others listed the organization from which they had won the awards and/or the type of

award. One won a grand prize, two won first place, one won second place, and two won honorable mention. Would you be interested in being interviewed about your quilting and observed as you quilt as part of a study on female African American Florida quilters? Thirty-eight quilters responded. One said maybe, eight said yes, and 29 said no. Of the eight that said yes four were Caucasian or European Americans, three were African Americans, and the quilter that said maybe was African American. The three quilters that I selected for interviews and observations were Lynette Johnson, Lauren Austin, and Doris George Manning.

Summary

In order to answer my research question of how and why these African American quilt artists created their quilts I chose to observe and conduct interviews of participants selected as the result of conducting a survey. I employed videotaping and notetaking to record data from the observations and interviews. I used a variety of different types of data collection in order to enhance structural corroboration (Eisner, 1998). Eisner (1998) states, “the use of multiple types of data is one way to foster credibility” (p. 110). Survey, observation, largely unstructured interviews, videotaping, photography, and notetaking were the methods of data collection I used in this study. Eisner (1998) notes the importance of these methods to document what actually occurs in a particular setting and time frame. Finally, from the data, I developed themes, and drew conclusions about the meaning of the quilting for the artists chosen and drew implications for art education. In the next chapter I present the data for this study in narrative form.

CHAPTER 4 QUILTER LYNETTE JOHNSON Profile

Age Late middle age Job She is the Deputy Director of the Research Center for Plasma Science and Technology at Florida A&M University. The Center for Plasma Science and Technology is comprised of seven laboratories, six laboratories in physics, one in chemistry, and two theoretical physics groups. “We designed this building and we had to learn how to deal with things and all the subcontractors. And we’re still dealing with them because we just moved in this spring. My husband and I work together in one of the physics labs. We haven’t brought in all of our equipment yet.” Lynette explained. Education She earned an Ed.D. in epistemology. Quilting Experience Lynette has been quilting for eleven years and has made approximately thirty quilts. Issues and Concerns One of Lynette’s concerns was that she did not want to be “categorized by race in quilting.” She explained, “That means dismissing me, allowing me to be exotic. Characterized as if there is no forethought in quilting.”

Figure 1 Lynette at home

Lynette Johnson is a petite woman with short curly brown hair. She was usually dressed casually in comfortable knit pants and tops and was barefoot. She appeared to be very calm and relaxed and usually sat with her legs crossed or to the side in her chair during the initial moments of the interview/observations sessions. The different positions she assumed in her chair always reminded me that she practiced yoga. Session One on Sunday April 22, 2007 1:00 p.m. I drove onto the circular driveway of Lynette Johnson’s upper middle class suburban home and parked in the shade. I walked up a few steps to the landing at the front door then rang the doorbell. When I looked down the street to where I’d turned in from a larger street I saw through a grouping of trees, a lake, and some activity with people and boats. Directly in front of Lynette’s brick house was a stand of tall trees creating a cool shady spot in the driveway and towards the front of the house. The door opened and Lynette was standing there. Lynette is a petite, slim, middle-aged woman

with short curly medium brown hair. She was wearing a dark grey flexible knit matching short sleeved top and pants and was barefoot. Her toenails were painted a deep burgundy, which contrasted with her light beige complexion. She invited me in and we walked to the rear of her house. Lynette’s house was pleasantly cool and very quiet. We passed a hallway with hardwood floors and patterned rug runners on the left. When we entered a living area at the rear of Lynette’s home I immediately noticed a large picture window with open blinds that highlighted a sunny view of her backyard and her neighbors’ backyards. Lynette offered me tea. I politely inquired about water. She answered in the affirmative and walked into the kitchen and asked what type of water and whether I wanted ice. The kitchen was a galley styled kitchen with a rich medium brown wood for the cabinets and drawers. It was on the left side of the room we were in. I requested plain water from the refrigerator. I noticed the dining room next to the kitchen separated by a wall between them. Lynette returned with the water and a coaster. She placed them on a walnut shell brown table that had an etched stone top. It was very interesting to me to look at because of the stone top. I asked where she wanted me to sit. I looked around at the light tan/yellow leather coach with numerous pillows facing a large picture window that I was standing next to and two upholstered chairs opposite the sofa. Their backs were to the picture window. As I pondered Lynette said “its up to you.” I wondered if I was taking too long to decide. I was considering the view and the proximity we needed. Lynette asked “Do you want me to sit on the couch next to you?” I decided to sit on the couch and asked Lynette to sit opposite me in one of the chairs so we could see each other better. Lynette tucked her feet under her and to the side as she sat in her chair. I remembered in her survey that she mentioned doing yoga. She looked very flexible and comfortable. I put my purse on the couch beside me and placed the digital recorder and digital camera on the coffee table in front of me to the left of the water. Lynette asked if I would like a biscotti. I declined and thanked her with a comment about my weight. “Do you mind if I use the digital recorder to record the interview?” I asked. “That’s fine.” she said.

I turned on the recorder, placed it back on the coffee table between us, and we began the interview (completed interview transcripts are in Appendix E). Lynette shifted positions in the chair occasionally as we spoke. She looked off into the distance as she thought about the questions. I felt she was really thinking the questions through before she responded. When we finished with the interview Lynette offered to show me some of her quilts and her studio. I asked if it would be okay for me to take some photographs with my digital camera. Lynette said no, not today. I was disappointed that I wouldn’t be able to take any photos. I knew that there was no way that I would remember enough details about each piece nor be able to write all of the details down as she showed me the quilts. However, I was pleased that she was willing to show them to me. So, I got up and followed her. We went down the hallway and up a short flight of hardwood stairs then turned to the left on the landing and continued up a few more steps. We entered a beige carpeted room, the family room. It had a large TV and seating area with a couch and loveseat. It had a nice cozy, but not really small, feel to it. It seemed like a comfortable place to watch TV. On the floor near the middle of the room were a few black wire baskets with fabric and quilts in them. The quilts were gorgeous. As Lynette unfolded or lifted out each quilt or quilt top she described the fabrics she used and where they came from, the class or other inspiration for making the quilt and the status of its completion. Lynette used a variety of ethnic fabrics, particularly Japanese and African, and created complex geometrical patterns. After the first or second quilt I asked, again, if it would be okay for me to take photographs of the quilts. Lynette said, “Not now, maybe when you come back.” I was a bit disappointed because I knew I wouldn’t remember what they all looked like enough to describe them, there were so many. But later was certainly better than never. I didn’t want to alienate her as she seemed very adamant about not having any photos taken. I asked questions about the stitching (machine or hand), how long they took, and examined the quilts including the backs. After examining the quilts we left for Lynette’s studio.

We went down the stairs outside of the family room and went across the landing to another room. A treadmill was a few feet in front of us as we entered the room. This room was also carpeted in beige. To the left of the treadmill was the rest of the space with a bed, with headboard, and bedspread against the wall where the door was. We passed the treadmill and climbed the staircase that was in front of it. There were a few steps and then a landing that changed the direction of the staircase now parallel to the treadmill below. We climbed the remainder of the stairs about six to eight to the loft above the room. This was Lynette’s studio. The staircase entered the loft mostly to the right of the space. To the left was most of the space and directly in front of the stairs was a door. To the right was a smaller space. Both sides of the room on the side of the staircase had a sloped ceiling on one end. A long vertical rectangular window was on each side. The windows provided a lot of light illuminating items on the shelves below them. A table with a few cutting mats covering its surface took up most of the space on the right side of the room. Under the table were clear and opaque plastic containers with lids that contained embellishments such as specialty threads. To the right of the table under the window were light brown shelves containing stacks of folded fabric. Black fabric was mostly in this area. Two specialized sewing lamps were on the sewing table. The room below was visible beyond the table. On the left side of the room was the main sewing area. Brown wooden shelves under the window housed many stacks of neatly folded fabric. The fabric was arranged by similar colors, techniques, and place of origin. Some of the fabric was hand dyed, some from different countries, quilts shops, and quilting classes. Shelves for the fabric lined two of the other walls on the right side of the studio. Lynette had a tremendous amount of fabric. When I asked Lynette what her influences and motivations were she said “I love to touch fabric. It calms me. I feel at peace when working (unless I’m frustrated about a technique). I buy a lot of fabric.” I was amazed at how much fabric there was and how well it was organized. It helped that Lynette’s studio had ample space in which to store her fabric and other quilting materials. I could not imagine it working in a smaller space or without the attention to detail and organizational skills that Lynette possessed. I was very impressed.

In the middle of the left side of the studio was the sewing space. A large table held two sewing machines opposite each other. One had a large acrylic/Plexiglas table attached to it for quilting/sewing large items with support. Two white flannel design boards were to the right of the sewing area visible when you enter the studio. The board on the right contained a quilt in progress with safety pins basting it in place. Lynette described this quilt as women warriors. The images were abstract but included circles and geometric shapes creating the warriors. The backing and batting that surrounded the quilt was not yet completed. The board on the left held a few pieces of pictorial fabric depicting African woman in various postures. Lynette said she was still considering what to do with them because the shape was so rectangular. She wanted to make a square quilt but didn’t feel it was working. She said she would probably use the large (approx. 12”x18”) panel with the African women sitting together and place something below it with beads dangling from the front. The wall on the left of the door had floor to ceiling bracketed white shelves. These shelves contained boxes and plastic containers with fabric and pieced fabric that had been cut and/or pieced while making other quilts. They were neatly arranged in the boxes or in plastic bags inside the boxes. There were also notions. Some of the quilts showed a Japanese influence using Japanese fabrics and themes. Circles were a recurrent theme in many of Lynette’s quilts. She said they were easy to create. A few were pieced creating a circle with complexity. Often the circular shape was almost hidden due to the different interactions of the fabric that made up the circle and the surrounding fabrics. I was impressed with the complexity of the design and the execution of it. Lynette’s work was very precise and detail oriented. Lynette began to show and tell me about the different designers, and the fabrics in her collection. “Actually, Jackie Robinson, I see all the time at all the shows. She goes to Cleveland. She has this club where she’ll send you one every month.” Lynette said referring to fabric. “So, I haven’t used a single one of them. But if I ever need to,” she laughed, “I’ve got plenty of it. Let me see, where are my Ghanaians? These are all those Ghanaians that she bought.” Lynette pointed out her fabric from Ghana, Africa.

“Those are gorgeous. Did you go there to buy them or did you buy them here?” I asked. ”I buy them from here because you can’t get them there because they…Well, when you go there they don’t sell fabric in little pieces like we do. They sell, you have to buy enough to make a dress.” Lynette explained. “And I don’t ever use that much, you know.” she said. “Yeah.” “I like, you know, you saw it, these little bitty pieces. I’ll be working off of this for a long time. Now, I got these in, there’s a place in Cleveland called St. Theresa’s Treasure Trove and they have a couple of...an antique collector. So they get all kinds of unusual [things] but they come to all the big shows.” “This is the couple, I was telling you about them. I can’t remember names. They don’t have their names on it. I’m just not good at remembering names.” Lynette said. “I’m not either. After teaching so many students.” I empathized. Lynette laughed. “Yeah,” she paused, “here’s another. There’s a quilting store in downtown New York City, in the twenties.” Lynette sniffed slightly. I briefly wondered if she had a cold or allergies.

Figure 2 Lynette with Ghanaian Fabric

“They have all kinds of unusual things. I like to get pieces like this so that when you cut them up no one will know that all those pieces are in there. What they’ll do is they’ll know pieces that I need. And, see this is where I can intertwine the patterns that I have. I collect a lot of them.” “Wow, it’s like stained glass.” I noted as I examined the fabric. “Uh huh. See, I figured I can always buy normal stuff but you can’t buy stuff like this unless I’m out of Tallahassee.” she laughed. “Definitely.” I agreed. “So that’s what I go for when I go out of town. So that’s basically how I choose what I’m going to work on. When I find enough fabric that I think oh, these are all, feel like, the same thing.” Lynette explained. “Looks rather mathematical to me for some reason.” I mentioned as I looked at the fabric. “Hmmm.” she murmured. “The spacing or something.” I continued. “Because you know they squish it up.” Lynette added. “Graphs! That’s what it reminds me of, little graphs.” I said. Lynette agreed. “Uh huh. They sort of band it together and then they dye it.” “Have you ever hand-dyed?’ I asked. “Well I took a class, and, I think in order to be good I would take as much time to learn how to do that as quilting and I don’t have that kind of time. When I retire!” she laughed. I noticed that Lynette had high standards for her work and was not willing to do something until she was really good at it. “Here’s the leftovers from the quilt I made. You know I teach, I work, at FAMU. So, the quilt is made up of a lot of these.” Lynette said referring to the orange, green, and purple fabric pieces from a previous quilt. “That’s pretty. Do you mind if I pick it up?”

“Oh, yeah, yeah, pick it up. I have to figure out what I’m going to do with it.” Lynette said. “Make a quilt?” I asked. “Um, yeah, that orange and green are not very pretty colors. So I had decided that I’d have to find a whole lot of, put a little purple in there, and then put all kinds of oranges and greens together. “These are some of those pieces that you saw down there. That’s Japanese.” “Really?” I asked. “They have a different color palette. Sometimes I like to work in it.“ Lynette remarked as we look at the fabric. “That’s different. The way the edging is around it.” “That’s really good. A sunflower.” Lynette laughed. “Ohh...okay.” I said as I got it. “But I put a circle right in the middle of it so I can get that effect.” Lynette chuckled. “Great idea.” ”I like those...I save all these because I’ll have to use it some way. This was in the Tallahassee show and then after they finished with it Chris put it in her, showed it at her shop.” Lynette referred to a local annual quilt show and local quilt shop. “Oh, really?” “I have a sister who is like 90 percent blind, and I wanted to make her a quilt. This is the first one I did with some black in it. So I needed, I wanted to make something that I thought she could see. All of these, these pieces here are broken, these pieces over here are just break downs of the individual pieces that were.” Lynette explained as we looked at the quilt. “Oh.” “In this block right here. And because she can see that. Because of the contrast between the bright and the dark so I did that one for her. Here’s a quilt I did because they were raising money to get books for one of the middle schools down in south Tallahassee. They were having an auction and I did that one. That was the fastest one I’ve done. Three months!”

“It’s complex.” I noted. “It is. But I did it on paper.” Lynette laughed. “This is one I did for my daughter who got married two years ago. And I wanted, I don’t like to use the whole cloth of any kind so I always have to piece the background before I put the foreground on it. And this is stitched on silk. I did not do any machine quilting on this. I paid $200.00 to have a professional (we both laughed) out in California do it and it is beautiful the way she quilted it. Truly beautiful. And it would never had all that if I had to do it. It’d be just straight lines.” she laughed as we looked at the quilt. “This is one for my little, my sister’s daughter’s firstborn. She just turned a year old.” “Which one?” I asked. “This is that Mardi Gras and I need to machine piece, I mean, machine quilt it again. And then this is my, this is one that I gave to the art gallery in Gadsden for a silent auction. This is my first run. She’s a modern Japanese quilter, can’t think of her name, now. But anyway, I put, those are some blocks that she has. Just randomly in there so I put them together. For the Christmas show ‘cause I had to do something quickly. And this is a competition, one of those that they have at the guild. This one you had to do two surfaces on the front and the back and they had to be quilted such that they were intertwined. And so this is the front and this is the back. The kaleidoscope is on the back. “Oh, wow.” I exclaimed at the complexity. “And I did this for my brother-in-law’s daughter’s first child.” “How big is it?” I asked. “ I think it’s like 54 by 1.62.” she laughed. “This one is for my cousin’s first grandchild.” Lynette said as she picked up the quilt. “I know your family really appreciates you! This is gorgeous.” “She got to shop while I was there. We’re working on it.” “The one on the wall is not the one for your job because that one’s finished already?” I asked. “This one?” “Yes.”

“Oh, no that was made with those pieces.” Lynette said referring to some of the leftover orange, green, and purples from an earlier quilt. “Oh!” “Meant for the FAMU building. Had to justify. There was one that I was thinking about...I have other ways of making quilts...where are the pictures? Well you know...I go on to the next thing. I guess Joe has them all some place. But, each one of the wedding ring quilts is different. To a degree of interest.” “I never made one of those. I just saw circles and said oooh, hard.” “Well, yeah, but I always like a circle in everything. These are just the keepers (laughed). I’m a little obsessive. Now, what am I going to do with all those little squares so I started keeping them and one day I’ll find something for them. I can make little mini quilts. So this is my shame.” “Do you use all those?”

Figure 3 Wedding Ring Quilt

“No, but one day I might need them.” We both laughed. “Actually, I don’t ever expect to use them. I bought those in my first four years. It’s too hard to stay on those lines.” “I’m not that precise.” “I’m not either. Actually, I don’t want to do it that way. If I could ever learn how to draw a little. Oh, Caryl Fallert came to town and I took a class with her and she showed us how to do the plume. And mine didn’t look anything like a plume!” she laughed. “Okay, done this, that’s it for me! I don’t really like machine quilting. I only like to do piecing.” “Yes.” “And I can get good machine quilters to do the quilting for me.” “That’s an idea.” I said. “Yeah. Especially, if you get...so basically all the ones I do myself, it’s just a grid.” “Hm.” “Because I didn’t want to catch someone looking at the design.” “Right.” “Sometimes you can do both but you have to be really good at it. Usually you can master one or the other. Especially, if you don’t have time. I don’t really find pleasure in changing threads all the time.” “Or getting the tension right.” I said. “Yup.” “I often had quilts that I would dread. In fact, what ever I was working on that I had to do that I felt that’s not just grid I would procrastinate. I had that for two years in the making. Just for the machine quilting, not for the piecing. The piecing went pretty quick ‘cause I wanted to see how it was. And I can’t throw anything away!” she laughed. “So, I have boxes of just colorful triangles. So when I do the kiddie quilts I tend to have a lot of stuff, you know, to make from. Because, in fact I did one child’s quilt from just the leftovers of the stuff that I had done, you know, for other people.”

“Right.” “I tried sashiko. This woman who lives in Japan in the military does sashiko, came home and she taught a class at Chris’. I sort of liked that. I got into the sashiko where they marked it out for me and all I had to do was stick a needle in and out. I do like the way it feels you know.” Sashiko is an historical Japanese method of quilting that uses small running stitches to create intricate patterns with thick thread against a usually solid background. The stitches, and the patterns they create are the visual focus. “Yeah. So how long have you had your space organized?” “Since I moved here. I always wanted a studio. Not that I have any career or anything else I do. It’s just the idea of having a loft, you know.” “Yeah. That’s nice.” ”I had all my blacks and whites over here.” Lynette remarked as she looked around her studio. “And good lighting, too.” “Yeah. Well, and all those embellishments I bought I think I’m barely going to use embellishments. I have not used an embellish, an embell, let alone an embellishment. I’ve got all the colors.” “Oh, yeah!” “If I should ever need to!” We both laughed. “I’ve got all kinds of thread all over the place. I’m always buying thread. They know how to really work us when you go to Cleveland. You know all these things are sitting up there so pretty.” We looked at the multicolored spools of thread. “Wow, they’re so pretty. Oh my goodness.” “All these things. All these little cards. And they know exactly what the colors are for that year. And they make sure they have them there. All these things. I have a lot of stuff I could do to them if I ever get to it. I did do a what-do-you-call-it. What’s that kind of quilt with a lot of fabric on it? And you draw with hand embroidery on it.” “Oh, crazy quilt?” I asked. “Crazy quilt!” “Aaah.”

“I took a class in that. Theologies and Sashiko with markers in them.” “Oh, wow.” “One day I’ll do it but I won’t use white.” “Are those expensive?” I asked referring to the thread. “Got them in California. Five dollars?” “Okay.” “Valerie and I took this class together. We had to do all these things by hand. And you know that was a lot. That makes me test what I do, though.” “It does?” I asked. Lynette laughed. “I can’t make it right and so I have to rip it out. What do you call that? Straight stitch. Uh, hum! Looks like.” “So you’re not going to make a whole quilt of that?” I asked looking at the crazy quilt block. She laughed. “What is a whole quilt? What is that?! No, I’m not going to make a whole quilt of that. I was in Chris’ quilting store one day and I had one of my other quilts beside me and a woman said “Oh! You’ve got a nice block there.” I said this isn’t a block it’s a quilt. The woman’s response was that’s not a quilt it’s not big enough! I said, “Your block is my quilt.” I was really pretty insulted.” “One of the things I also have if I can find them [right now]. I save all my quilts my circle paper so I can reuse it,” she laughed. “I have all these different circles here.” “Ooh, that makes me want to try circles.” “I tell you it’s really very peaceful. Cause you always know where you’re going until you get to the end. No question. So what I tend to do when I go shopping. Somehow or other, that day, I’ll see some fabric and I’ll say ooh, I like it: And then after that for a while all I can do is find fabric that goes with this. And so I got all of this and plus all of these colors and somehow they’re gonna custom work my old circles!” Lynette laughed loudly. “More and more of them. All of these are going to go into a string quilt. That’s what I do. I didn’t pull out a whole lot. Have you seen this new kind of fuse?” Lynette said indicating a fusible web fabric that can be ironed on to provide extra body to a piece of fabric or adhere one piece of fabric to another such as in appliqué. “No.”

“It’s very fine and it doesn’t have any bulk in it whatsoever. It’s Dorita.” “Did you get it online or here?” ”I get it online. They don’t have the stores here. She does a lot of nature scenes. And she has created for her. But all these things she has, all these colors somehow.” “Is that brocade? Yeah, it is.” “Um, no.” “It’s not? Looks like it.” “I guess it’s just the way they wove it together. It has a design in it but it’s all woven. So all of these are going to go together in something. That’s what I do. I collect a whole pile of fabrics that somehow have some relationship to the others. And, then I just sit and look at them. For a long time and then finally something happens.” “So your planning process can take awhile if you’re compiling fabric?” “Oh, yeah. I always have different stuff sitting around parked. Like over here you see the sisters over there. African or whatever? Well, I have a whole lot of them. I’m doing another. I’m doing what I call my Warrior Women series. And this is another. I have all of these. And, then this one, this is a border. And I have a lot of different fabric. Somehow it’s going in there too. So they’ve been sitting here for a while. The problem I have is the fact that this is so horizontal and so big. So, I originally was planning on a quilt that was going to be fifty inches square. That’s not going to work. So what I’m going to do is sort of just make this a hanging and put some things down here and put some beads on it and that’ll be finished. ‘Cause I gotta get it finished because it’s been taking up space. I have a wedding and I’ll have to buy a whole lot of fabric. Getting ready for it. These are the ones that are left over from the orange and green quilt. Since I bought all this fabric I didn’t throw away enough.” We both laugh loudly. “And these are my kiddie things.” “Kitty cats?” “No, my kiddies.” “Oh, children.” “Children. There are a lot of kitties in there too.” I left Lynette’s house thinking of her gorgeous, intricately designed quilts and her large well-equipped studio. I was looking forward to seeing her actually creating, sewing,

and quilting her quilts in her space. Since her studio was larger and much better organized than mine I was also curious about how it would feel to work there. Session Two on June 9, 2007 After the interview downstairs, we walked upstairs into Lynette’s studio loft. The ceiling fan in the bedroom below whirred softly. Lynette walked over to her cutting table and began examining fabric that was on it. This is where she measured and arranged fabric for cutting and piecing together. “So, what are you working on now?” I asked. “I’m working on…actually I’m working on two. I’m working on the quilt on the left, piecing it and machine quilting the piece right here.” Lynette said as she pointed to the two different quilts in progress she had on her design wall. Oh, okay.” I murmured, as I looked at the pieces. The one on the left consisted of a few pieces of fabric stitched into semi-circles. On the right was a quilt that was pieced together and had a backing. It had numerous circles of different sizes and fabrics along

Figure 4 Lynette with her Women Warriors Quilt

with linear, rectangular, and square elements. It was primarily earth toned with reds, browns, blacks, blues, and subdued tones. The majority of the quilt was basted onto the backing with safety pins and the areas without pins were already quilted by hand. “That’s called Warrior Women.” “It’s very intricate.” I noted. “There was this Chinese film that came out two years ago…with these warrior women of medieval times. They were so graceful but serious warriors but their clothing was in greens which I love.” Lynette picked up a length of fabric and spread it out on the floor beside the cutting table. It was black with brown rectangular areas in a linear pattern. She gestured towards the brown areas. Then unfolded the fabric even further displaying very small rows of rectangles. “This is corn.” Lynette said. “But after she uses them as prints it’s got beautiful modern designs in it. And she has one with artichokes. “ Lynette pointed to other prints by the fabric designer and quilt artist, Lonni Rossi. “They’ll come out with four or five different sets of colors. So what she wanted to do, she had a competition, and she wanted people to use this set of patterns. She wanted people to make a piece that was actually no longer or wider than this quilt is here.” Lynette pointed to her Warrior Women quilt. “Because this was two years ago. And you had to have 75-85% of her fabric and you could only use 20% of other people’s fabric. And you had to come up with an idea. Usually people make something pretty straightforward because you’ve seen those in some of the quilting magazines or the quilting catalogs. I wanted to do something different and at the same time I had just seen that movie and I was also trying to use the golden rule to make my circles and squares without having to use… and that’s all in here.” Lynette walked over to the quilt and touched the largest circle located at the top of the vertically oriented rectangular quilt. “This is the queen, the head warrior woman. And this is the second.” she said as she pointed towards the largest circle and then the second largest circle below and to the right of it. These two are junior warriors.” Lynette said as she pointed to smaller circles each located further down on the quilt. “And then there are the babies being trained.”

Lynette gestured towards the remaining even smaller circles. Each of the warrior circles had a capital T shape attached to the bottom of the circle that reminded me of the Egyptian ankh or female sign. “It was fantastic for me that I was able to find, I had a piece of fabric that had all of these backgrounds that are in here. They were all on the same piece.” “Really?” I said. I was amazed that one fabric had such different colors and patterns and that Lynette had managed to use them to make a very unified piece. I thought that was a creative way to use one piece of fabric. “I could only use three extra pieces. This piece is another one that was not a part of her fabric.” Lynette’s hand rested on the edge of her quilt as she looked at other areas of the quilt. “Which one?” I asked. “This one on the border.” she said running her hands up and down the slim vertical strip of reds, blacks, and grays. “But, I think practically everything else up there was part of it. And here I would just take some of the areas where it was almost one color and put them in as squares.” Lynette pointed out the small squares around the second warrior women. “So, I would just dig a square out of here.” Lynette gestures towards a larger section of dark solid fabric near another warrior women. “ And that was so much fun!” she exclaimed. “That was so much fun. And here I was trying to do the shishas by hand.” Shishas are small flat mirrors or with a mirror like surface originating in India that can be embroidered onto fabric and crazy quilts. Lynette touched the three mirrored dark circles on a light colored rectangular strip at the top of the quilt opposite the head warrior woman. “By coincidence, I happened to be out in the bay area and I went to a store and they had them all made and I said oh this has to go into here.” We both laughed. “For the general there is a graph of some kind of wave formations.” Lynette walked to a corner of her studio near the cutting table and overlooking the bedroom below and bent down briefly. She pulled out a white sheet of paper with many circles radiating from a central horizontal and a vertical line. There were curved lines sprouting upwards from the area near the intersection of the two lines. Although, it looked a lot like a line drawing it also seemed somewhat mathematical or scientific in nature. Lynette had integrated a scientific

graph into her quilt as part of the machine quilting design. It intrigued me to see this fusion of two areas in her life. “I was needing it for something else for my work. Doesn’t that look like one of my queens?” Lynette asked as she showed me the graph.

Figure 5 Graph Wave Formation

“Wow, it sure does.” I agreed. “And when I saw it I said fantastic so I took it down to Kinko’s and enlarged it and that is what I will be putting on those other, the smaller people.” Lynette explained. “Yes, I can see it.” I said. “You can see it?” Lynette asked as she walked over to the quilt and pointed out the black lines she had machine quilted onto two of the warrior heads. “And I tried to do it on the big ones first because like I said I am not a machine quilter. So this is something I’m learning. And then you see I pieced all of these things. Everything has a whole lot of pieces in it. And so basically when I started this, you wanted to know how I started?”

“Yes.”

Figure 6 Warrior Women with graph like machine quilting

“I started with this. This is all of her ornamentation. Each one of them has ornamentation.” Lynette pointed out the areas around the heads of the different warrior women. “I knew I wanted to have ornamentation and I wanted to be able to use as many of the colors but I wanted to put in shapes and all that would make her, I think, have more

presence.” She was then focused upon the main warrior woman. “And I used her black set of circles and then there was another set with grays and coppers in them. Unfortunately, it was due in October. My son and my daughter-in-law were moving to England in August. And I had to decide whether to take a free ticket and go with them to help find a house or finish my piece. So, it’s still in process.” Lynette laughed as I murmured, “that’s understandable.” “But anyway, this is what I consider to be the kind of work I like to do.” Lynette said, while she touched her Warrior Women’s quilt. “I loved working on every bit of this! And then you see here. Remember I was showing you that stitch and all I had learned when I went to QSDS (Quilt Surface Design Symposium). You’ll see this in a lot of my stuff. Lynette described the methods of construction in great detail, turning over the bottom corner and unpinning a section to show where she had trimmed away the silk organza she had used to anchor her stitching on the quilt top. “After I have stitched it what I did was cut it off. It is very difficult to stitch through it because the organza is machine made.” Lynette said. She added that when it wasn’t cut off it made it very hard to quilt through so she removes it. Lynette added “I don’t need anything to keep me from it since my skills are not that great. I’m trying to use the metallic thread right here. This one has a whole lot of things that I am trying to learn how to do. Like this right here, I just wanted to change it a little, because I needed to have the same fabric.” Lynette touched a vertical rectangular white area under one of the smaller warrior heads. On closer inspection I noticed a translucent, half-moon hand- stitched near the top. “And that you’ll see in my work.” “What is that stitch called?” I asked. “It’s not a blanket stitch. I’ll have to tell you who my teacher was and if you see her work... She only uses silk organza that she dyes and paints. All of her work is done by hand and is all completely abstract. Gorgeous, gorgeous, stuff. Everything is put together using that stitch. It’s very satisfying to do once you can. It takes a while to try to get it so it doesn’t look so raggedy that it sort of looks consistent. So it doesn’t take away or call your eyes too much to the raggedyness. I didn’t want that.” Lynette explained.

Lynette picked up and unfolded another quilt that was composed of numerous circles of different colors on different background fabrics. It was arranged grid like with

Figure 7 Lynette's Circle Quilt horizontal and vertical rows and columns that were based on the fabric choices and created diagonal areas of color. It also had a border with smaller circles. She pointed out that some of the circles were not readily apparent and blended into the background. I

mentioned that they really did blend in and pointed out a few of the ones that I noticed. Lynette pointed out some even less obvious circles that really were very well camouflaged. She deliberately used fabrics, sometimes more than one per circle, to create these effects. Lynette remarked, “What they do is make the fabric more interesting looking, more complex. I deliberately do that. It’s not that I run out of fabric.” Lynette pointed to different fabrics naming the culture or designers that created them. “This is one of Lonni Rossi’s fabrics, here’s a little bit of Japanese, Ghanaian.” “So, how many cultures do you have in this one? You mentioned, Ghanaian.” I said. Lynette pointed out a different fabric that was from Ghana that was made using wax and mentioned that it was a batik and not a tie-dye. She pulled out a larger length of it and unfolded it. We both felt how stiff the fabric was from the wax that was used. Lynette reached into a purple plastic storage crate and pulled out a couple of strips of greenish fabric that had circles and geometric shapes that she had pieced onto them. She said they were extras and would become something later. Un-stacking two black plastic storage crates Lynette searched through neatly folded layers of fabric. “Is this a basket of quilts in progress?” I asked. “Surfaces. They have no backs on them.” She looked around a bit more then replaced the fabrics and the baskets. Lynette pulled out fabric with images of Indian goddesses and elephants. She said she really wanted to use this fabric because she practiced yoga and Ayurveda. While I examined the fabric Lynette spread out an unfinished quilt top that was about three feet wide and similar to a curved hexagon in shape. Many of the fabrics were floral and others from designers such as Kaffe Fassett. I noticed machine embroidery stitches between the fabrics creating a crazy quilt method of design and construction. Lynette intended to put the Indian god and goddesses on the central portion of the quilt but gave up because it wasn’t working out. I asked if she had given up on completing the quilt she said yes, maybe, but she hasn’t thrown it out. I verified with Lynette that she had embroidered by machine. She brought out a quilt square that she had hand embroidered and said it took her a very long time to do it because she was doing it by hand and learning to embroider at the same time. Both the machine and the hand-embroidered pieces were done very neatly and looked very consistent. “These are all the things that made me realize that I

really wanted to be a quilter. All this stuff. The crazy quilting is not supposed to match or anything. I far more like this than the traditional. Now that I’m looking at it I see that there is some sort of progression or at least a consistency. Chaos turned into order…I could finish this. Add a two inch border. I’m glad I talked to you.” “Glad I could help.” We looked further through some fabrics in Lynette’s stash. Lynette was able to recall the details of where, when, and the designer or ethnic/cultural group, of the different pieces of fabric. She put the fabric pieces back into the same location on the shelf or in the storage containers from which she removed them. “How long did it take you to get this organized?” I asked. “It started out small, so it was organized as it came. Because I couldn’t find anything.” Lynette further explained where she kept circles, squares, stripes, different colors, and large pieces of fabric. The folded pieces of fabric on the shelves were color-coded. At the cutting table, Lynette picked up a piece of paper and said that she used paper to help make her quilts. The paper had two sets of lines creating a square with a piece of black and white fabric with circles adhered to the middle of the square. Putting it against the design wall she pointed out the intersection where the square fabric would fit into the pieced curves that were in progress. “So that’s sort of why I’m sort of slow now. Basically, when I start something, before I’ve got the technique down, I sort of procrastinate.” Lynette moved over to one of her two sewing machines on the table in the middle of her studio. “The things that I do quilt I quilt in quarters on the machine and then I hand piece them together. So what I make has to be able to be broken down into quarters. Otherwise everything just gets jumbled up under here.” She pointed to the arm of the machine. Lynette went over to her quilt in progress, on the design wall, that consisted of strips of fabric. She demonstrated how it would be broken into quarters for quilting then stopped talking as she moved one of the strips slightly. She said something softly that I didn’t quite hear. I asked, “What’s the matter.”

Lynette said, “This fabric is over here.” She pointed to a different strip on the design wall. Lynette didn’t want the same fabric in that area. She said she was making thirty-two strips so she’d find someplace for it. I realized that the quilt was going to be a lot larger than the two to three feet of space it occupied on the design wall. “So, that’s not anywhere near the size it’s going to be?” I asked. “No, this is one fourth of the top. It can’t be anymore than fifty-eight inches wide because of the space it’s going into. Each of these will be twenty four inches.” Lynette walked over to her cutting table. “Do you want me to actually do something?” she asked. I assured her that I did.

Figure 8 Lynette lining up fabric before cutting it

Observation Session Two on 6/9/07 “I love gadgets.” Lynette exclaimed. As she spoke she picked up different tools that were spread out on the cutting table amongst the folded, and pieced pieces of fabric. I

noticed four different containers of rotary cutter blades. “Are those all of your rotary cutters?” I asked. “Actually, these are all of my rotary cutters.” Lynette picked up a plastic shoebox type container filled with rotary cutters. “Wow.” I said, truly in awe of the large number of cutters in the container. Lynette then pointed out her rotary cutter for paper that was already on the table. She opened the box and lifted up different rotary cutters. “This one is for straight cutting, a small one for little circles, giant one for cutting a whole lot of fabric. I also have a cool red one that is for cutting strips.” She closed the box and went in search of the red rotary cutter. The red rotary cutter was very long. It looked like a paper cutter or mat cutter and was about eighteen inches long. The average rotary cutter is shorter than a pencil but wider, usually. After my surprised exclamation when I saw the red rotary cutter Lynette remarked that she does a lot of strips. She ordered it from the quilt store in Tallahassee after seeing them using one to cut fabric. Lynette walked around the cutting table reaching under at intervals to show me different sewing tools and hand dyed fabrics. She had multiples of some of the tools. As she auditioned fabric for the quilt she was working on Lynette remarked on the designer/dyer and where she bought the fabric. She stopped looking to talk about her desire to take a class with quilter Nancy Crow. “She gives them projects, rules. And it is all freehand. They complete it. They don’t actually quilt them though. They do that when they get back home.” Lynette remarked thoughtfully. Lynette moved over to the shelves by the windows, pulled out fabric, and placed it on the ironing board in front. “See, these are all commercial fabrics.” She gestured towards the fabric on the ironing board. Lynette unfolded one that was pink and blue. She said that it was a camera picture to put the design on. “It’s very hard to come back and use this.” “Do you combine commercial and hand dyed fabrics?”

“Yes, but not this. Not imitations. I consider this to be an imitation of Heidi’s.” Lynette referred to fabric designer and quilter Heidi Lund, then patted the fabric for emphasis. “I wouldn’t use an imitation of her. If I used this it would be in something where I didn’t have any of her real stuff. These would be very nice backs.” Lynette unfolded a different commercial fabric and mentioned that it is of a higher quality. She picked up a few pieces of fabric with Japanese characters. “I also like these with Japanese characters. The black on black. Sometimes colors on black.” I look closely to discern the black on black design. Lynette brought out modern Japanese styled fabric by designer Alexander Henry. It was brightly multicolored and included both traditional and modern women. Her authentic Japanese fabric had Japanese writing in the selvedge where the designer or company’s name is usually located. Lynette pulled out more Japanese fabrics to audition. She said that the store she bought the fabric from had closed. It was located in California. “Do you think you could find some of these on the Internet?” I asked. “No. But, basically in California, they love Alexander Henry. I’m surprised that they aren’t in Florida more because I think people would like these fabrics.” We look at a few more pieces of Japanese fabric. “You asked me how do I get started. That’s how I get started.” Lynette pulled out a piece of Japanese fabric with green in it. I noticed that it was a floral pattern as were many of the other Japanese fabrics. “You have a lot of florals I noticed.” “Uh hum, and nature stuff, pine trees. A traditional Japanese quilt is supposed to have a crane in it for good luck.” Lynette showed me a piece of fabric by Lonni Rossi. It was similar to brown mustard in color. She read a recipe (“for the best pickled mushrooms”) that was a part of the fabric, printed on it, and said that she had a website where you could buy her fabric. I wondered how most people who bought this particular fabric intended to use it. Would they keep the recipe portion intact or not? Lynette said since all of the recipe was not easily legible she was probably just trying to make a texture. Session Three on 7/1/07 Pre-observation

“So, what are you going to make me think about this time?” Lynette asked with a smile as she sat in a comfortable chair in the living area off of the kitchen.

Figure 9 Lynette before interview

“Well, I hope a lot.” I replied and adjusted the video camera on the tripod. “Actually, I’m in the same chair should I be in another chair so that it’s clear it’s a different day?” “You changed your clothes.” I remarked lightheartedly. “Oh, that’s right.” Lynette said as she settled into a cross-legged position in her chair. A buzzer sounded loudly from the kitchen. Lynette stopped talking and looked toward the kitchen. Her rice timer had gone off. After Lynette returned from the kitchen we continued with the interview. Upstairs in her studio, Lynette showed me a quilt top with purples, greens, and whites that she was working on. The individual blocks had a log cabin pattern but they are placed with different orientations and color combinations so that the overall effect is not that of a traditional log cabin quilt. She said she was still looking for fabric to include.

She went down a few steps and then returned with a bag full of acrylic templates. “There are a number of different ways that you can put them together as far as making them into the blocks that you’re going to combine into your pieces. I like working with these [acrylic templates]. I use the acrylic rulers, too. Excuse me I should say I like working with acrylic. I’ve never done this before. It seems like something fun to try.” Lynette said. “Did you buy them locally?” I asked. “No. Louisa Smith had a book out. A lot of quilters have become businesswomen. She had them designed and they’re on her website. She sells them. So, I ordered two more sets. The problem with these right here is that…” Lynette walked over to her design wall and pulled up an edge of one of the arced pieced shapes off of the wall. “In order to keep it from stretching I put this golden thread paper behind it. But some of the first ones I didn’t do that and I’m afraid that…I’m not a dainty person and I’m afraid that I may have stretched some of these. And I just didn’t really want to take any chances and somehow having to put together all these little things and then I couldn’t decide what I wanted to put in the middle of each one.” Lynette gestured towards the empty space between two of her arced pieces. “So I figured if I have to think about it this much and then I don’t like it and I have done all this stitching. I’m just not that good. Hopefully, one day I’ll be good enough to use things that aren’t biased or on the bias, or whatever you call it. But right now that would be a big effort and I don’t have that kind of time to waste so. But I think what I might do after I get the blocks pieced I think I might add some extra quarter marks of those. I might take those and incorporate them. I might not. At least now it makes me feel better about not having finished doing it.” “So you want those to be very precise when you piece them?” I asked. “Yes. They will be. What I’ll probably do is appliqué them and I’ll take some freezer paper, cut it out and leave quarter inch on the exterior and then I’ll turn it in and then I’ll precisely sew it on. And then I don’t have to worry about the bias.” Lynette explained as she picked up a quilt top and refolded it pausing as she spoke. “And that’s how I do most of my stuff; all of these were freezer paper circles.” Lynette continued to fold the quilt top.

“What would be the effect of it if you used it now? What would happen to your quilt?” I questioned. “If I make a quilt just with those?” Lynette asked. “The way they are.” I clarified. “They probably would stretch. Because they always tell you to touch gently and use a stiletto and all that. Like I said I’m not that dainty. So now what I have to do is…I’m going to cut this African print up into a couple of squares. And I’m going to have the women in the piece. The women won’t be in circles but I’m going to feature them somehow in the quilt. These are the colors and the range of pieces that I’m going to use.” Lynette pointed at the African print. The women had black skin and wore clothing in blues, browns, and reds. “So, that’s why I have all this stuff.” She said and pointed around the room at the multiple stacks of fabric she had on different surfaces in the studio. “It’s not junky. I really have all this stuff out so I can see everything. So I can figure out what I want to put in what place. And I like these ladies” she said as she refolded the African print. We looked around the studio at the different pieces of fabric. All of these out right now are…all of these and these over here.” Lynette gestured to the area in front of us and to her cutting table. She showed me some of the fabric that she wanted to use but couldn’t because there wasn’t enough of it. One of the pieces she said she’d had since she first started quilting. She bought the cotton fabric at QSDS from two designers and also noted that she has it not just in the green we looked at but also in a red, which was on another table. Lynette said she’d figure out a way to use the pieces she wanted to use since she doesn’t want all the pieces to be the same. She continued to walk around the studio pulling out fabric and commenting on where she bought it and who designed it. “Do you ever buy from Wal-mart, and places like that?” I asked. “No.” Lynette said quickly. “That fabric is not, that’s not good fabric. It’s not going to last long.” She stated as she searched for fabric on her shelves. “I found this out early. They actually make several quality levels of fabric with the same design and dyeing. The quilting fabric the horizontal and vertical weaving is equal. You can put your needle anywhere in it in order to quilt or to stitch. Those of the lower quality one will probably have more than the other; she made horizontal and vertical motions. Therefore

you can’t really get the same kind of precise quilting out of it and also when you wash it, because I do wash most of mine.” “Pre-wash it?” “Yes. I’m not doing it as much. I’m not doing it on the hand-dyed. But I try to get the surface starch or whatever it is off. I found that when you wash them they don’t have the same quality. So, no I don’t use them. I only use them from quilting stores. Or from an import store, their silks and stuff…After I put all this work in it I don’t want it to be…”Lynette’s voice drifted off as she picked up a piece of fabric. “I love this, this is from West Africa.” She unfolded the fabric looked at it and then refolded. She continued to do this with other fabric she picked up from her cutting table and remarked that she liked to keep some sort of order to her fabric.

Figure 10 Lynette cutting and trying out fabrics

“I really prefer fat quarters. Because it’s easy to cut them. “Why?” I asked. “Because they’re small!” Lynette remarked. “Oh.” I said. “See.” she said as she unfolded a red patterned piece of fabric. “This is a half of a half-yard. Almost a square depending on what a half yard is. Whether it’s forty-two or forty-five. And you can store them and see. Those are all fat quarters in there.” she said and then pointed to a storage unit with wire baskets filled with fabric near the design wall. Lynette continued to look and audition the fabrics on her cutting table unfolding and refolding them as she went along with an occasional comment about the fabric. “I actually like to fold fabric. I like to touch it. She said as she folded a small red piece. The problem I have is I have to cut in the same space I have this spread out.” She took a few pieces of fabric, knelt down and placed them on the carpet in front of her. She played with different arrangements by placing pieces of fabric next to and on top of each other then moved them on top of a different piece. Lynette mentioned being in the way of her husband if he wanted to put up his suitcases. They had just returned from a trip to New York. I asked, “Do you think your husband’s support of your quilting has made a difference?” “Yes, he goes and sits in cars while I go into the stores.” “Would you still quilt if he were against it in someway?” I asked. “Yeah. He’s not that kind of a person. Besides he wants me to support him in his pursuits.” Lynette turned back to her work of selecting and placing her fabric combinations. She had a selection of black and white patterned fabrics, a couple of reds and a green fabric. “I do have to be organized. I can’t just be helter skelter. It makes me nervous.” Lynette said. “Are you fairly organized in other areas of your life also?” I asked.

“I’m an Aquarian. We love to be organized!” Lynette got up and picked up a piece of fabric from a basket and brought it over to the floor in front of the cutting table. She then stood up and began looking through the fabric on the cutting table. “If I’m going to use it in a baby quilt I’ll wash it so it won’t shrink on me or the mother.” She placed a piece of fabric on the carpet with the others, went back to the cutting table and selected a red, blue, green, and black batik fabric from Ghana. Lynette got out one of her rotary cutters with an attached Plexiglas ruler, placed it on top of the fabric and then changed her mind about cutting it. “I’m going to try this on something that’s not so expensive” she said as she pulled the fabric out from under the cutter. She placed a different colored piece under the rotary cutter edge. “I’ll get an inch and a half” she said then cut the fabric. It cut smoothly and neatly with one quick pass. Lynette then returned to the Ghanaian piece and placed it in position to be cut. “Gadgets also got me into quilting. I love gadgets.” she said and cut a one and a half inch wide by about twelve inches long strip. She held it up in the air and looked at it. “When I stitch it in it’ll be one inch. I use quarter inch seams.” She cut another strip from the same fabric and took them both over to the design wall. She moved the arced strips out of the way onto the edges leaving most of the space in the middle of that half of the wall open. “My love for gadgets is almost as great as my love for fabric.” Lynette remarked. She placed the two strips vertically, edge to edge, on the design wall. Then said, “I’ll show you my pins.” She got a large plastic ventilated basket, like a shopping basket, from a shelf near the design wall. The basket was filled with numerous containers of pins. “Each one of them has its own purpose and they don’t get crossed. We joked about the massive amount of pins she had as she brought out a few pincushions. Lynette described the individual usages of the pins in the pincushions and some of the plastic containers in the basket. She mentioned using the superfine pins because you can sew over them without damaging your machine. She also had safety pins in the basket, which she used for basting. Lynette brought over a clear small flat plastic box with thimbles in it. She demonstrated using them in the different ways for different types of stitching such as quilting and seaming. Lynette found more pins, directional pins, which were color coded to reflect the different directions, hand quilting needles, and a bonding agent. “Oh boy, do I have lots of stuff!” Lynette exclaimed as she looked around. She certainly did have a

lot of stuff. I couldn’t imagine how she kept it so organized and just knew where the different things were. After a brief discussion about an upcoming quilt show in Jacksonville Lynette returned to walking around and locating fabric, spreading some pieces out on the cutting table and cutting strips from them. She pinned the fabric strips next to the previously pinned strips, stood back and examined them, then went back to the cutting table to fold up the fabric she had just used. Then she selected another piece, cut it, and ironed it. This was the first day she had worked on that particular quilt. She selected and unfolded a brilliantly colored pink and green dyed fabric on the ironing board. She looked at it for a few moments, then refolded it and placed it back on the shelf near the iron. Lynette continued to select fabrics. Some were ironed before being cut. She contemplated her color choices and included more rather than exclude some colors and color schemes for the moment. Lynette anticipated creating more strips than she would need for one quilt and likely having enough to create a second quilt, probably as part of a series. I realized that was how she got the leftover pieces of pieced fabric to use in subsequent quilts. Lynette selected and cut fabric strips placing the strips next to one of the other strips on the design wall. She secured them to each other with pins. After about an hour Lynette had about fifteen strips arranged on the design wall. Two of the strips were placed a small distance away one on each side of the main group in the middle. She held up large pieces of fabric next to the different strips to see if they would work. The strips were deeply colored in dark greens, blues, browns, and a bit of red. Lynette backed away a little and looked at it. “What I’m trying to do is to… from a distance for it to look like it’s the same fabric. So, I’m trying to bring in colors that slightly change.” Lynette explained. “But at the same time I don’t want to cut them. That’s why I stopped cutting them.” she laughed. “But if I really decided they should go there that’s when I’ll cut them.” Lynette added. “And to think that all these fabrics came from so many different parts of the world and they all have a different way of expressing the combination of colors. But at the same time there’s something the same about them or else they wouldn’t be able to go together.” Lynette continued to search and audition fabric from her fat quarters. After a few auditions Lynette walked towards the shelves near one of her sewing machines. She sat

down in the chair in front of her machine. Then quickly looked at me and said, “No, I’m not sewing.” Lynette knew that I wanted to observe her sewing one of her quilts. I was beginning to wonder when she would use the machine. She pointed out the knee controls on this machine versus the usual foot controls for sewing. She was very familiar with her machines so it was clear that she did use them. But perhaps she was reluctant to use them in front of me. Afterwards she turned around to look at fabric on the shelves. As she pulled out some of the pieces she explained whether they were commercial, hand-dyed, and where she got them.

Figure 11 Lynette browsing through her fabric near her sewing machine

“So would you say you spend more time with the planning and the cutting out then you do the actual sewing or quilting?” I inquired.

“The planning that’s the part I like. The sewing, that’s a means to an end. I don’t do sewing efficiently. Some people will get everything together then sit and they go zoom, zoom, zoom. I don’t do that. I sew two pieces together and then I walk over to the

ironing board. I iron it. I only stitch one seam at a time so it takes a long time.” Lynette answered. “Do you enjoy sewing?” I asked, really wondering about the answer. “Umm, I like the colors.” Lynette chuckled. “And the shapes.” she said and turned to look at more fabric on the shelves. Lynette’s answer confirmed what I suspected; that she did not really enjoy the sewing aspect of quilting. Even though the quilting that I observed looked very good and was precise I knew that Lynette was more of a perfectionist and needed to feel extremely competent at what she did. “Have you ever glued fabric to make a quilt?” I asked. “Temporarily, yeah, to hold them together.” she replied as she sorted through fabric on the shelves and in her lap. Lynette got up and showed me a strip of fabric that she had machine embroidered. “Maybe this will be the basis of the beginnings of a quilt.” she said as she held the strip in her hands. “Yeah, it makes me tense to do this.” she said

Figure 12 Lynette in her studio browsing for fabric

as she sat back down. “I don’t like to do it. I don’t really have command. They say that there are so many hours that you have to actually put in, in order to become comfortable and proficient using free-motion. And when I started quilting that one,” she points to the Warrior Women quilt-in-progress on the design wall, “I’ve gotten a little better. I would procrastinate going back to it. I’d say I’m going to work on that today. Then I’d come up here and I’d reorganize fabric which I do frequently.” Lynette laughed. “Or I’d think of a new project. But now, I’m not actually too afraid of it. If you’re going to do your own design, if you don’t quilt it evenly that is that there’s as much empty space as there is thread it will be lopsided…so if I don’t do it very carefully I end up wasting that time.” “When do you think that one will be finished?” I asked referring to the Warrior Women quilt. “Soon-ish.” Lynette replied thoughtfully with a smile. She went on to describe a new wider armed sewing machine that will be coming out soon. She said that would help since the material gets bunched up quilting it under the regular machine. Then reasoned that was probably just her rationale for not working on it. Lynette looked around and pulled out some of her more exotic fabrics in silks and

Figure 13 Lynette's Exotic Silks and Embroidered Fabrics that were heavily embroidered. She mentioned that she goes through different color periods and then won’t work with those same colors for a while. Final Session on November 11, 2007 I requested the follow-up interview with Lynette so that I could photograph some of the quilts she showed me when we first met. Lynette searched around in the upstairs rooms locating quilts in different rooms. A few were in an acid free box that she said was the same type of box in which women store their wedding gowns. She set-up a quilt hanging apparatus and placed one of her quilts on it. The room was a bit dark. I forgot that the flash on my camera popped up when needed and mentioned that I hadn’t brought my flash. After taking photos of one quilt, once the blinds were opened, Lynette suggested that I use the photos from her website. She didn’t think that the detail was present in the image she saw on the camera window. Her husband had taken the website photos and she said the lighting (he has specific lighting equipment for taking the photos) was good and good detail was visible. I agreed to use the website photos. Lynette opened her laptop and began to find the photos. I asked if her website was up and active. She said no. But she was able to pull off her photos. Lynette asked me to choose the photographs that I wanted and she put them on my flash drive. She commented on quilts that I asked about and a few spontaneously. Juvenile quilts were for her grandchildren and the children of her former graduate students. Grandchildren’s quilts included the child’s first initial and other family details, such as the family cat and siblings. Lynette commented that the parents put them on the wall and didn’t let the children use them. They are larger than crib-sized. She stopped making them because the kids weren’t allowed to use them. Other quilts were largely geometric, especially circles. Wedding quilts for her children and one for her sister who is going blind were the focus of some of the other quilts. This featured a darkened area in the midst of the colorful patterns. It gave the effect of being in the dark and not being able to see.

Lynette showed me a quilt that she had made for her Dad who had recently passed away. I asked if he had had a chance to see it. “Oh, yes” she said. She had made it a while ago. As she described some of her quilts she made reference to Nancy Crow and other quilters that she had been influenced by. Lynette searched on her bookshelf to find books that the quilters wrote or in which they were included. After a while there were quite a few books spread out on the sofa. Her husband called and Lynette commented that she was showing me her quilt books, which she never got the chance to show anybody else. We looked at about twenty books including books by Nancy Crow, numerous Japanese quilters (some of these books were in Japanese), and different quilt show catalogs.

Figure 14 Changing Course Figure 15 Midnight in a Wisteria Garden

Lynette told me a little about her trip to Japan and some of the cultural differences. As we examined the quilts in the books I noticed that Lynette had positive comments about the quilts that demonstrated intricacy in piecing and design. She was not impressed with the quilts that were cartoon-like or did not display something that demonstrated intellect at work. She pointed out quilters that apparently used math to figure out how to create their intricate patterns. The patterns were very impressive and the fact that it was a quilt made the works even more intricate in nature. Lynette had great enthusiasm and high regard for quilts by quilters that demonstrated an intelligent,

intellectual nature. On the other hand she did not show any appreciation for the humorous, cartoon-like, pictorial, less intricate quilts that we passed by in the books.

CHAPTER FIVE QUILTER LAUREN AUSTIN Profile Age Lauren is in her late forties. Job Lauren is a full-time practicing quilter and artist-in-residence at the Atlantic Center for the Arts in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. Part of her duties as artist-in- residence, include teaching art to high school students in an economically disadvantaged area. Lauren is fluent in Spanish and utilizes this ability in the classroom with some of her students that are native Spanish speakers. As a former civil rights attorney, Lauren is knowledgeable about civil rights issues, African and African-American historical and current events. She is concerned about the possible demise of small African-American museums that house items of African-American memorabilia including artifacts from slavery. Education Lauren earned a B.A. in Latin American Studies from Dartmouth College and a Juris Doctorate from Syracuse University College of Law. She also took art courses at Dartmouth College, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, and Syracuse University College of Visual And Performing Arts. Quilting Experience Lauren has quilted for 30 years and estimated that she has made 200-300 quilts. Issues and Concerns Lauren’s website description reads: “Lauren Austin, the principal of that black girl art, is a fabric artist creating art quilts for sale and as commissions with her own hand-dyed materials. She is also a storyteller and teacher offering a variety of presentations and hands-on workshops for all ages on African American culture and history as expressed through her art. “My work is conceived for people to see, touch and experience in ways that bring out not just memories but emotions. Through my interactive presentations and

workshops in schools, community centers and galleries, I encourage others to find paths back to their own personal and cultural history to bring it forward to new generations.” On the occasions that we met, Lauren wore t-shirts and casual pants. The t-shirts were tie-dyed by Lauren and reflected her expertise with many methods of binding the fabric to create dye resistant areas. Her long locks, which she could sit on, were usually pulled back with a scarf. Lauren was very friendly, outgoing, energetic, and easy to talk to. During the interviews, observations, and casual conversations Lauren was very thoughtful and deliberate in what she said. She was usually in motion working on a quilt on the design board, sewing machine, fabric/supplies table, ironing board, or dyeing fabric. Lauren’s current work that I observed focused on her family. She incorporated photos from a photo album that her grandmother gave her by transferring them onto fabric. She also created quilts for and about people that she cares about. One quilt, made for an Atlantic Center for the Arts employee, a cook, who recently died of cancer, Lauren gave to the surviving husband. Other quilts, figurative, without photographs depict times from her life with her husband and children. Session One Wednesday, June 13, 2007 at 11:45 a.m. This interview was originally scheduled for 10:00, but Lauren had an emergency funding meeting that she needed to attend. I turned off of the highway onto Art Center Drive. I drove past numerous homes of various styles and financial value for what felt like a very long time on a rather bumpy road. I made a turn off of Art Center Drive onto a gravel driveway. The Art Center sign was on gray wood with black letters and a large clear Plexiglas sign with the initials ACA in black and the exit driveway on the other side. I had arrived at the Atlantic Center for the Arts. Each side of the driveway turned into one road, which was lined with scrub palm trees and other dense foliage. It felt very cool and secluded. Only one car was in the parking lot that I could see in the short distance ahead. I pulled into one of the three parking spaces near the Visitor Center. The Visitor Center was a large gray concrete building. It had a large glassed in corner on the left and very high windows. Those windows slanted near the top where they aligned with the roof. A car went by slowly

Figure 16 Atlantic Center for the Arts entrance headed further down the road. I got out and looked around. It was relatively cool, 80 degrees, and very quiet. I heard just the sounds of nature. I walked towards the Center stepping onto a large covered walkway. It was sort of a pavilion that spanned the length of the building. Apparently the parking spaces, where I parked, were on the side of the building and not the front. I walked to the front of the building, noted the hours (open at 10:00 a.m.) on the glass door and pulled the metal handle. The chilled air inside cooled me immediately, too much. The information desk was ahead of me to my right. It had maps of the ACA, pamphlets to join the ACA, and an empty plastic container for donations. There were artwork, photographs, and LCD screens around the large room and on the walls. I wandered around the chilly space checking out the photographs of famous people. Although the work was interesting it was a bit eerie walking around the quiet chilly space with no signs of anybody anywhere. I was hoping to get or find directions to Lauren Austin’s studio. Finally, a man of average height and build with reddish/blond brown hair, appeared somewhere near the entrance. He came towards me asking if I

needed some help. I was glad to finally see someone and wondered where he had been and why it had taken so long for him to come out and greet me. I supposed it was because the center opened at 10:00 am and I had arrived there shortly after 10. I asked if he knew where I would find Lauren Austin. He said yes and told me how to get to her studio. We spoke a little bit about why I was there and that I had driven from Tallahassee that morning. He was surprised to know how quickly I had gotten there from Tallahassee. He invited me to feel free to walk around and tour the area before I left.

Figure 17 Visitor Center

After leaving the Center, I walked back to my car. It felt a bit hotter than when I had arrived. I looked for the road to Lauren’s studio. It was in walking distance not far behind my car. I set off on foot down a dirt road with a lot of tropical foliage on both sides and overhead. When I got to a fork in the road I veered right towards the studio. The studio was a whole house complete with garage. I walked up to the front door and saw a note with my name on it. It read “I had to go to a funding meeting this morning. I didn’t have your phone #. I will be back by noon. I’m sorry. Lauren” She had included

her telephone number after her signature. It was not quite 10:30 a.m. so I had no idea what I could do for that amount of time in an unknown and actually unseen town. I had turned off of the highway before actually entering the town and only had a detailed map to take me to and from this location. So, I decided I’d be better off staying at the ACA. I called Lauren to let her know I was there and had read her note. She apologized again and said she would be along shortly. She did not drive there and so needed to return with the person with whom she had ridden. I decided to tour the grounds on my own and began walking around towards the directions of the other buildings. Most of the buildings were hidden by trees and other foliage. I walked around outside looking at the architecture and an occasional plaque or sculpture. I did not see many people in or near the buildings. After walking around to two buildings it had become very hot outside. I was uncomfortably hot and ready to go back to my car to drink some water and relax in the air conditioning. I thought about how cool it had been in the visitor center but I really wanted to sit down comfortably and relax. The Visitor Center still seemed a bit eerie to me. As I walked back down a path near the Visitor Center the man from the Center walked up with another man. He was giving him a tour. We talked for a moment more before we moved in opposite directions. I entered my car and drank the last of my water. By now it was very hot and close to noon. I sat in my car with the air on for a while then opened the windows and the driver side door. Around 11:45 I saw a car stop behind me. One woman exited from the car and began walking towards the road to Lauren’s studio. I jumped out of the car and called towards her, hoping that this was Lauren. It was. We talked for a moment then she walked to her studio and I got in my car and drove over to her studio. When I entered and had brought in all of my bags Lauren offered me a bottle of water, which I gratefully accepted. I was very thirsty and extremely hot. I had drunk all of my water while sitting in the car. The space was nicely cool and had concrete floors and white walls. It was very bright inside. There were no blinds or window coverings in the living room area nor the patio doors in the dining area. The kitchen had a small window that was also uncovered. The walls in the living room and dining area had design walls with quilts in progress on them and some photographs. There were also some framed photographs on the wall near the garage door. The garage door was to the

Figure 18 Sign outside of Lauren's studio

Figure 19 Lauren’s sewing area

right as you entered the house. Down a short hallway off of the living room were the bathroom and the three bedrooms. Lauren’s studio was actually a three-bedroom house on the grounds of the Atlantic Center for the Arts. As the Artist-in-Residence she had full and exclusive use of the facility. Instead of working and living at the center, Lauren and her family lived in their own private residence and Lauren used all of the Atlantic Center for the Arts house as her studio, including the garage. We talked a little about the importance of funding in the arts. Lauren’s meeting that morning had been very important to her position there so she really needed to attend. Apparently she was unaware of the meeting until that morning.

Figure 20 Lauren in her studio with her quilts on the design wall

We sat in the living room area of Lauren’s studio. Lauren, dressed in a yellow tie- dyed shirt that she dyed, white pants, yellow head wrap, sensible shoes, and an armful of silver bracelets that softly jingled whenever she moved was seated at a sewing table in front of the living room window. Her hair hung down her back, in long dreadlocks,

touching the seat of her chair. The sewing machine was right in front of her and she had a clear view of the vegetation outside of the window at the front of the house. “They’re done.” I looked at the faces. The man has mostly white skin, black hair, and blue eyes. The woman has mostly dark brown skin, black hair, and brown eyes. More than one color of fabric has gone into creating the skin tones and shadows of their complexions. “And the rest of it is still kind of in progress. That to me is the way that I need to work.” Lauren relaxed back in her chair with her arms folded behind her back. “I think it’s going to be a good piece. I was just thinking back to when my husband and I were in college and what it was like, just us. And now I guess we’re going to have that again. Because our youngest will go to college in a couple of years and then it will be just us.” “And this piece here was a woman who used to work here at ACA as a cook. Hester. That’s her wedding picture.” Lauren pointed to a smaller quilt on the same wall as her sewing table. It showed a fabric photograph of a man and a woman, the man leaning in towards the woman as they both looked out at the viewer. There were different shades

Figure 21 Hester's quilt and patterns of purple fabric creating a background and border around the photograph. “She worked in the kitchen and nobody paid attention to her. Washing the dishes and cutting up the vegetables. And I would go in and talk to her. Just mostly because I loved her voice. And she had all these little sayings and things. And she came over to the studio a couple of times and she just loved my quilts. And would tell me stories about when she was young and her brother going off in the Navy, World War II, all this stuff. And we just had a good time. And then she got cancer and she died. And I went and saw her when she was in hospice and I was just about to have a show, a show in Fort Lauderdale, I packed it up to take to the post office. I stopped by and I showed it to her, every piece. And she looked at every piece like it was gold. We talked about it and she told me more stories. It was really hard. And her husband was sitting right next to her holding her hand. And so I had been saying to her the whole time I’ve been here, Hester, just give me a picture. And she would talk about this picture, this was her wedding picture. And they met in high school and they married. They were married sixty-two years. And the love in his face is there today. No different. If anything more intense. And I said Hester, you never gave me a picture. She said don’t worry about that. And Bud, her husband, said I’ll get you a picture. And so, that’s why I’m making this. I don’t know that he’s going to be around much longer. It’s like the bomb dropped.” “Did she like purple?” “Yeah, she did.” Lauren said pensively. “I tend to get in color ruts! Like I was doing brown, then green, and now I’m doing purple. Then it’ll change and be yellow or blue or something.” She pointed across the studio to a piece with a purple color scheme. “But it’ll change, nothing’s constant.” Lauren turns to her machine and begins to sew for a few minutes. Then gets up from the machine and walks into the dining room of the studio. Most of the space is taken up with a very large longarm quilting machine. She had quite a few quilts resting on it. She and the curator picked up one of the quilts and held it up. It showed a black woman wearing a tie-dyed shirt or dress and matching head wrap with a bassinet in front of her. The quilt like the first one she pointed out had three dimensional figures and items projecting from the background along with three- dimensional embellishments.

“This is called the empty bassinet.” Lauren said. “And I made it to remember when we lost our first baby. Our baby was born too early and died.” I softly expressed my surprise and sorrow as she continued. “And Brian took care of me. He really did. He just kept telling me we can get through this together. We really can. But I need you to come back to me.” They put the quilt back onto the longarm machine. “So, I wanted to remember that. Because I think that when you have good times you can get really stupid if you don’t remember the bad times too and how you got through them.” Lauren turned back to the quilt of her husband and her during college. She mentioned that they were in a very old building and it was in New Hampshire. She described the freezing temperatures as worse than those in Syracuse, New York. With the steam heat it could get very warm inside like the tropics. The windows were frosted. The fabric for the windows, hand-dyed by Lauren, accurately represented a frosted window and had a free-flowing curtain at the top. Lauren said, “It was like a little love-cocoon. It really was wonderful.”

Figure 22 Lauren working on the quilt bottom

She talked about the other quilts-in-progress on her design wall. One was of her mother. Her mother was a teenager in the photo. The other was of her father as a child in the second grade, in Harlem, with five other boys. He was the only one wearing a suit. Lauren said, “This is boys and mother’s spirit.” pointing to the sewn image of a woman with three dimensional light brown hair. “She’s saying behave without saying a word!” The curator walked around near the longarm quilting machine looking at the quilts. Lauren walked over and pick up a different quilt with a large fabric photograph, about twelve inches wide by eighteen inches long. It was a photo quilt, which featured her father as a child with his adult family members. One of her quilts on the machine had brown linear marks, which were made from rust. She mentioned that she also had a big rusty chain right outside of the front door. She let the rusted item sit on the fabric for a few days then set it with vinegar.

Figure 23 Rusted chain Lauren uses for fabric surface design

Lauren had about twenty quilts on the longarm machine. She picked up each quilt and showed us the photographic sketch. Some were sketches from her sketchbook and some were photographs that she scanned and put into Photoshop. They included images of her son as a baby, sitting in the emergency room, her grandmother as a child, and her father. “What I’m doing now is drawing with the sewing machine.” Lauren said as she picked up a quilt that had faces drawn in thread on it. I’m doing that a lot now. It used to be that I would draw in pencil first, but now.” Lauren walked over to the sewing machine and began stitching at a high rate of speed.

Figure 24 Longarm quilting machine with quilts draped on it

Session Two on Tuesday, June 26, 2007 at 11:00 a.m.

On our second interview/observation session Lauren was wearing a yellow tank top, black pants, white socks, and black clogs, with a lavender paisley scarf covering most of her head. Her extremely long locks flowed from the back of her scarf in a partial updo and also down her back. She had several single bangles on her left arm. She sat with her back to the sewing machine, facing me. Behind her the sun streamed in through the unadorned windows. As I set up the tripod and video camcorder, Lauren worked on

Figure 25 Machine quilted and drawn hand the hands for her quilt in her lap. Her bangles jingled softly as she moved her hands. She was snipping the stray threads from the machine-quilted surface of the hands. She talked quietly about an African American couple in Deland that ran an art museum. Music played penetratingly from a radio in the dining room area where the longarm quilting machine was located. “I went to this little African American Art Museum in Deland. It’s this little tiny two room place run by a couple who are both in their 70s. And they’re both not well. “…We work so hard and didn’t really take care of ourselves and we were taking care of

29 people and our patrimony and our heritage at the same time. So they are like, really, nice people, really wonderful people.” Lauren said slightly shaking her head. Her tone was very low key and her words expressed the reverence she had for the couple. “But it’s just them.” “Is it private?” I asked “Yes,” Lauren answered scratching her head slightly and looking at me. She mentioned that the woman had one part-time paid person coming in for a couple of hours. “And so I’m supposed to ask this person to have a reception and all of this stuff and all of the support for their artist who they’ve known has been coming for at least a year. I mean, it’s impossible, it’s impossible. You plan all of that and do the publicity and bring the food and set it up and serve it then we can do it. “ Lauren said that the couple would be willing to do it but she wasn’t willing to put that amount of work on them. She didn’t want to watch them “keel over in front of” her. She didn’t want to be selfish. “Our organizations are so dedicated and so poor. And that’s a crime. You can be poor, you can be dedicated, but if you’re both? You’re in trouble.” Lauren said emphatically. She explained how the woman’s hands were very arthritic in appearance and very painful to see. “Tiny, beautiful art collection. An original Romare Bearden, West African sculpture, bust of Zorro done by a local artist…” Lauren described the differences she noticed of being an older woman such as the large type on the computer. “That was my day yesterday” she added. “Okay, so what questions you got for me today?” As I asked questions and Lauren thought then answered she paused as she went back and forth between the design wall and her fabric stash. After we finished with the interview I continued to observe Lauren as she worked on a quilt that featured a photograph on fabric of her mother as a teenager. She said in the interview if she did not have the time to keep coming back to it it would have become an unfinished piece. But since she did she was still working on it. She was not satisfied with it so far.

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I noticed a pastel rainbow colored award, like a blue ribbon, near the top of the design wall. “Is that your judges choice ribbon?” I asked. The ribbon had the word “Images” on the long part hanging from the circular award. “Yeah. That was from 2005.” “What did you win it for?” “This was for my piece Lucy Goes to Vote in that show.”

Figure 26 Quilt featuring Lauren's mother

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Lauren continued to pin fabric onto the quilt featuring her mother, mostly under the picture. She seemed very calm and thoughtful. The music played, mostly popular R&B songs that I recognized from the ‘70s and ‘80s and some newer songs.

“Do you usually have music when you’re working?” “Yeah.” Lauren answered as she pinned. “When I’m sewing on the longarm I’ll put music on really loud,” she said gesturing towards the longarm machine, “ I can’t hear it otherwise.” “It’s pretty loud? “Yes.” “I figured it would be. Do you ever put TV on?” “Unh, unh” Lauren answered immediately shaking her head. “Do you have a TV here?” I asked now doubting that she did. “Unh, unh” she said swiftly bending down to pin and smooth down the fabric. “I have TV at home but just with a DVD player. Lauren explained that she “was a jealous woman” because her husband had been addicted to television. Most of their marriage they did not have a TV but since she loved movies they would get DVDs and watch them on the computer. She particularly enjoyed introducing her son Jacob to older movies that she liked. Lauren enthusiastically mentioned Brother From Another Planet and In The Heat of the Night. Then looked intently at me and mentioned a series she liked, “Battlestar Gallactica.” She said they like to order it from Netflix so they can get it without commercials since her husband hates commercials. Lauren picked up her scissors, with the orange handles, and trimmed a piece of fabric on the quilt. Moments later she made a horizontal clip into the edge of the main piece of fabric on the quilt. She put the scissors down then held the fabric above and below the clip and ripped the bottom portion off. “So why did you tear that one and cut the other one?” I asked. “I don’t know” she answered with a slight smile then turned back to her quilt. “It was easier. Tearing it and cutting it to me do the same thing. It’s just whatever works at the time.” Lauren re-pinned the newly trimmed fabric. Then mentioned how beautiful her mother was, and how oblivious of that fact she had been. As she talked she ironed a piece of fabric. I noticed a tattoo, about 2” long, on her left wrist above her silver bangles.

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“Does your tattoo have any significance?” “It’s an Adinkra symbol.” “Oh.” “Gye Nyame.” “What does that mean?” “It means except God. No one has seen the ending and the beginning except God.

Figure 27 Lauren's Adinkra tattoo

It’s to remind me that it’s not all about me.” She said that she and her son had gone to get tattoos together. He got his first. She described the intense pain she felt as she was getting tattooed as worse than childbirth. It did not make me want to get one. Lauren cut the raveled edges from a piece of a dyed formerly white pair of pants. The raveled edges became thread. Lauren began to pick out the hem portion of the piece

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of fabric. After she finished and ironed it flat I noticed the intricate stitching above the hem area. We looked at the details and figured out how it was likely to have been made. Lauren commented that it was what women did. Somewhere a woman was stitching away as she watched TV or cattle or whatever else she had to do. She showed me an embroidered leather piece by Toureg women that was very detailed and painstakingly precise and mentioned that it was cattle watching work. She indignantly recalled a white woman telling her that she and a group of women were going to teach the Toureg how to do leather work so that the Toureg could sell their own work. She could not believe that the woman expected her to believe that the Toureg needed somebody to teach them how to do leather work when she had an exquisite example of work from a Toureg woman that was indicative of the group’s high level of skill in this area. She said the woman was more likely going to try to sell the Toureg women’s work. Lauren worked quietly on the bottom of the quilt for a few moments. She seemed pleased with the new composition that she was creating. As she spoke about her process of letting it sit on the wall awhile while she evaluated how she felt about it I noticed different images that I hadn’t seen before. There were small pieces of fabric with embroidered facial images. I clarified whether she taught any quilting to her high school students. She slowly said no. Then said, “When you are teaching someone how to sew on the sewing machine you need a really good teacher/student ratio. You need 1:2. And if I had that, I would do it.” “This piece of silk was first rusted and then dyed” Lauren said indicating a small rectangular piece of maroon colored fabric with slightly lighter variegations. She placed it on top of a piece of interfacing that was slightly larger than the fabric. Both pieces were on top of the ironing board. Lauren trimmed the interfacing to about the same size as the fabric. She covered with a piece of bluish purplish hand-dyed fabric and then steam pressed the silk to the fusible interfacing. Lauren said she interfaced the silk because it was so difficult to sew without something to give it some stiffness. “I will try anything you know.” Lauren said referring to tearing her fabric. The piece that she used as a pressing cloth over the silk was one she had torn. She originally though that tearing damaged the fabric but after trying it realized that it didn’t so now she uses it along with cutting. As she pressed the fabric I noticed her steam iron was a brand I

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saw frequently advertised in sewing and quilting magazines and fabric stores. It seemed to be very popular among sewers and quilters. I asked how she liked it. She said that it was okay but her version was not the expensive $500 one. Hers cost around $50. She demonstrated on one of her quilts on the design wall that the iron could steam press vertically as well as the usual horizontally on the ironing board. I thought it was a very useful feature as did Lauren. She pinned the silk in place and began rummaging around in her fabric stash. After a few seconds she pulled out a slim rectangular piece of fabric. “This piece. A piece of African fabric somebody gave me.” Lauren said softly. She unfolded it as she walked back to the ironing board. The fabric was purple with a pattern of thin wavy lines over it and a repeating blue and black large oval motif. She began steam pressing it and them trimmed it so that a rectangular motif was the main focus of the fabric piece. “And after awhile you get to realize that our color choices really are cultural. I think that we like African fabric not only because it’s African, in fact that’s probably the least of it. We really like what it looks like. And that’s cultural. So that the color choices that we make…”Lauren slowly stopped talking as she placed the fabric on the bottom right side of her mother’s quilt. She removed it and then placed it on the bottom middle portion of the quilt. She noticed that the black wavy lines on the African fabric and her nearby hand dyed fabric were very similar. She pinned them both into place. “Yeah, I feel much better about that.” she remarked softly. She looked for a moment and then pulled off the fabric above her mother’s photograph, which had her mother’s name on it. “I was thinking that, nobody says her name anymore, you know?” I thought that was an incredibly sad statement, almost as if people had forgotten she existed. She put the fabric on the ironing board and began to steam press it. I asked how she put the letters on the fabric. She said she used a stencil and paint and then heat set it with her iron on the reverse side of the fabric. Heat setting made the paint permanent on the fabric. She left it on the machine and returned to the fabric stash. She pulled out a large piece of mostly light purple hand-dyed fabric. It had a linear pattern in hot pink and lavender that looked like barbwire. She handed it to me and said it was silk. I mentioned the barbwire and she demonstrated how she created it by folding the fabric in a fan fold method and then folded in the sides until it was a small rectangle and then wrapped it

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around with cotton thread. She pointed to another piece of her hand-dyed fabric that was on her mother’s quilt, with similar markings. I mentioned how interested I was in the dyeing process. “Oh, we were going to do that today!” Lauren said. I agreed that we were. “What time is it?” Lauren asked. “Two-fifteen.” I said. “Oh, my gosh. We can’t. No. I’ve gotta go to the museum.” Lauren said. We discussed how far away the Deland Museum was from the studio, about 20 minutes, and made plans to dye during the next interview/observation session. “We really need a whole day for dyeing.” she said. We began discussing the dyeing process. Lauren explained why the fabric often had different colors on it even though only one color of dye had been used. Different areas of one of her hand-dyed fabric had brown, green, and pink colors. She said that the dye color was brown but the components of that brown were green and pink. At some point during the dyeing process the color migrated out into its components. She certainly knew the about the science of dyeing. I mentioned that I wanted to take some photos before I left and that Lauren should let me know when –time frame – I should stop videotaping to allow her enough time to get to the museum. She responded that I was good at it, she tended to forget that I was videotaping. Then joked that she didn’t expect to find it on YouTube. I was glad to hear that she forgot I was videotaping her. I felt there were still a few glitches in the process, especially when it needed to be handheld. She seemed quite comfortable with the whole process of interviewing and observing. “So do you work at night or do you just work in the day with the light?” I asked. “I work at night, too. But, not as much. The light is better during the day. And since I tend to, you know during the school year come here about 7:30 in the morning. And I’m here until five. I can leave it at the end of the day.” Lauren explained. “Is that the time you want to be here? Do you have certain times that you have to be here?”

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“No, I don’t have certain times I have to be here. The arrangement is that I do outreach for them.. If I were them I’d have me here when people come to visit. People do show up. We came to see some artists. And they’ll say maybe Lauren’s here.” “Are you the only one with an open studio?” “Yeah, I’m the only one here. They have artist residencies where people come here for three weeks at a time. I’m the only one here year-round.” As we talked Lauren continued to place pieces on her quilt and move them around and eventually pin the fabric into place. We looked at the four quilts she had on the design wall and the progress she had made on them. I looked around the studio near the longarm machine where Lauren said she would be starting another quilt on the design wall over there. I realized the quilt she had of her father as a young boy was no longer on the wall. I asked if she had finished it. She said yes it was in the show. We turned back around to the main design wall. Lauren stared intently at her quilt with her and her husband during college. She then brought over a long rectangular piece of fabric with rust marks on it. She began positioning it in place over and near the current arm of her husband on the quilt. She unpinned one of the hands and adjusted the angle of where it overlapped the arm. The music played softly from the other room. You could really hear yourself think it was so quiet. It was clear it was a great space in which to work. I asked if it was always this quiet. She said yes. “To me the putting the fabric together is like sketching. You just try out different things. See what works, you know? That’s how it evolves.” Lauren adjusted the fabric arm and then sat back to observe it. She said she would stitch the arm down on the regular sewing machine when I asked if she would use the longarm to quilt it. She pointed out that the rest of the quilt was already quilted. The only thing left was to stitch down the arm areas. Lauren got up and walked to the other side of the table near her fabric stash. She looked at the quilt for several seconds. She walked back towards it and began adjusting the arm fabric again. Session Three on Tuesday, July 10, 2007 at 9:00 a.m. Lauren was dressed in a vibrant hand-dyed t-shirt with yellows, oranges, and greens, black shorts, and sneakers. The t-shirt had a hand drawn face in the neck area. Lauren said she had traded shirts with someone to get it. She had on a bright yellow

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paisley headscarf. Lauren sat at the table in front of her design wall with her back to the design wall. I sat on the opposite side facing the design wall as we began the interview. On the design wall she had the photo quilt of the former ACA cook, Hester, in progress, several pieces of hand-dyed or hand-painted fabric in blues, pinks, browns, and purples, along with a small quilt featuring one of her sons. She had a tall refillable hard plastic cup with a straw in it next to her. African music played loudly from the other room. Lauren drew as we talked. She dramatically told me, like a storyteller, the snake story. She said it is one of the stories she likes to tell students. The snake story has many reputed origins from many indigenous cultures around the world. Lauren’s version of the snake story is as follows. In upstate New York while it was cold and there was a lot of snow on the ground a girl found a snake on the path while she was out on an errand. The snake was near death. The snake convinced her to pick it up and put it in her pocket to warm him up and save his life. The snake promised the girl he would not bite her if she saved him. Nor would the succeeding generations of the snake’s family throughout eternity bite any members of her family. She picked up the snake. It was very cold. She began to rub it to warm it up. As it warmed up it began to move around. The snake said that it would warm up even more in her pocket. She put it in the pocket of her snow pants and closed the pocket. It began to move around more as it warmed up. The girl felt good that she had saved the snake. Just as she was savoring the moment the snake bit her in the thigh through her pants pocket. Through her long underwear, jeans, and snow pants. The girl reached in and pulled the snake out by the neck and asked it why it bit her. She felt the effects of the poison. She said now we are both going to die. The snake said “you knew I was a snake when you put me in your pocket.” Lauren said her grandmother told her that story every time she brought home a boy she didn’t like. I had heard various versions of this story previously so I was not surprised by the ending. But I believed that her students would appreciate the story especially since Lauren told it very vividly. As we continued with the interview Lauren continued sketching sometimes drawing what she was referring to. When we finished Lauren put aside the sketchbook and then walked around gathering the supplies and fabric we needed to prepare the fabric for dyeing. She picked up and unfolded or fluffed, as applicable, many different pieces of

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white fabric and white trims and embellishments. She demonstrated how to use the clamps to securely hold the fabric and prevent the dye from getting in that area. She made it look easy. When I started to use the clamps after folding the fabric it was much harder than it looked. When I asked if it was hard to do she said “you’ve got to have some hand strength.” Initially, the clamps were a challenge to use but got easier as I did more of them. She then showed me how to use wooden and other types of laundry and hair clips and metal items. You have to fold less when you use a clamp that is not as strong as the large metal clamps we began with. Lauren unraveled a piece of fabric that she had hand- dyed and showed me where she had clamped it. Jazz music blared from the other room. We worked silently folding, clamping, and wrapping our own pieces of white cotton fabric for a few minutes. I had a long piece of cording I wanted to cut and asked Lauren

Figure 28 Lauren holding her hand-dyed fabric where the scissors were. Lauren directed me to them. Lauren started fan folding a piece of white cotton fabric then rolled it up. She began unraveling some white crochet thread

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and wrapped it around the fabric. We talked about buying used black books. It is a good way to find out of print books. Lauren brought out some of her books for me to browse. I skimmed though African American Art and Artists by Samella Lewis, Textural Rhythms by Carolyn Mazloomi, African American Art by Crystal A. Britton, and Symphonic Poem; the Art of Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson by the Columbus Museum of Art. All of the books provided a variety of images of African American art many of which I had never seen before nor heard of the artists. I was excited to see all of the artwork in the books and specifically made note of the titles so that I could either purchase them or check them out of the library, if available. Lauren said that Alibris. com was a good source for African American books. Lauren was willing to loan me any of the books except African American Art and Artists by Samella Lewis. She said that was the one book she did not loan. She told me how she was referred to a bookstore in Daytona to find black books. When she arrived the clerk was about to put the Lewis book on the shelf. She told him not to bother putting it on the shelf. When she saw the cover she instantly wanted it. The cover has a colorful painting, which includes a tree trunk wrapped with the yellow police-line-do-not-cross tape and a black man riding in a toy car. The kind of toy car you see in the mall and put in coins to operate. This one cost $1.00 to ride. There was an assortment of other related images on the cover. I thought the cover was fascinating with its symbolism. I intended to buy the book so I could explore all of the art and information about the African American artists it contained. “But, it’s interesting, it’s like it’s very, very much the tension between art and work. And how we can do both. I think one of the ways that black people do both is they teach. So there’s always this thing of we teach our children our art. There’s a real compulsion to do that.” Lauren said. We folded, wrapped, and clamped until we had each completed a few items. I had also brought a couple of shirts at Lauren’s urging. I asked a few questions as I worked about tying and clamping. Lauren told me to use a lot of string for wrapping since it was cotton and would also absorb the dye. Plus that hand-dyed string could also be used later in a quilt. Lauren called someone on the ACA staff because the air conditioner was not working. It was getting a bit warm, but for me it was not yet uncomfortable. About three minutes after she called a staff member knocked on the door to check on the air

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conditioner. That was fast service no matter where you live. Obviously Lauren’s presence and artistic contributions are highly valued at the ACA. Lauren introduced us. After a look in the garage at the system he said it would have to be shut down because it was a block of ice. The ice needed to melt before the system could be fixed. I was not happy to hear that. We continued to prepare our fabric for dying while jazz music continued to play loudly from the dining area of the studio. “This I can do to soothing music. Whereas when I machine quilt that’s the R&B and lots of bass music. But for this you get too het up. At least I do. Soothing music is better…If the music is really jumpy, then I’m jumpy, too.” Lauren said, then sipped from a cold bottle of water. We both now had sheens of moisture on our faces. The air conditioner had been off for over an hour. We continued to talk about our fabric wrapping techniques, art, and different cultural and teaching experiences we had with family, friends, and students. “Because the kind of art that I make is done differently than the way art is normally taught. And it’s related to culture and it’s related to self-expression. It’s not about learning who the artists are. I know, because I don’t believe that, I don’t believe any of that. It’s about self-expression and documenting who you are and who your people are. So that’s what I do.” When she went into the schools to teach a sculpture project she told the teacher she was working with which students she needed. The school was 10-15% African American. Lauren said she needed all of the African American students because her class was focused upon culture and that’s what she was there for. If she was one of the African American students there and did not get chosen she would have been very disappointed. Next, she wanted all of the students that drew compulsively, all over everything, “then fill it in with the bad kids.” She said that taking the bad kids always endeared her with the teachers. She said the bad kids were usually boys who were bored with school. When the boys asked how they were chosen for the projects she told them they were chosen because she asked the teachers to send her the students who “would be open to doing something different and she picked you.” Lauren said the experiences she provided where she told stories and had the students doing their own artwork was an incentive for them to behave. When they did not she reminded them that they could go back to the reading class from which they were

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chosen. That helped curb the patterns of misbehavior they attempted to continue in her class. After about one and one half hours we were finished preparing our fabric for dyeing. We were ready to dye the fabric. We moved to the kitchen. The kitchen floor had linoleum floors unlike the concrete floors in the rest of the studio area. Lauren had numerous buckets around the kitchen. Some were former dishwasher detergent, laundry detergent, and kitty litter containers. She put soda ash and hot water in one to dissolve and then added the fabric to soak for about 15-20 minutes. Lauren put all of my fabric into the soda ash. The soda ash fixes the dye, makes it permanent on the fabric. Otherwise, a lot of it will wash out. She pushed them down into the mixture with

Figure 29 Lauren in the kitchen to dye fabric her hands. She said she did not use gloves because the soda ash mixture was like soap. She rinsed her hands off when she finished. Prior to folding and clamping the fabric any new fabric had been washed in the washing machine to remove any manufacturing residue that would inhibit the dye process. We used gloves for the actual dyeing process. Back in the living room area of the studio we began to choose the colors of dye. The

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ACA worker came back in and mentioned that it was not quite hot in here but it was getting there and that we were probably hot because we were working. Lauren stuck her tongue out miming panting. It was hot. He spoke to somebody on the phone about the system. He had turned it back on now that the ice had thawed. Lauren showed me the dyes in jars and examples of the colors they made on some of her quilts and fabrics on the design wall. We chose the colors we wanted to use. The ACA employee finished his conversation on the phone. He said that the air conditioning technician would come by later that afternoon or in the morning to check on it. He noted that it was cooler in the back rooms. He remarked that if a new system was needed they would get one. They talked a few moments more about the effectiveness of the system overall and he left saying he would check on it before he left for the day. Lauren walked into the kitchen with the dyes we were going to use. While I worked on turning the video camera and tripod around to face the kitchen and then move it to the entry once we entered Lauren told me our next steps. We were going to mix up the dye baths for each color and then put the fabric in the dye baths. My fabric would later be put into plastic bags so that I could take them home and let them sit in the dye for two or three days. This would allow for intense color to develop. I liked that, I liked

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Figure 30 Dye baths, Adinkra stamp, and chemicals intense color. Lauren asked if I was a “pastel person.” When I said no she said she didn’t think I was. I brought in more dye jars from the living room area.

Lauren added a powder to a dye bath.

“I’m learning a lot here. So, what’s that?”

“Urea. Urea is organic nitrogen and it is a wetting agent. So basically what it does it keeps things wetter longer. It retards evaporation. I put it in the water, because, since we’re gonna let these sit for a long time I want to be sure that it stays wet. Because that’s what facilitates the reaction between the dye molecules and the fabric.” Lauren said looking at me when she finished mixing in the urea. “How about we do the orange first in a bigger bucket?” Lauren said. She grabbed a bag and poured the urea into the bigger bucket. “You notice I don’t do a lot of measuring.” Lauren said. “So, is there a particular ratio?” I asked. It seemed like such a scientific process I wondered if the exact amount mattered or if just the overall ratio was necessary for the desired results. Lauren looked on the label for a while and then said “I don’t know. I think its maybe ½ cup to a gallon of water.” Lauren remarked that she just threw some in, not a lot. The water turns a little yellow but clear. The soda ash turns the water cloudy. I looked into both the container to check out the difference. Obviously the measurement did not have to be precise, just close enough, since Lauren had done this for years and achieved the desired results.

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Figure 31 Different colored dye baths in the kitchen

Next Lauren added the dye powder. She emphasized the importance of using a dry utensil to dip out the dye since the dye is activated by water. Thus, the entire container could become activated and you would have to use the whole thing or waste the money you spent on it. Lauren wiped her face with a paper towel. She mixed the yellow dye in a small container with a little bit of urea water. She tested out how yellow the yellow was by dipping a paper towel in the dye. It was the color she wanted so she used another container to make red. She tested the red the same way and was satisfied with it. The orange colored dye was made by mixing some of the yellow and red dyes together in another container. The color mixing was based on using primary colors to make secondary colors or just mixing two shades together to get a different desired shade. Lauren got out some small plastic zipper top bags. She picked up one of her pieces of fabric out of the soda ash and put it in the bag. It took up two thirds of the bag. She poured some of the orange dye she had mixed into the bag then zipped it closed. Then put it on the counter with a paper towel underneath in case of leaking. As we bagged and dyed some of the bags developed a leak or were too full. Lauren re-bagged them in plastic grocery bags. “Well, that was exciting.” I remarked as Lauren finished re-bagging the last of the leaking bags.

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She said, “It’s always exciting in the dye world.” After all of the fabric and shirts had been placed in a bag or dye-bath we went to the living room area of the studio to do some fabric painting. The fabric painting dye was the same dye with the addition of a thickening agent, sodium alginate, that Lauren stirred in.

Figure 32 Lauren preparing to paint on fabric

On the table in the living room area Lauren had spread plastic over the top. Four different containers of thickened dye were on the table, along with a jar of discharge paste. Discharge paste discharges the color from the fabric, similar to bleach. She painted a line of discharge paste on a small piece of fabric then steam ironed over it. The steam ironing activated the discharge paste. “Ooh, ooh, ooh!” Lauren said excitedly. She was looking at the changes in the fabric as she ironed. The edges of the discharged area were turning lighter. “Wow, wow! This is really cool.” Lauren said as she continued to iron. When she finished ironing the dark rose pink colored fabric had a big whitish/yellowish stripe in the middle. The process was fascinating and was fun as the

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color was revealed. Lauren excitedly said, “Let’s do something else.” She looked around for another piece of fabric to use. This time she put the discharge paste on one of her Adinkra stamps, called teeth and tongue, and stamped the fabric. She was very excited about the finished piece and using it in her quilts. We began to paint with the thickened fabric paints. Lauren finished when I was barely one-third finished. She watched me work. I noticed and asked if I was working to

Figure 33 Lauren's (orange) and my fabric paintings slowly. She said no, watched me for awhile and then gave me tips on painting such as filling in all of the fabric with color and not leaving any white, and to expect surprises. She emphasized the importance of the colors interacting and being more dynamic than them interacting with the white space. I appreciated her advice, which ironically, was the same advice I gave my students when they were painting on paper. Fill in the white areas of your paper! Four long minutes later I was finished. Now I knew how she felt with me watching her intently and asking questions. Like being under a microscope. Lauren did some more fabric discharging. She was really enjoying it. She

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Figure 34 Lauren's fabric painting mentioned that it was less toxic than bleach and that that was why she wanted to try it. She will be using a lot of the discharged pieces in her future and her in-progress quilts. Lauren’s husband, Brian, came in and Lauren introduced us. As he watched, Brian commented on how interesting the process was. I asked Lauren if she worked on something like that at home. Brian answered that no they watched Battlestar Gallactica. I remembered that Lauren said that they watched Battlestar Gallactica without the commercials. They really seemed to like that show. I did not remember ever watching the show but was now a bit curious about it.

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After Lauren placed one of the discharged Adinkra symbols on the design wall near one of her quilts, Brian asked how she decided where to put each fabric. She stood still for a moment as she thought, then said, “I don’t know...I just keep moving things around until it looks right…I just get to a point where it’s pleasing to me and then I stop.” Lauren looked at Brian intently as she spoke. Brian was a teacher and his questioning seemed insightful. He was very comfortable in Lauren’s studio and it was obvious that he had an interest in whatever Lauren was working on. He leaned back in his chair with his arms folded above his head.

Figure 35 Adinkra symbol made with discharge paste

Lauren added, “And I think that when people try to really analyze it, it either gets too studied or it’s just play acting. It’s not really…” Brian interjected that the other artists are doing it the same way Lauren does it but then they make up some reason for it. Lauren agreed.

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Figure 36 Piano Man in Textural Rhythms Figure 37 He Drums Lubolo in Textural Rhythms

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CHAPTER SIX QUILTER DORIS GEORGE MANNING Profile Age Doris is in her early sixties. Job She works as a Foster Grandparent for The Boys and Girls Club and is the Resident Manager for her apartment complex. Education Doris earned a degree in Food Service from Johnson Junior College, which is now known as Lake-Sumter Junior College Quilting Experience She has been quilting for 35 years and has made a substantial number of quilts. Issues and Concerns Doris George Manning prefers that her complete last name George Manning be used in print rather than just Manning. The George portion of her name refers to her late father. She wants to honor him. She politely mentions this to anyone that addresses her as Ms. Manning. Doris was recuperating from an unspecified surgery at the time of our first meeting. It had taken us a few months to meet since she had been in the process of recovering from a second surgery within three months of the first. She was under the care of a doctor and had frequents visits from home healthcare nurses who monitored her progress and managed her wound. She had been restricted to her home for a while and anticipated taking a bus trip, with a quilting group sponsored by the owner of Rose Creek Quilts Quilting store, to the American Quilters Society’s large quilting conference held in Nashville, Tennessee. This was all pending her doctor’s approval of her health status. Although, she appeared energetic for a while it was clear that she needed her rest. Since her surgery Doris had not been able to work in her sewing/quilting room. She used her living room as an annex of her sewing room. Her comfortable chair was surrounded by quilting supplies, quilts-in-progress, quilt blocks, and other quilt related items. As a hand quilter, this arrangement appeared to work well for her and she was able to quilt every day while she continued to recuperate. Numerous quilting books were

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nearby on shelves in the living room and her bedroom. The studio housed the majority of Doris’ fabric collection, threads, quilts, and quilting supplies. It also had a sewing machine, which she used for piecing, at times. Session One on Thursday, August 9, 2007 at 10:30 a.m. When I was near Doris’s apartment building in Gainesville I called her to let her know. She gave me instructions for parking and how to get to her apartment. Per Doris’ instructions I parked at the CVS pharmacy then walked from the CVS parking lot across to the Oak Park Apartments building. Oak Park apartments are in one large pink building. It appeared to be three or four stories tall. I spotted the housing authority vans and the black truck with the Florida gator head on the back window. I noticed a fire/rescue wagon parked in the circular drive at the rear entry of the building. I forgot where to go from there. I called her back. Doris said she would come out to show me the way. I started on a

Figure 38 The walkway near Doris' kitchen door walkway that went to the right towards the front of the building. I spotted Doris further down the walkway talking to me on the phone and waving. We hung up.

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I met Doris near her back door. She had garden tubs of sweet potatoes, collard greens, and green peppers lining the way to her back door. There were about 15 large tubs on each side of the walkway leading to her back door. A couple of lizards darted across the sidewalk into the foliage surrounding the walkway. Gainesville was hot but not as hot as Tallahassee (99 degrees). We hugged and she read the quilting t-shirt I was wearing. I noticed that despite the heat she felt cool to the touch. She showed me her

Figure 39 Doris' collards and other plants garden and said they want her to get rid of it. She showed me a green pepper plant, looked at it, and then said, “Somebody got my pepper off of it.”

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I said “Oh, no.” We walked forward on the walkway to where her back door was held open. I saw a man duck back into the apartment as she called out to him. I had a moment of wariness as I wondered who he was. Doris said the man was her son Paul. Doris was wearing a housedress similar to a Mumu. It was a brilliantly colored turquoise with images on it. She had on a black cap with elastic around the edges. Her son had on a white shirt. He looked like he had been cleaning something in the apartment. He went further into the apartment as I walked in behind Doris. We entered the kitchen. It was filled with kitchen items, pots, cans, dishes, spices, stacked against the walls and horizontal surfaces in the diminutive kitchen. The stacked items extended up the walls to around my height. The room felt really full. It was pleasantly cool and clean smelling. There was a doorway near the stove to the rest of the apartment. I closed the outside kitchen door and followed her out of the kitchen. Her son reappeared. We said hello and

Figure 40 Doris in her living room

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he returned to the kitchen. I remarked on how cool the apartment felt. She asked if it was too cool. I assured her it was not and that it felt good after walking around outside. As we exited the kitchen I noticed there was a hall immediately to the left. It had a large armoire or china cabinet at the beginning and items were stacked against the wall. The living room was a few steps directly out of the kitchen just beyond the hall entrance. It was a medium sized room with a chair on the wall by the hall entryway and a sofa diagonally across from it. A large set of windows extended up most of the wall on that side of the living room. They went up to the ceiling and had partially opened blinds. There was a group of large banana trees in the courtyard outside of the window. The four

Figure 41 Doris and her quilt with a view of the courtyard in the background interior sides of the building were around the courtyard with balconies and railings on the upper level. It looked very tropical. The cool air felt good and the apartment smelled

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good and very clean. The horizontal surfaces, the tables, desk, and part of the sofa had stacks of items placed on them. The desk near the window had a computer which Doris said was given to her and she didn’t think worked. She said it was taped together and her son was not happy that she had accepted it. I glanced curiously at some of the stacked items. I wanted to see what exactly was so plentiful. There were tubs of glassware, crystal, and collections of containers. On the coffee table, in front of the TV, which was on, were family photos and a collection of chickens in ceramic and other materials. There was a scale next to the TV. On the back ledge of the sofa were dolls some with quilted clothes and some with no clothes, quilted pillows, and quilts in progress. On the side of the TV nearest the windows there were two folding chairs. Doris went to the chair by the hallway and said that I could sit wherever I liked. I chose the sofa so that I would be closer to her and able to look out of the window. There was a lot of activity going on out there. Only one seat cushion was available to sit on as the rest had fabric, pillows, and quilting supplies on them. As I took out my cameras, papers and pen Paul entered with a bottle of water for me with a paper towel under it. I thanked him, opened it, and took a sip. It was nice and cool. Doris smiled and asked me what did I want to ask her. I told her about the consent form and handed it to her. I located the sheet of paper with websites she had asked me about on the phone. While she was reading over the consent form she mentioned that I was supposed to bring her a list of books. I clarified that it was a list of websites about or for African American quilters that I brought. She remembered and I handed her the list. She told me that the computer might be broken. She had not tried it. She said she should be getting a working computer from the “Dignity” program. They provided computers for low income and disadvantaged families. Doris had a small table to her right that had bottled water bottles with soda and punch colored drinks in them. She also had a cup with pens and quilting supplies (templates, rulers) in front of her and to the right of me she had a table that had stacks of fabric, quilting supplies, and other items. Doris was surrounded by quilting paraphernalia. I figured she must do a lot of quilting in the living room. She rested the consent from on top of the table and asked why I needed to videotape and if she should have gotten dressed up or did her hair. I explained about the videotape providing me with a record of what happened and what we talked about and that however

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she was dressed was fine and the same for her hair. I made sure she was comfortable with the idea before proceeding. She said that she wouldn’t let me come all this way and not let me take pictures or videotape if I needed to. I thanked her and began to set up my video camera. Doris noticed something going on outside and said “Oh, her.” She referred to someone that had apparently gotten ill. I mentioned the fire/rescue vehicle I saw on the way to her apartment. We started the interview. The TV played in the background. Doris glanced at it sometimes and sometimes appeared to be watching the game show that was playing.

Figure 42 Doris with quilting paraphernalia around her

After I had asked a few questions and Doris had responded we heard sirens outside. Perhaps it was for the woman who was ill. I noticed that Doris fidgeted with a doll’s legs and clothes in her lap. She alternately looked at the TV, me, or the doll she was holding. She still seemed a bit uncomfortable with the videotaping. I could not think of anything that would make her feel more comfortable except time to get used to it. If I

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had the camera on the tripod, perhaps, it would have been a little less conspicuous. However, with the wide legged stance of the tripod there wouldn’t have been enough floor space for it. So, I alternately held it and propped it on surfaces where and when possible. As we finished the interview I could tell that Doris was tired. She was not as lively as she was when we first met. I asked if she felt all right. She said she was just a little tired. After we agreed on the date and time for the next visit we said our goodbyes and I left. Session Two on Saturday, September 1, 2007 at 11:30 a.m. When I arrived and Doris opened the kitchen door I saw and heard the mixer on the counter churning and turning dough. Doris was cooking something for me she said. I smiled, a bit surprised. She asked me if I ate chicken or fish. I said yes, both. She said she did not eat red meat. The doctors told her that if she ate it she would heal faster but

Figure 43 Food cooking on the stove she did not want to eat any. After I looked around the kitchen at all of the pots she had on

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the stove, the oven on, food to cook on the counters, I was amazed at how much she was cooking. Doris told me to go into the living room she had a few things to do and she would be out soon. I went into the living room, pulled out my cameras, papers, and my pen from my tote bag, and got ready to start the interview. The TV was on so I glanced at it for a second. After a few minutes I went back into the kitchen to see what Doris was doing. She had cinnamon buns baking in the oven and was making more from the dough that she had taken out of the mixer. Then she mixed together some sugar and a few other

Figure 44 Fish to be fried and glazing turnovers ingredients and made the sugar glaze for the tops of the buns that she took out of the oven. I asked if there was anything I could do to help. She said no, she would be right out. I asked if it would be all right if I asked her some questions while she was cooking. She said that would be fine. I went back into the living room and began the interview with Doris in the kitchen. I decided to wait a bit since it was hard for her to hear me and me to hear her. I walked into the kitchen with the video camera. Doris told me about the

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different foods she was making and that she cooked. She pointed out all of the professional cooking supplies, and containers that she had stacked around the kitchen. She mentioned that she sometimes baked rolls for church, about 500 at a time. I went back into the living room to put down the camera. My wrist was aching from holding it at a bad angle for a while. It was 1:06 p.m. I glanced at the TV and noticed the Florida gators were on. The score was seven to zero. Doris said her son was selling concessions at the game and her other son was there at the game. The food smelled good. There was an aroma of baked bread and maybe fried chicken. Doris talked to a friend who called on the phone. She was disconnected after a couple of minutes. Her friend, on a cell phone, called back. I was becoming a little concerned that Doris had so much going on that we would not actually have time for the interview. I was fairly sure that she remembered I would be there so I was mystified by all of the cooking and other activities. I entertained the thought that perhaps she had changed her mind about participating in the study.

Figure 45 Templates from the quilting conference

Earlier Doris had assured me she would be out shortly from the kitchen. I was in

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the living room checking out all of her items from the conference (AQS) she attended in Nashville. She gave them to me to explore while she cooked in the kitchen. I wondered if my presence in the kitchen had distracted Doris. Perhaps I had popped up in the kitchen one time too many. I was glad to look at her conference items.

Figure 46 African themed fabric from the quilting conference

As I looked at them I called out or got up to ask questions about the items. As I finished looking at them Doris came out of the kitchen and sat down in her chair. She was finished for the moment. We started the interview. After four questions, the phone rang and Doris answered it. I looked around outside, through the large window in the living room, as Doris’ neighbors walked back and forth in the courtyard. The courtyard had a view of the upper surrounding floor and the many doors people were entering and exiting as they visited each other and entered and exited the community room. When she finished a brief conversation she told me that someone called to ask if she would teach quilting to seniors at the senior center. She said she wanted to. We resumed the interview.

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Figure 47 Doris hand piecing

Session Three on Saturday, September 29, 2007 at 12:00 p.m. In my visits, her recovery, which she said was slow, had progressed quite a bit. During this session, Doris no longer moved slowly but stepped quickly around her apartment walking back and forth in search of items for visitors and me. On that day, Doris was very popular. This was an extremely busy day in Doris’ apartment. Neighbors, her home health care nurse, and one of her friends dropped by. Doris talked with all of them and me during this session. After the interview Doris sent me to her studio to look around at her fabric, materials, and quilts. Her studio is in one of the bedrooms in her apartment. Doris came in to check on me and to answer any questions that I had. She was usually in the kitchen, bedroom when the nurse was there, or the living room. The room was filled with stacks of fabric, quilts, and sewing materials. There was a sewing machine with a table and an iron and small ironing board. Also, some household supplies were stored in there. Most

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of the room was filled with the sewing and quilting materials. There was not really enough room for both of us to sit down and talk or me to observe Doris in her studio. I knew that Doris could lay out small items like her dishcloth aprons in there but for her quilts she said she used the community room across the courtyard from her apartment. It had a large table on which she could lay out her fabric and supplies. Doris had a stack of dishwashing liquid aprons to the left of her sewing machine. She used the sewing machine to sew them together. While exploring the different quilts, quilt blocks, and fabric that Doris had in her studio and going back and forth to talk to her I noticed she also had quite a few quilting related books and other items in her bedroom and on the shelves in the hall. There were a tremendous number of her quilts and quilting materials in the living room around her chair and on the sofa. This is where I observed her piecing and quilting. With the exception of the bathroom and kitchen, Doris’ studio was really her whole apartment.

Figure 48 Dishwashing liquid aprons

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Figure 49 Doris' African fabrics quilt top

Figure 50 Doris' quilted pillow

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Figure 51 Doris holding up one of her large quilts

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CHAPTER SEVEN COMPARISON AND CONTRAST Thematic Analysis

While conducting the interviews and observations I regularly reviewed my field notes, interview transcripts, videotapes, and digital audio recordings to decipher patterns that represented pre-existing foci and themes, as well as patterns that suggested emergent themes. I also confirmed and clarified information with each quilter as we went along. For purposes of clarification, after the final interviews and observations were completed, I provided each quilter with information, in draft form, that I had written about her and her quilting for further clarification. The prefigured foci (Eisner, 1998) developed from the supporting questions are Educational, Artistic, and Other Influences, Artistic Processes, Quilt Qualities, Significance of Quilting, and Floridian Traits.

Prefigured Foci Presented in Synthesis

Educational, Artistic, and Other Influences Lynette and Doris do not have art or art related backgrounds or degrees. Lynette has an educational doctorate in epistemology and has taken one drawing class and two design classes. Lynette said she enjoyed the design classes she took but did not like the drawing class. Because of her obvious love of and exceptional skill in designing her quilts I am not surprised. The only drawing that Lynette said she did was geometrical designs, in her sketchbook, for her quilts. I did not see any sketches for her quilts during our interview/observation sessions. Doris earned a degree in Food Science and has not taken any art classes. Although Doris did not have an artistic background her artistic influence was associated with drawing particularly as it related to images for her quilts. Doris drew with the clear intent of using her drawings to create appliqué images to use on her quilts. She commented. “I like to draw flowers, trees, and petals to make appliqués. Also stems and leaves.” She drew them on paper to make appliqué patterns for her quilts.

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With a degree in Food Science, cooking was a huge influence for Doris. Doris showed me a newspaper article about her catering business, which was featured in the Gainesville Sun in September of 1991. She said she currently did some catering and occasionally made 500 rolls for her church. During my visits Doris prepared a huge feast one day from scratch that included chicken, fish, hush puppies, vegetables, salad, rolls, and cinnamon rolls and a cake the next time I visited. Her love and expertise for cooking was very apparent, as the food was delicious. Doris said that cooking was number two in her life after her children. She also mentioned, “I would like to make a cake quilt because I like to bake cakes.” With cooking being such a strong influence in Doris’ life a blending of cooking and quilting, such as a series of cake quilts, seems likely given Doris’ love of themed and series quilts. Of the three Lauren was the only one that I observed sketching. Lauren sketched frequently during our interview/observations sessions often between answering my questions and looking at her quilts on the design wall. She used her sketches as most artists do to help develop an idea, practice, Lauren, like the other quilters, does not have a degree in art or an art related field, however, she took high school art classes and some college level courses in art at Dartmouth, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, and Syracuse University College of Visual and Performing Arts. She currently teaches high school art and quilting through workshops. “When I teach a class I don’t give out handouts or patterns. I don’t want your stuff to look like mine…don’t do my work do your own.” Lauren stated. Although I have given out handouts and rarely patterns to assist my elementary art students I have made similar statements to my students when they want to copy my example or want their work to look just like one of their classmates. Doing your own work in art is a very important part of self-expression. Lauren commented: Not being an art school person. I never went to art school. The way that I’ve learned art and the way that I teach art is not the art school model. I don’t believe in or participate in critiques. I know what I need to do. If you don’t know what you need to do you need to think about it. Lauren earned a Juris doctorate, was a practicing civil rights attorney, and taught in law school for three years. Some of her work focused on African and African

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American issues that she encountered. On her website (http://www.thatblackgirlart.com/quilts.html) Lauren stated, “Inspiration for my larger quilts often comes from my own personal experiences as a human rights lawyer or in celebration of turning points in the struggle for women's rights around the world. One of Lauren’s quilts, Lucy Goes to Vote, depicted a young South African mother with her baby tied to her back walking to a polling location. Lauren in her website (http://www.thatblackgirlart.com/art_quilts.html) description stated: Lucy Goes to Vote was inspired by the struggle against Apartheid in South Africa coming to fruition in the free election of Nelson Mandela as president. News reports of hundreds of thousands walking miles from their small villages to polling places to cast their votes made me wonder what women were thinking and feeling as they walked with their families and neighbors. I think Lauren’s political work provides a great example of a contemporary African American quilters view and rendering of contemporary African and African American issues. These issues are often the subject of paintings, prints, and other two- dimensional work but are seen less frequently in quilts. Some of the things Lynette stated that she was influenced by were other quilters, taking classes, looking at and touching fabric, and books. Before she knew any quilters Lynette, who liked computers, read an article in Quilters Newsletter on computers and quilting that inspired her to take a quilting class. “I took a beginning quilters class. To learn the fundamentals,” she said. Afterwards she took a class in appliqué. “My goal was to make six quilts, then for the seventh, get a computerized machine.” she said. She frequently took quilting classes both locally and at national and international quilting shows. Although, the classes and the teachers inspired her she did not want to just copy what she saw. She wanted to make it her own in design. “I didn’t want to be like the others but I still needed to learn the techniques.” she said. So she used the classes and books to learn the techniques so that she could use it to create her own designs. Lynette’s response is a very common response for most artists, in any media, when they take classes. Artists by definition want to make their own unique artwork. Learning a technique does not mean the artwork has to be completed in the same exact manner as the teacher’s artwork. When I learned to quilt I started with appliqué then tried one basic

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pattern to try out piecing. The quilt arrangement was my own and did not follow a traditional patterned arrangement. All of the quilters were influenced by their books on art or quilting. The books each quilter had in her collection told me a lot about the quilter and her quilting interests. They all had a variety of books, however, the type of quilting they did was reflected in the focus of the majority of their books. Clearly, this was not a coincidence. Many of Doris’ books gave information about quilts, quilters, and quilt patterns. Lynette’s books focused upon a variety of quilters, including a sizable number of Japanese quilters, that largely created complexly designed quilts. Lauren’s books were mostly about African and African American art and quilting. Doris said that she wanted to do a series of quilts based on the Underground Railroad. She found fabric in Facts and Fabrications, a book about the Underground Railroad, and wanted to locate fabric similar to those in the book. She also wanted to make a quilt based on the Bible. Doris had numerous books by quilters that she made reference to frequently. Lynette had many books by non-traditional quilters that showcased their work and the techniques they used. Lynette said that she was influenced by quilter Nancy Crow and others. She showed me books that featured these quilters and also many Japanese quilters. Lynette was most impressed and influenced with quilts that like her own appeared complex in design and piecing techniques. She frequently expressed her desire to take a class with a particular artist or mentioned that she already had. Lauren, during the observations pointed out some of her art books, of which some were out of print. They included images of African and African American art and West African Adinkra symbols. Lauren incorporated different Adinkra symbols in some of her work. Their meanings vary and can be a reflection of character traits to cultural beliefs and events. The acquisition of fabric was a great influence for these quilters. Hicks (2003), who conducted an Internet only quilter survey noted that “ 67.8 percent of African American quilters on the Internet admit to a fabric shopping addiction.” (p.193) Additionally, she found that of the surveyed African American quilters “23.9 percent have a fabric stash valued between $1,500 and $2,499.” (Hicks, 2003, p.193) This

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accumulation of materials is not unique to quilting as painters I have seen also had an extensive collection of paints and brushes. Given the apparent differences in income between the three quilters the amount of money, spent proportional to income is even more significant for Doris. Even with fabric donations Doris spends a larger portion of her income on fabric, than do Lynette and Lauren. This suggests that it is not just an important influence but an integral part of the entire quilting process. Looking at and touching fabric were major influences for Lynette. She regularly bought fabric when she traveled. “There’s a quilting store in downtown New York City…They have all kinds of unusual things I like to get [fabric] pieces like this so that when you cut them up no one will know that all those pieces are in there.” she said. “So that’s basically how I choose what I’m going to work on. When I find enough fabric that I think oh, these are all, feel like, the same thing.” she explained. Lynette also had countless pieces of fabric in her studio, specifically arranged, from which to choose. Doris bought fabric when she went to a quilting conference and quilt shops for the different quilts that she was in the process of making. She continued to look and add fabric to her African fabrics quilt, which was very large and pieced together in squares, from wherever she could find African themed fabric. Further influences for Doris were her Great Aunt whom she called Mama, everyday items, quilting, quilters, black quilters, historical events, books, and quilting stencils. Doris said, “Mama, showed me how to quilt when I was under 10.” When Mama died in 1966 she stopped until she picked it back up in 1974 with the help of another quilter. Some of Lauren’s other influences were her family, people, faces, expressions, hands, people doing things, black people, racism. Her grandmother gave her an old family photo album. Lauren has used those images to make quilts that depicted her parents, grandmother, and other relatives. She enlarges and otherwise alters them in Photoshop and then prints them out onto fabric. She then uses this fabric as the focal point of her quilt. When she doesn’t use fabric photographs, Lauren, uses her dyed fabric to create images from her family life. She had created portraits of her children, mother, father, grandmother, and she and her husband. During the observations, Lauren was working on a figurative quilt that depicted her and her husband during a cold night in the dorm during college. She also had quilts that focused on her sons. One that I saw was

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titled, Shhh! He’s Composing Himself. It pictured one of her sons composing music on the piano. Another quilt, Empty Bassinette depicted a young woman holding an empty bassinette. Lauren told me, “I made it to remember when we lost our first baby. And Brian took care of me…He just kept telling me we can get through this together.” This reinforces Lauren’s statement about making your own art. Lauren’s art is uniquely her own. She depicts events from her own perspective. Although Lauren had provided family members with quilts that was not something she was willing to do anymore unless they were willing to pay. Her brother used the king sized bed quilt that she made for him as a beach blanket. “My brother David is the youngest, and when he got his first job out of college as a newspaper reporter I made him a king-sized quilt. Black and white and red all over.” Lauren said. “It was hand quilted, hung down to the floor. You know what happened?” Lauren said her voice dropping to a whisper. “They were using it as the beach blanket. I do not make any more bed quilts. And I just started talking to him and that was twenty years ago.” Lauren laughed. “Well, maybe not twenty years but it feels like it should have been. When I tell that story to quilters they say you didn’t kill him? Where is he I’ll go kill him for you!” Lynette provided family members with quilts that celebrated events. She made quilts for her daughter’s marriage, one for her sister who was going blind and the birth of grandchildren. “This one is for my cousin’s first grandchild.” “And I did this for my brother-in-law’s daughter’s first child.” she said as she picked up the quilt. She says she won’t make any more for the grandchildren because the parents won’t let them actually use them. Lynette designed the quilts to be used. Doris created a quilt for her mother. However, before she sent it to her, her mother said she did not like quilts so Doris did not send it to her. She did not want to send her the quilt if all of the effort she put into it would not be appreciated. This was a common theme with all of the quilters. They wanted the recipients to appreciate the hard work that went into creating the quilt and to use it for the appropriate, specified, use. Lauren expected her brother to treat the quilt more like a work of art and not put it in the sand on the beach. However, Lynette made quilts for her grandchildren with the intention that they would be used by them. Instead the parents put them on the wall like works of art.

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Lauren was also influenced by things around her. Even during a pedicure Lauren found time to sketch a vase of flowers she saw in the salon. When other people would usually read a book Lauren would instead sketch what was going on in the location or what physical items were actually in the location. She was very interested in people so they were the major focus of her work. She called herself “nosey.” Each of the quilters had a studio, a space that was reserved just for her quilting activities. The size, arrangement, and quilting materials within were different in each case. This made a difference, influenced, the ease in which they were able to produce quilts and the number of quilts, depending on the time available, they made. Lauren’s studio was the largest as it was an entire three bedroom house with a separate dining room, kitchen, and garage. She used every room for some aspect of quilting. The kitchen was used for dyeing fabric and for storing different materials and chemicals both in the cupboards and the refrigerator as appropriate. She had a large, several feet long and wide, longarm quilting machine that took up the majority of the space in the dining room. However, she still had enough room to move freely in the space and to have a shelf and design wall. The space was sunlit through the sliding glass patio door. The living room was her main working area. Here she had her sewing machines, part of her fabric stash, thread, and more design walls. The garage housed the washer and dryer, which Lauren used to prepare fabric for dyeing. The bathroom did not seem to have a specific artistic purpose but it appeared that the sink was used to clean art materials and for water for different artistic purposes. The bedrooms stored fabric and more equipment and materials including another sewing machine. Lauren had enough room to store donations and be able to sort through it as needed. Having this much space and sufficient materials appear to have made it easier to work on multiple projects since they could all be easily accessed on design walls at the same time. Also different aspects, such as fabric painting or dyeing could be implemented without having to change out the space to accommodate the different materials and protect in-progress-quilts from stray splashes of dye. It is a studio befitting a full-time professional artist. Part-time quilters would likely enjoy this space but it is more appropriate for a quilter that has the time to utilize it.

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Lynette’s studio loft is large for an in home studio. She also keeps some of her quilts (finished and in-progress) and quilting books in a family room and a bedroom. Even though Lynette’s home is overall much larger than Lauren’s studio, Lynette does not use her entire home, thus she appears to use about half the amount of space that Lauren does. Not having done any square footage calculations this is my estimate based on my time interviewing and observing in both settings. Lynette’s major working space and storage area is in her studio loft. Lynette has an incredibly large fabric stash, numerous quilting tools, materials, and other resources (computer, for instance). She has sunlight through skylight type windows placed at an angle on the low slanted walls in her studio. For a part-time quilter, her studio is quite spacious and very well-equipped. Actually, it would be very well-equipped for a full-time quilter, as well. The actual working space is just smaller. Both of these studios would be easy to work through the entire quilting process because of their spaciousness, lighting, and vast resources. Doris has a studio in one of her bedrooms in her two-bedroom apartment. The room itself is a small bedroom. It is not a large space. It is made smaller by the amount of fabric, quilts, and quilting equipment and materials that Doris has. This is a mixed blessing. Quilt artists need a sufficient amount of materials to create their quilts but they also need adequate storage and accessibility to these items. Quilters need storage that does not encroach upon the working space. Doris likely has a sufficient amount of the materials and supplies she uses, however, the studio is rather confining for implementing the entire quilting process. It is sunlit by one window. Doris supplements the space in her studio by storing and working in her bedroom and living room. She also stores many of her books on a shelf in the hall. In fact, during our sessions, the living room is where I observed her piecing by hand. The sewing machine is in the studio so machine sewing is done in there. Doris studio is used mostly for storage and machine sewing. I would estimate that Doris uses close to one half the amount of space that Lynette does within their homes. Doris said that she uses the community room to actually layout her quilts. While I did not observe this during our sessions this seems like the best way for her to layout the large quilts she produces. Doris’ studio and other spaces she uses for quilting seem to work for her ,basically, since she is producing quilts. This is a testament to her dedication to quilting. However, I think with more actual working space and adequate

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storage space and access Doris would have not only an easier time quilting but might expand her quilting horizons. If she were to have easy access to a design wall, for instance, she might make changes in the arrangements of a previously laid out quilt as she thought of new things or just decided to see what happens if she rearranged something. Like most quilters Doris needs more space to efficiently produce more quilts. Many quilters that I know of do not have as much dedicated space as Doris does. Though, as a hand quilter it is particularly important. It takes a lot of time to hand quilt. If a lot of that time is spent trying to access materials or traveling outside of the home to layout a quilt it takes even longer and thus less quilts will be produced. Quilting Processes Lynette used a sketchbook for her ideas, which she says were solely geometric. Planning and designing is where most of Lynette’s time was spent during my visits. Lynette’s quilting process involved thoughtful planning overall and specifically an exacting attention to detail. Her planning process alternated between finding and cutting the right fabric from her studio stash and then she auditioned them on her design wall next to her previous choices. She required that her pieces demonstrate excellence in planning, design, and execution. The complexity of her quilts showcased her high skill level in piecing and composition. The color, texture, images, or cultural origin of the fabric inspired her to find a way to use it. Lynette stated that she “loves to touch fabric” and that she buys a lot of fabric. She was very discerning about the fabric she bought and would not buy fabric from stores that sell a lower quality of fabric. As she put it, “You can’t really get the same kind of precise quilting out of it…” She used a variety of textures, and fabric from Asian and African cultures, even preferring the challenge of combining widely disparate fabrics. Lynette’s finely tuned artist’s eye enabled her to combine these fabrics in ways that worked. She even used fabric that she said she did not find attractive. She has used one hundred twenty fabrics in one quilt. As Lynette explained it, “The sum is greater than the whole of its parts.” Her challenge is to see what she can create with them. Lynette was most enthusiastic about the pieces that were totally of her own design. She had a quilt in progress on her design wall that consisted of commercial pictorial fabric featuring African women in different postures. Lynette wanted to make a

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square quilt but the shape of the fabric was rectangular. Her enthusiasm seemed to wane as she mentioned that she would probably just use the large rectangular panel of African women, put something under it and add dangling beads. Based on the intricate nature of the majority of Lynette’s quilts I was not surprised by her lack of enthusiasm with this piece. The commercial pictorial fabric that I saw Lynette using or intending to use were in quilts that she had not finished. By contrast she was quite excited and confident when she discussed her Warrior Women quilt which was also on the design board. It was basted together with safety pins and had numerous pieced circles depicting the warrior women along with other geometric shapes. Lynette spoke enthusiastically about this quilt and remarked, “…This is what I consider to be the kind of work I like to do.” This is the type of quilt that I expect Lynette will finish and likely enjoy producing more. Lauren’s quilting process began on her design wall. She auditioned different pieces and cuts of fabric and shaped them on the wall. She constructed her quilts using mostly appliqué methods. She emphasized that it was uncontrolled appliqué. No formal patterns or methods of construction were used. She would step back to look intently at the quilt then adjust the placement of fabric pieces or rummage around for different fabric to include or substitute for others. As she approved of areas she pinned them down and when all in a particular area was the way she wanted it she made sure that it was pinned securely and then machine stitched that particular spot. This was evident on the portrait of her husband and her in college. The faces were completely stitched and finished while the hands still needed to be added, dress altered, and other areas completed. Her quilts began on the design wall and as they progressed she moved them from the sewing machine to the design wall numerous times as she completed the different areas. With the quilts located on the design wall Lauren was able to view them and consider the changes she envisioned any time she looked at them. Since more than one quilt was always displayed on the wall she easily implemented changes and additions on the different quilts when ideas came to mind. Lauren did free-motion drawing on many of her quilts in addition to free-motion quilting. When she used photographs or drawings on her quilts she first scanned them from the original into Photoshop and then printed them out on fabric. She specially treated the fabric beforehand with household products so that the images would be as permanent as

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possible. This was more cost effective than purchasing pre-treated sheets of printer fabric and additionally allowed for a wider selection of fabric to be used. She utilized the longarm-quilting machine to quilt her large quilts. The longarm allowed the quilt to fit under the needle without bunching while the rest of the quilt was kept rolled on the rest of the machine for maneuverability. Doris’s starting point for creating most of her quilts was the particular pattern or theme for the quilt. From there she went on to collect the fabric she needed. She was looking to find different African or African appearing fabrics for her African quilt. When she went to the quilting conference she found some there. Although she had already started putting the quilt together she was still adding fabric as she found it. Doris will need to locate themed fabric for the cake quilt she intended to make. One of the quilts that Doris was working on, known as a charm quilt, could only have each piece of fabric on it once. So she had to search for a variety of fabrics before she could begin. In addition, she had a container with appliquéd hearts in different colors and patterned fabric for the heart quilt she was making. Once she had collected enough fabric in the colors and patterns that she wanted to get started she then worked on cutting them into the shapes she needed for her quilt pattern. I asked Doris how she made a quilt and if she had any related rituals. She said: I get all my pieces and a big table and go in the community room. I lay the pieces out, look at it, step back, and look at it on the table. Then I cut out pieces and start. I use rulers, patterns, ironing board, iron, starch, pencils, pencil sharpener to trace pattern. I read the Daily Word and say prayer. I work four to five hours. From my sessions, I noted that if she was just cutting from smaller pieces of fabric she did not go to the community room but simply cut them out in her own house in the living room, bedroom, or studio. If she was machine piecing and/or machine quilting she used the sewing machine that was in her studio. For handwork, piecing, or quilting, she sat in her chair in the living room with her quilting supplies around her. Doris said that she took small projects or small portions of her quilt with her to quilt on the go. In contrast to Lynette and Lauren, Doris did not utilize a design wall. Doris’ fabric selection process although ongoing did not include the auditioning component in the manner employed by Lauren and Lynette. It would be difficult for Doris to have and actually use

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a design wall because of the limited space in her apartment and studio. Both Lynette and Lauren have ample space to have and use their design walls. I think Doris quilts would likely become more individualized by her use of a design wall, as she would be able to easily change around the patterns and images that are currently more statically arranged. Lynette’s interest in computers and precision in quilting inspired her to use Mathematica, a calculus, and physics software program. She said, “My [quilt] blocks were not the same size. So I incorporated the computer into my quilting…it helped me even out and figure out the fabric needed for the uneven blocks.” Lynette did not particularly like to sew. Indeed throughout the observations she never did sew. However, she considered it to be a means to an end and thus she did eventually sew her quilts. Lynette’s Warrior Women quilt had partial quilting that she very accurately has done following the lines of a scientific image as design. Lynette said, “I like the challenge of acquiring new skills.” Part of the reason that Lynette did not like sewing was that she doesn’t feel she was skilled enough, yet. I saw examples of her machine and hand embroidery and quilting stitches. All of them were very consistent and precise in appearance. Lynette was highly motivated and even when she had been working on a design for a while and even said she had given up on it, clearly she was still considering what she could do to make it successful. She was a member of a quilting group and considers quilting knowledge from the other quilters to be valuable. At the moment she does not have the time, with her work schedule, to learn and practice the sewing and machine quilting techniques that she would like to do. Considering the precision of her designs and her interest in precision I find it quite understandable that she wants her quilting to be as precise as possible. Formerly, she made her quilts by hand until her wrists began to suffer from the repetitive motions. Quilt Qualities Lynette created intricate designs and patterns as the focus of her quilts. Precision in design and piecing were very important to Lynette. Lynette’s quilts were mostly geometric, complex, and very precise. Her use of fabric was often very subtle as she combined many pieces to create what appeared to be a very unified quilt. She used circles very frequently, often creating hidden circles by using fabrics for the pieced circles that blended in with the surrounding fabric. Although she does use some traditional patterns

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in her work the traditional pattern does not make up the whole quilt because Lynette wants her work to be unique. Her quilts do not have a traditional look. Her composition and use of fabric reflect her desire to create something different. Lynette spent a lot of time during our observation sessions trying out numerous fabrics in many different combinations to create the design she intended. By contrast, Doris’ quilts were also mostly geometric however they utilized more traditional patterns and methods of construction. She used a variety of cotton commercial fabrics in a broad variety of colors and patterns from muted subtle tones to lively, busy, patterns in most of the quilts that I saw. She also made themed quilts that were unified around a particular image such as hearts or an overall theme, like African fabric. Doris appliquéd the hearts onto squares for her heart quilt. She used a variety of floral, solid, and other patterned fabric to create the hearts and their background fabric. She had countless squares of African themed fabric stitched together. I believe that Doris’ quilts demonstrate both traditional patterns and arrangements and contemporary fabric choices and themes. Her quilts are not wholly traditional nor contemporary. Doris’ quilts like Lynette’s were precisely pieced and arranged. Doris preferred to hand piece for precision. If a piece did not fit because it was off in measurement and could not be fixed Doris would not use it. This was similar to Lynette’s feelings; however, Lynette used Mathematica computer software to help even out her quilt blocks. Cultural awareness was evident in the fabric, color, and even subject choices in Lynette’s quilts. Lynette used fabric from different countries in Africa and from Japan. Many of these fabrics were hand-dyed and batiks. She said of the Japanese fabric present in some of her quilts, “They have a different color palette. Sometimes I like to work in it.” Lynette said her inspiration for her Warrior Women quilt came from a Chinese movie she saw “with these warrior women of medieval times.” Some of Lynette’s quilts have figurative images of Africans or African Americans. Most of her quilts are made of cotton fabric. She also used some silks. In addition to commercial and hand dyed fabric from the United States, Lynette also used hand-dyed fabrics by different designers. The fabrics usually were not solid colors. But the fabrics were what Lynette called solid colors because the prints were small or the patterns were tone on tone. One of the fabrics she used consisted of prints of vegetables in earth tones. When used in her quilts they

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provided very subtle color changes and different patterns. Like most fabrics in her quilts the cut pieces were joined with others to create multiple images. Lynette, Doris, and Lauren in general were alike in that most of their quilts were very large quilts. Lynette stated on her survey that most of her quilts were large, more than six feet by six feet. Most that I saw were around that size or would be when finished. She also made smaller quilts. One quilt was small enough that another quilter commented, “You’ve got a nice [quilt] block there.” Lynette replied that it was not a block it was a quilt. The other quilter responded that it was not big enough to be a quilt. Lynette said, “Your block is my quilt.” Doris’ quilts were mostly very large full to king-sized bed quilts. The ones that I saw were mostly machine pieced and hand quilted. Lauren’s quilts were also large in size. However, in contrast with Lynette and Doris’ precise geometric piecing, Lauren’s quilts were free-formed in overall shape, three-dimensional almost sculptural, had frayed fabric edges, were free-motion machine quilted, incorporated free-motion drawing, were sometimes embroidered, had attached three-dimensional objects, had a family or friend focus, contained photographs, drawings, and her own hand-dyed fabric. The large quilts that I saw ranged in size from approximately five feet to seven feet in width and/or length. Lucy Goes to Vote was 62" wide by 85" in length. The figures on her quilts appeared life-sized. She said she liked to work large. On some of the quilts the major figures were sculpted from fabric. In some instances, hands extended beyond the surface of the quilt breasts and facial features also protruded from the relative smoothness of the background fabric. Fabric edges were exposed and in some cases slightly unraveled. All of her quilts featured her own hand- dyed fabric. She sometimes included commercial fabric that she had acquired and subsequently over-dyed. Lauren quilted the surfaces using free-motion quilting. I think that some of Lauren’s quilts could more accurately be categorized as sculptural as she extends the three dimensional aspect of quilting even further. This is in direct contrast to the relatively, smooth, mostly flat quilted surfaces of Lynette and Doris’ quilts which are representative of many contemporary quilts. Family photographs from her grandmother’s photo album constituted a sizeable number of the photographs used in Lauren’s quilts. She also used photographs from

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others including the subjects of the quilt such as in the quilt she made for the husband of Hester, the former cook for the Atlantic Center for the Arts. Drawings were utilized on a number of Lauren’s quilts. She used her own drawings that she transferred onto the fabric and she also did free-motion drawing directly on the fabric using the sewing machine. Sometimes the images, often faces, were drawn on an intensely patterned area of the dyed fabric and they appeared to be almost hidden. Lauren demonstrated an attention to detail that was not always obvious. Such that you would not actually notice it at first glance but on further inspection it seemed to emerge as an interesting bonus to the quilt. Further interesting finds were the three- dimensional objects that she included on particular quilts. Cowrie shells, beads, earrings, commercially made fringes, and other items were incorporated in a large number of Lauren’s quilts. The braids or locks on the mother’s hair in Lucy Goes to Vote had cowrie shells and beads attached. The bassinette in Empty Bassinette has a golden fringe on the edges of the bassinette and the mother has an earring in the ear that is visible beneath her headscarf. Significance of Quilting All three of these quilters have been quilting for over ten years and continue to immerse themselves in the quilting community. Lynette said she thinks about ideas for her quilts all of the time. Lynette and Doris are members of their local quilting guilds. Lauren, although not a member connects with other quilters that she has known since the late 1980s. All three have dedicated studio areas in their homes or separately in Lauren’s case. The amount of materials and supplies they have represent a considerable investment not only in dollars but also in space and commitment to quilting. Lynette stated, “Art is to express yourself.” I noted that the complexity of her designs and piecing and an interest in similarly complex styles of quilting were reflective of her personality and the type of work she did. Lynette’s standards for her work are high and she will not use lower quality fabric or a technique she is not sure of (until she is). She does not want to waste what time she has to create something she won’t be pleased with.

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Lynette’s interest in other cultures was reflected in her purchases of Japanese fabric and African, and in particular Ghanaian fabric. She traveled to Japan with a quilting group. “It won’t be so much for quilting but to visit textile places.” she remarked. She also brought her love of yoga into her quilting. She chose fabric with images of Indian goddesses and elephants, which reflected her practice of yoga and Ayurveda, an ancient holistic Indian health system. Lynette intended to appliqué the images of the Indian god and goddesses onto the central portion of the machine embroidered quilt top she had completed but earlier gave up because it wasn’t working out. I asked if she had given up on completing the quilt she said yes, maybe, but she hadn’t thrown it out. This documented another way that quilting was significant to Lynette. She did not do something if she did not feel she had the expertise to do it. It was obvious to me that her quilting was too important to her to complete something in a manner that was less than she envisioned. If she had difficulties with creating a quilt that reflected her design sensibilities she revisited it but did not give up. She was highly motivated in that area. Lynette valued the challenging aspect of needing to learn new skills to foster her self-expression in quilting. However, she also expressed her feeling of being limited by the amount of time it took to learn new skills and the time she had available after working full-time. Lynette said of quilting, “It’s very important because it’s my major source of self-expression, other than my work.” I found that to be very true based on what I observed and we discussed during our sessions. Lynette said her job could be stressful and learning new skills in quilting could also provide stress if she did not feel she was proficient in using the skills. She adapted her procedures, such as machine quilting, to allow her to quilt. Lynette did not feel proficient at machine quilting. The machine quilting that I saw on her quilts looked very precise and well done. “The putting together of the project within the blocks, not the blocks themselves is the most difficult part for me because I don’t really sew.” Lynette explained. “One way of getting around it is doing hand piecing because then you control it a lot more. But, I have hand pieced and used my mouse so much that my right wrist is sort of tentative right now and I don’t want to mess it up anymore. So, I’m only doing machine work now so my skills are limited.

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Lynette showed me a strip of fabric that she had machine embroidered. “Maybe this will be the basis of the beginnings of a quilt,” she said as she held the strip in her hands. “Yeah, it makes me tense to do this.” she said as she sat back down. “I don’t like to do it. I don’t really have command. They say that there are so many hours that you have to actually put in, in order to become comfortable and proficient using free-motion. And when I started quilting that one,” she pointed to the Warrior Women quilt-in- progress on the design wall, “I’ve gotten a little better. I would procrastinate going back to it. I’d say I’m going to work on that today. Then I’d come up here and I’d reorganize fabric which I do frequently.” Lynette laughed. “Or I’d think of a new project. But now, I’m not actually too afraid of it. If you’re going to do your own design, if you don’t quilt it evenly that is that there’s as much empty space as there is thread it will be lopsided…so if I don’t do it very carefully I end up wasting that time.” Doris managed to quilt during her recovery period from having two major surgeries within three months. Although, she was not able to use her sewing room since her last surgery, she used her living room as an annex of her sewing room so that she would be able to quilt. She sat in a comfortable chair surrounded by her quilting supplies, quilts-in-progress, quilt blocks, and other quilt related items. As a hand quilter and one who preferred to hand piece also, this arrangement worked well for her and she was able to quilt every day while she continued to recuperate. During the observations Doris was under the care of a doctor, had frequents visits from home healthcare nurses, and had been restricted to her home for a while. Despite this she planned on taking a bus trip, with a quilting group to the American Quilters Society’s large quilting conference held in Nashville, Tennessee. This was all pending her doctor’s approval of her health status. Her desire to quilt and participate in quilting events prompted her to seek her doctor’s approval to take this trip during her recovery period. I asked Doris, “What place does quilting hold in your life?” “It’s fourth place but during the week it’s first place. Number one are my children, number two is cooking, number three is church, number four is quilting, and number five is volunteer jobs.” she replied, “Quilting is very important in my life. I want to be more productive,” she said. “I can’t picture myself not quilting. I’m praying for one of my daughters to do it.”

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Doris showed me some of her quilts and fabric that had water damage which occurred while she lived in her previous residence. When I asked why she kept the fabric and quilts, most of which had mildewed areas of various sizes, Doris said she couldn’t stand the thought of throwing them out because they represented work she had completed or had been in the process of completing. If she threw it out it was as if she had never made it. Lauren has been quilting for 30 years. Within that time she changed her career from working with the Foreign Service, to being a civil rights attorney, to being a full- time quilt artist. She has been quilting full-time for eight years. She and her family moved from the Northeast to Florida where she became the Artist-in-Residence at the Atlantic Center for the Arts Quilting is a part of Lauren’s daily life. She quilts everyday, participates in Museum exhibitions, and holds workshops in conjunction with the exhibitions. When I asked her, “What place does quilting hold in your life?” She replied immediately, “An obsessive one. I always want to go to my studio. I like making stuff.” In contrast to Lynette and Doris, Lauren, a full-time quilt artist, worked for most of the day on her quilts in her studio during my visits and then usually drew wherever she went. On the first and subsequent days that we met Lauren worked constantly. I imagine that part of the significance of quilting for Lauren is that it is what she does full time. As a lawyer she was not able to impart any significance to it as she was constantly working on her law cases. Lynette mentioned her work and quilting as being important to her. For Lauren her work and quilting are the same thing. Doris as a resident manager and a foster grandparent also has work that she does that does not involve quilting. In neither case did it appear to me that the quilters placed less significance on quilting because it was something they did part-time. On one occasion when Lauren and her husband were alone without the kids for a period of time he asked her if she would like to go out, get coffee, or something. She told him “We can go to the studio!” Then she said to me, “That’s not what he had in mind. I always want to go to my studio. I like making stuff.” Lauren attributed quilting with her becoming an artist. When I questioned Lauren, who also likes to draw, about whether she would have done a different art form full-time,

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she firmly said, “No, I would not have done a different art form full-time…I wouldn’t have become an artist if not a quilt artist. Because of that experience.” she said referring to her 11th grade art teacher’s comment to her that she did not have any artistic talent. At that point, she said she “stopped drawing and turned to sewing.” She made king-sized bed quilts, gave them away, and continued to make quilts except during law school. She stated she would have failed if she did not spend all of her time reading and focused on school. Lauren said of law school, “It inhibited my ability to do art.” After her husband got her a studio, while she was a professor teaching law school, she said, “I made my first quilt with people in them.” Subsequently, she spent a few years working at the community folk art center at Syracuse University. While she was there she gained some insight. “I realized that I couldn’t do what I wanted to do unless I did it full- time.” she commented. Currently, as the Artist-in-Residence, she has taught high school art a few days a week, worked in her studio, prepared work for exhibition, conducted quilting workshops in conjunction with the exhibitions, and had open studio periods. During the open studio period visitors may come into the studio and see what she is working on. She usually told them about the different quilts that were present in some form of construction in the studio at the particular time they visited. I asked Lauren, “How do you see quilting passed on?” She replied, “A drop in community center for art with lockers for students to store their work. Informal. Not having classes.” She has future plans to be an art rock star and build a clientele of quilt buyers. “I’d like to be in a large museum and make them sponsor exhibitions in small museums. That to me would be being an art rock star.” Floridian Traits None of Lynette’s quilts demonstrated any traits related to Florida as far as images and colors. She never mentioned being inspired by being in Florida. However, when she responded to the question on the survey she said, “I learned to quilt in Florida. My closest community of quilters, from whom I get inspirations and whose opinions of my work I value, are people in my local quilting circles.” On her survey, Doris responded to the question “What ways, if any, has being in Florida influenced your quilting?” She answered, “Quilting is my love and I grew up with my great aunt and she showed me how to do it. She raised me and I called her mother.”

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I expect that learning how to quilt in Florida, from a Floridian, likely influenced both Doris and Lynette’s quilting in some manner. Since a portion of Lynette’s inspiration and even learning how to quilt occurred in Florida it is likely that the Floridian traits are subtler than the colors or images that are a part of Florida’s physical environment. Their methods of construction, which they learned in Florida, constituted a Florida trait. Williams (1992) stated that Florida doesn’t have a particular tradition of quilting but rather reflects a variety of creativity. She stated that quilting began in Florida with quilts brought in from other states by settlers. Seminole patchwork, made by Seminole Indians, is the only quilt related tradition she identified as specific to Florida. Lynette and Doris both constructed their quilts by sewing together pieces of fabric, which created intricately pieced patchwork quilts. According to Kenneth Porter, author of The Black Seminoles: History of a Freedom-seeking People (1996), during the years of slavery Seminoles and African Americans forged a bond between them against the colonists. This collaboration between the two groups suggested a further dimension to the idea of the Seminole (Black Seminole?) quilting tradition. Perhaps the women in both groups contributed to the development of the Seminole tradition in quilting. Lauren, in her survey response, said “The natural beauty of Central Florida’s wetlands and beaches also influences my choice of color to make connections between my art and our world. I marvel at our natural surroundings and mourn the loss of our communities to development.” Many of Lauren’s quilts reflect the blues, greens, and brilliant yellows of the Florida beaches and wetlands. One quilt, Stormy Weather, depicted a woman standing outside in the midst of a storm. Her dress and hair, both rendered three-dimensionally, were slanting vertically, and appeared to be blowing in the wind. Her covered breasts protruded realistically under her dress. The background appeared to be hand-painted with large swirls of brown. Lauren wrote on her website (http://www.thatblackgirlart.com/art_quilts.html#lucy_goes_to_vote): Stormy Weather was my first large art quilt in my new studio at Atlantic Center for the Arts in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. My family's move to Florida from New York was a milestone for us. Leaving the Northeast for the South and

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changing careers to art and art education full time has been difficult. Our move coincided with hurricanes Charlie, Jean, Francis, and Ivan roaring through Florida. The fantastic scenes of ocean and sky combined with our day-to-day personal challenges called forth the need for supernatural calm and strength against all the elements.” Her method of construction was appliqué. It is different from the Seminole tradition of patchwork noted by Williams (1992). Since, according to Williams (1992), Florida does not have a particular quilting tradition but includes a variety of creativity these quilters are a part of the general quilting tradition, which encompasses Florida. The Florida surroundings are reflected in the quilts these artists have made whether through the colors, images, quilting knowledge and techniques.

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CHAPTER 8

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

Research Question

In order to answer the research question for this study I developed four supporting questions. These questions are: 1. What are the three quilt makers’ education, artistic, and other influences? 2. What processes and qualities are present in their quilts? 3. What are the distinctive traits related to their Florida origin (anything specifically Floridian about them)? 4. What does it mean to these quilters to make and exhibit their quilts? Emergent Foci As the study progressed I allowed for emergent foci (Eisner, 1998). I identified the following emergent themes from the interviews and observations: Dedication to Quilting, Quilting Productivity, Family Focus, Exhibition, Fabric and Tools, Quilting Education and finally Artistic and Other Influences. Addressing the first supporting question, What are the three quilt makers’ education, artistic and other influences? None of the three quilt makers had degrees in art or art related fields. However, their education, artistic, and other influences were many and varied. Lynette earned an Ed.D. in epistemology and has taken one drawing class and two design classes. According to Lynette, “the drawing class was a disaster, I didn’t find it interesting. I enjoyed the two design classes.” Because of her obvious love of and exceptional skill in designing her quilts this is not surprising. The only drawing that Lynette said she did was geometrical designs, in her sketchbook, for her quilts.

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Lynette’s artistic and other influences were broad. Some of the things Lynette stated that she was influenced by were other quilters, taking classes, looking at and touching fabric, and books. Before she knew any quilters Lynette, who liked computers, read an article in Quilters Newsletter on computers and quilting that inspired her to take a quilting class. “I took a beginning quilters class. To learn the fundamentals,” she said. Afterwards she took a class in appliqué. “My goal was to make six quilts, then for the seventh, get a computerized machine.” she said. She frequently took quilting classes both locally and at national and international quilting shows. Although, the classes and the teachers inspired her she did not want to just copy what she saw. She wanted to make it her own in design. “I didn’t want to be like the others but I still needed to learn the techniques.” she said. So she used the classes and books to learn the techniques and then used the techniques to create her own designs. Doris earned a degree in Food Science. Cooking was a huge influence for her. Doris showed me a newspaper article about her catering business, which was featured in the Gainesville Sun in September of 1991. She said she still does some catering on a small scale. Occasionally she has made 500 rolls for her church. During one of my visits Doris prepared a huge feast from scratch that included chicken, fish, hush puppies, vegetables, salad, rolls, and cinnamon rolls. On my next visit she made a cake. Her love and expertise for cooking was very apparent, as the food was delicious. She mentioned, “I would like to make a cake quilt because I like to bake cakes.” Doris said that cooking was number two in her life after her children. Although Doris did not have an artistic background her artistic influence was associated with drawing particularly as it related to images for her quilts. “I like to draw flowers, trees, and petals to make appliqués. Also stems and leaves.” She drew them on paper to make appliqué patterns for her quilts and some of her quilted accessories. Lauren earned a Juris Doctorate, was a practicing civil rights attorney, and taught in law school for three years. Some of her work focused on African and African American issues that she encountered. On her website (http://www.thatblackgirlart.com/quilts.html) Lauren stated, “Inspiration for my larger quilts often comes from my own personal experiences as a human rights lawyer or in celebration of turning points in the struggle for women's rights around the world.

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One of Lauren’s quilts, Lucy Goes to Vote, depicted a young South African mother with her baby tied to her back walking to a polling location. Lauren in her website (http://www.thatblackgirlart.com/art_quilts.html) description stated: Lucy Goes to Vote was inspired by the struggle against Apartheid in South Africa coming to fruition in the free election of Nelson Mandela as president. News reports of hundreds of thousands walking miles from their small villages to polling places to cast their votes made me wonder what women were thinking and feeling as they walked with their families and neighbors. Lauren did not have a degree in art or an art related field, however, she took high school art classes and some college level courses in art at Dartmouth, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, and Syracuse University College of Visual and Performing Arts. She currently teaches high school art and quilting through workshops. “When I teach a class I don’t give out handouts or patterns. I don’t want your stuff to look like mine…don’t do my work do your own.” Lauren stated. She commented: Not being an art school person. I never went to art school. The way that I’ve learned art and the way that I teach art is not the art school model. I don’t believe in or participate in critiques. I know what I need to do. If you don’t know what you need to do you need to think about it. Books on art or quilting influenced all three of the quilters. Lynette had many books by non-traditional quilters that showcased their work and the techniques they used. Lynette said that quilter Nancy Crow and other quilters in the books influenced her. She showed me books that featured these quilters and also many Japanese quilters. Lynette was most impressed and influenced with quilts that like her own appeared complex in design and piecing techniques. She frequently expressed her desire to take a class with a particular artist or mentioned that she already had. Doris said that she wanted to do a series of quilts based on the Underground Railroad. She found fabric in Facts and Fabrications, a book about the Underground Railroad, and wanted to locate fabric similar to those in the book. She also wanted to make a quilt based on the Bible. Doris had numerous books by quilters that she made reference to frequently.

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Lauren, during the observations pointed out some of her art books, of which some were out of print. They included images of African and African American art and West African Adinkra symbols. Lauren incorporated different Adinkra symbols in some of her work. Their meanings vary and can be a reflection of character traits to cultural beliefs and events. Looking at and touching fabric were major influences for Lynette. She regularly bought fabric when she traveled. “There’s a quilting store in downtown New York City…They have all kinds of unusual things I like to get [fabric] pieces like this so that when you cut them up no one will know that all those pieces are in there.” she said. “So that’s basically how I choose what I’m going to work on. When I find enough fabric that I think oh, these are all, feel like, the same thing.” she explained. Lynette also had countless pieces of fabric in her studio, specifically arranged, from which to choose. The color, texture, images, or cultural origin of the fabric inspired her to find a way to use it. Lynette stated that she “loves to touch fabric” and that she buys a lot of fabric. She used a variety of textures, and fabric from different cultures, particularly Japanese and African, even preferring the challenge of combining widely disparate fabrics. She even said she used fabric that she didn’t find attractive. She has used one hundred twenty fabrics in one quilt. As Lynette explained it, “The sum is greater than the whole of its parts.” Her challenge is to see what she can create with them. Lynette used a sketchbook for her ideas, which she says were all geometric. Doris bought fabric when she went to a quilting conference and quilt shops for the different quilts that she was in the process of making. She continued to look and add fabric to her African fabrics quilt, which was very large and pieced together in squares, from wherever she could find African themed fabric. Further influences for Doris were her Great Aunt, whom she called Mama, everyday items, quilting, quilters, black quilters, her quilting guild, historical events, books, and quilting stencils. Doris said, “Mama, showed me how to quilt when I was under 10.” When Mama died in 1966 she stopped until she picked it back up in 1974 with the help of another quilter. Doris took quilting classes with members of her guild. She often relied on guild members to teach her how to use some of the quilting tools she bought and assist her with making color choices for some of her quilts. Doris said that

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she wants to do a series of quilts based on the Underground Railroad. She found fabric in a book about the Underground Railroad and would like to locate fabric similar to those in the book. So, historical events, other quilters, books, and everyday items and even quilting stencils are her main influences. Some of Lauren’s other influences were her family, people, faces, expressions, hands, people doing things, black people, racism. Her grandmother gave her an old family photo album. Lauren had used those images to make quilts that depicted her parents, grandmother, and other relatives. Events in her family life were often the focus of her quilts. During the observations, Lauren was working on a figurative quilt that depicted her and her husband during a cold night in the dorm during college. She also had quilts that focused on her sons. One that I saw was titled, Shhh! He’s Composing Himself. It pictured one of her sons composing music on the piano. Another quilt, Empty Bassinette depicted a young woman holding an empty bassinette. Lauren told me, “I made it to remember when we lost our first baby. And Brian took care of me…He just kept telling me we can get through this together.” Lauren’s quilts Did You Hear Her Son's in Trouble and He Drums Lubolo deal with issues of prejudice and racism. In Did You Hear Her Son's in Trouble, a triptych, a judge, young Black man on trial, and his mother are the focus. Lauren stated on her website (http://www.thatblackgirlart.com/art_quilts.html#did_you_hear): Did You Hear Her Son's in Trouble has been the most challenging theme I have attempted through the art quilt media. As a lawyer, I had thought I would be dismissed from jury duty by attorneys arguing the case of domestic abuse by a young black man. I was wrong. The trial and jury deliberations were very emotional and brought to front issues of prejudice and differences in culture in deciding to take away a young black man's freedom. Wherever this quilt has been shown, people have approached me and shared often tragic stories of a family member or friend on trial or in jail. I tried to capture the attitude of the judge during for him a routine day and one of hundreds of similar cases he had tried, the stone face of the defendant in front of a room full of white faces and the worry of the mother as she watches the fate and future of her son decided by strangers.

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He Drums Lubolo is based on her time in Uruguay as the first African American Vice Consul at the U.S. Embassy in Montevideo. According to Lauren on her website (http://www.thatblackgirlart.com/art_quilts.html#he_drums_lubolo): “Making this quilt pulled together all my emotions from that time to focus on the parts that made me confront racism external and internal.” Lauren was also influenced by things around her and kept her sketchbook with her everywhere. Even during a pedicure Lauren found time to sketch a vase of flowers she saw in the salon. When other people would usually read a book Lauren would instead sketch what was going on in the location or what physical items were actually in the location. Things she drew in her sketchbook were sometimes the starting point in her ideas for new quilts. She was very interested in people so they were the major focus of her work. What processes and qualities are present in their quilts? Lauren’s quilting process starts on her design wall. She auditioned different pieces and cuts of fabric and shaped them on the wall. She constructed her quilts using mostly appliqué methods. She emphasized that it was uncontrolled appliqué. No formal patterns or methods of construction were used. She would step back to look intently at the quilt then adjust the placement of fabric pieces or rummage around for different fabric to include or substitute for others. As she approved of areas she pinned them down and when all in a particular area was the way she wanted it she made sure that it was pinned securely and then machine stitched that particular spot. This was evident on the portrait she created of her husband and her in college. The faces were completely stitched and finished while the hands still needed to be added, dress altered, and other areas completed. Her quilts began on the design wall and as they progressed she moved them from the sewing machine to the design wall numerous times as she completed the different areas. With the quilts located on the design wall Lauren was able to view them and consider the changes she envisioned any time she looked at them. Since more than one quilt was always displayed on the wall she easily implemented changes and additions on the different quilts when ideas came to mind. Lauren did free-motion drawing on many of her quilts in addition to free-motion quilting.

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When she used photographs or drawings on her quilts she first scanned them from the original into Photoshop and then printed them out on fabric. She specially treated the fabric beforehand with household products so that the images would be as permanent as possible. This was more cost effective than purchasing pre-treated sheets of printer fabric and additionally allowed for a wider selection of fabric to be used. Lauren used the longarm-quilting machine to quilt her large quilts. The longarm allows the quilt to fit under the needle without bunching while the rest of it is kept rolled for maneuverability. The quilt qualities were large size, more free-formed in overall shape than conventional geometric shapes, three-dimensional almost sculpted, frayed fabric edges, free-motion machine quilted, incorporated free-motion drawing, sometimes embroidered, attached three-dimensional objects, family or friend focus, photographs, drawings, and hand-dyed fabric. Those that I saw ranged in size from approximately five feet to seven feet in width and/or length. Lucy Goes to Vote was 62" wide by 85" in length. The figures on her quilts appeared life-sized. She said she liked to work large. On some of the quilts the major figures were sculpted from fabric. In some instances, hands extended beyond the surface of the quilt breasts and facial features also protruded from the relative smoothness of the background fabric. Fabric edges were exposed and in some cases slightly unraveled. All of her quilts now featured her hand-dyed fabric. She might have included commercial fabric that she had acquired and subsequently over-dyed. Lauren quilted the surfaces using free-motion quilting. Family photographs from her grandmother’s photo album constituted a sizeable number of the photographs used in Lauren’s quilts. She also used photographs from others including the subjects of the quilt such as in the quilt she made for the husband of Hester, the former cook for the Atlantic Center for the Arts. Drawings were utilized on a number of Lauren’s quilts. She used her own drawings that she transferred onto the fabric and subsequently directly drew on the fabric using the sewing machine, free-motion drawing. Sometimes the images, often faces, were drawn on an intensely patterned area of the dyed fabric and they appeared to be almost hidden. Such that you would not actually notice it at first glance but on further inspection it seemed to emerge as an interesting bonus to the quilt. Further interesting finds were the three-dimensional objects that she included on particular quilts. Cowrie shells, beads,

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earrings, commercially made fringes, and other items are incorporated in a large number of Lauren’s quilts. The braids or locks on the mother’s hair in Lucy Goes to Vote have cowrie shells and beads attached to them. The bassinette in Empty Bassinette has a golden fringe on the edges of the bassinette and the mother has an earring in the ear that is visible beneath her headscarf. Lauren also used rust from a rusty chain to add visual texture and color to her fabric. One of her quilts on the machine had brown linear marks, which she told me were from rust. She mentioned that let the rusted chain sit on the fabric for a few days then set it with vinegar. Lynette’s quilting process involved thoughtful planning overall and specifically an exacting attention to detail. Lynette preferred that her pieces demonstrate excellence both in planning, and design but also in the actual execution. Planning and designing was where most of Lynette’s time was spent during the observations. Lynette often began with the fabric in creating a quilt. Lynette created intricate designs and patterns as the focus of her quilts. Precision in design and piecing were very important to Lynette. Her quilts were mostly geometric, complex, and very precise. Her use of fabric was often very subtle as she combined many pieces to create what appeared to be a very unified quilt. She used circles very frequently, often creating hidden circles by using fabrics for the pieced circles that blended in with the surrounding fabric. Although she did use some traditional patterns in her work the traditional pattern did not make up the whole quilt because Lynette wanted her work to be unique. Her quilts did not have a traditional look. Her composition and use of fabric reflected her desire to create something different. Cultural awareness was evident in the fabric, color, and even subject choices in Lynette’s quilts. She used fabric from different countries in Africa and from Japan. Many of these fabrics were hand-dyed and batiks. She said of the Japanese fabric present in some of her quilts, “They have a different color palette. Sometimes I like to work in it.” Lynette said her inspiration for her Warrior Women quilt came from a Chinese movie she saw “with these warrior women of medieval times.” Some of Lynette’s quilts have figurative images of Africans or African Americans. Most of her quilts are made of cotton fabric. She also used some silks. In addition to commercial and hand dyed fabric from the United States, Lynette also used hand-dyed fabrics by different designers. The

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fabric usually was not a solid color. But Lynette called them solid colors because the prints were small or the patterns were tone on tone. One of the fabrics she used consisted of prints of vegetables in earth tones. When used in her quilts they provided very subtle color changes and different patterns. Like most fabrics in her quilts the cut pieces are joined with others to create multiple images. Lynette stated on her survey that most of her quilts were large, more than six feet by six feet. Most that I saw were around that size or would be when finished. She also made smaller quilts. One quilt was small enough that another quilter commented, “You’ve got a nice [quilt] block there.” Lynette replied that it was not a block it was a quilt. The other quilter responded that it was not big enough to be a quilt. Lynette said, “Your block is my quilt.” Doris’s starting point for creating most of her quilts that I saw was the fabric. She looked to find different African or African appearing fabrics for her African quilt. When she went to the conference she found some there. Although she had already started putting the quilt together she was still adding fabric as she found it. She also had plans to create a cake quilt because she liked to bake cakes. She needed to locate themed fabric. One of the quilts that Doris was working on, known as a charm quilt, could only have each piece of fabric on it once. So she had to search for a variety of fabrics before she could begin. Once she had collected enough fabric in the colors and patterns that she wanted Doris then worked on cutting them into the shapes she needed for her quilt pattern. Geometric and traditional patterns were some that she frequently used. She took them over to the community room so she could use the large table in there. On the table she laid out the fabric, cut out her pieces, and also began to arrange them. If she was just cutting from smaller pieces of fabric she might have done the cutting out in her own house in the living room, bedroom, or studio. If she was machine piecing and/or machine quilting she would use the sewing machine that was in her studio. For handwork, piecing, or quilting, she would sit in her chair in the living room with her quilting supplies around her. Doris said that she took small projects or small portions of her quilt with her to quilt on the go. Doris’ quilts were mostly geometric and utilized traditional patterns and methods of construction. She liked the Jacob’s Ladder and Dresden Plates patterns and older

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printed fabric and used a variety of cotton commercial fabrics in a broad variety of colors and patterns from muted subtle tones to lively, busy, patterns in most of the quilts that I saw. She also made themed quilts that were unified around a particular image such as hearts or an overall theme, like African fabric. Doris appliquéd the hearts onto squares for her heart quilt. She used a variety of floral, solid, and other patterned fabric to create the hearts and their background fabric. She had countless squares of African themed fabric stitched together. Most of Doris’ quilts were very large full to king-sized bed quilts. The ones that I saw were mostly machine pieced and hand quilted. Doris’ quilts were precisely pieced and arranged. She preferred to hand piece for precision. If a piece did not fit because it was off in measurement and could not be fixed Doris would not use it. Doris’s quilts were more traditional in design than Lynette or Lauren’s quilts. As such, what distinguishes art quilts from non-art quilts if some of them look traditional? Original design is the main quality that distinguishes an art quilt from a non-art quilt. Following a pre-determined pattern and arranging it in a pre-determined method does not reflect original or creative artistic intent. The intent of the quilter and the intended disposition of the quilt could also be considered. The use of traditional patterns is a common method in learning how to quilt. All three of the quilters in this study initially used traditional patterns and methods of construction to learn how to make quilts. As they learned techniques they applied their own design interests, as in Lynette’s case by expanding upon the traditional patterns and also creating her own patterns, abstract images, and unique compositions. Lauren had used traditional quilt blocks that she found in the trash in her quilts. They were not the focus of her quilt but provided visual interest, historical context, and texture. She over-dyed them so that they would fit into the color scheme she had planned in her figurative quilts. The figurative aspect of her quilts was a more obvious departure from the traditional repeated patterns. Doris used traditional patterns in traditional blocks that repeated in many of her quilts. Thus her quilts are more traditional in appearance. She did not layout her quilts by following a prescribed pattern for the arrangement. The individual quilt block was traditional, however her placement of the pattern pieces, and her fabric choices, were her own design. Doris also incorporated non-traditional fabric choices. She worked on her African inspired quilt during the

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observations. This quilt used a wide variety of African or resembling African patterns and images. What are the distinctive traits related to their Florida origin (anything specifically Floridian about them)? None of Lynette’s quilts demonstrated any traits related to Florida as far as images and colors, she never mentioned being inspired by being in Florida. However, when she responded to the question on the survey she said, “I learned to quilt in Florida. My closest community of quilters, from whom I get inspirations and whose opinions of my work I value, are people in my local quilting circles.” On her survey, Doris responded to the question “What ways, if any, has being in Florida influenced your quilting?” She answered, “Quilting is my love and I grew up with my great aunt and she showed me how to do it. She raised me and I called her mother.” Learning how to quilt in Florida, from a Floridian, likely influenced both Doris and Lynette’s quilting. Since a portion of Lynette’s inspiration and even learning how to quilt occurred in Florida it is likely that the Floridian traits are subtler than the colors or images that are a part of Florida’s physical environment. Their methods of construction, which they learned in Florida, constituted a Florida trait. Williams (1992) stated that Florida doesn’t have a particular tradition of quilting but rather reflects a variety of creativity. She stated that quilting began in Florida with quilts brought in from other states by settlers. Seminole patchwork, made by Seminole Indians, is the only quilt related tradition she identified as specific to Florida. Lynette and Doris both constructed their quilts by sewing together pieces of fabric, which created intricately pieced patchwork quilts. According to Kenneth Porter, author of The Black Seminoles: History of a Freedom-seeking People (1996), during the years of slavery Seminoles and African Americans forged a bond between them against the colonists. This collaboration between the two groups suggested a further dimension to the idea of the Seminole (Black Seminole?) quilting tradition. Perhaps the women in both groups contributed to the development of the Seminole tradition in quilting. Lauren, in her survey response, said “The natural beauty of Central Florida’s wetlands and beaches also influences my choice of color to make connections between my art and our world. I marvel at our natural surroundings and mourn the loss of our

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communities to development.” Many of Lauren’s quilts reflected the blues, greens, and brilliant yellows of the Florida beaches and wetlands. Since these fabrics were hand-dyed the color choices reflected a deliberate decision on Lauren’s part. One of her quilts, Stormy Weather, depicted a woman standing outside in the midst of a storm. Her dress and hair, both rendered three-dimensionally, were slanting vertically, and appeared to be blowing in the wind. Her covered breasts protruded realistically under her dress. The background appeared to be hand-painted with large swirls of brown. Lauren wrote on her website (http://www.thatblackgirlart.com/art_quilts.html#lucy_goes_to_vote): Stormy Weather was my first large art quilt in my new studio at Atlantic Center for the Arts in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. My family's move to Florida from New York was a milestone for us. Leaving the Northeast for the South and changing careers to art and art education full time has been difficult. Our move coincided with hurricanes Charlie, Jean, Francis, and Ivan roaring through Florida. The fantastic scenes of ocean and sky combined with our day-to-day personal challenges called forth the need for supernatural calm and strength against all the elements.” Her method of construction, appliqué, was different from the Seminole tradition of patchwork noted by Williams (1992). What does it mean to these quilters to make and exhibit their quilts? It meant a lot to these quilters to make and exhibit their quilts. Lynette stated, “Art is to express yourself.” I noted that the complexity of her designs and piecing and an interest in similarly complex styles of quilting were reflective of her personality and the type of work she did. Lynette’s interest in other cultures was reflected in her purchases of Japanese fabric and African, and in particular Ghanaian fabric. She traveled to Japan with a quilting group. “It won’t be so much for quilting but to visit textile places.” she remarked. The fabric she bought would then be used in her quilts. She also brought her love of yoga into her quilting. She chose fabric with images of Indian goddesses and elephants, which reflected her practice of yoga and Ayurveda, an ancient holistic Indian health system. Lynette intended to appliqué the images onto the machine embroidered quilt top she completed, but stopped because it wasn’t working out. When I asked if she

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had given up on the quilt she said yes, maybe, but she hadn’t thrown it out. This documented another way that quilting was significant to Lynette. She did not do something if she did not feel she had the expertise to do it. Her quilting was too important to her to complete something in a manner that was less than she envisioned. If she had difficulties with creating a quilt that reflected her design sensibilities she revisited it but did not give up. She was highly motivated in that area. She valued the challenging aspect of needing to learn new skills to foster her self-expression in quilting. However, she also expressed her feeling of being limited by the amount of time it took to learn new skills and the time she had available after working full-time. Lynette said of quilting, “It’s very important because it’s my major source of self-expression, other than my work.” Lynette also used quilting as an escape from stress in her job. She wants to pursue quilting full- time, eventually. She is not worried about making a living at it just making enough so she can write off her expenses from her taxes. Doris managed to quilt during her recovery period from having two major surgeries within three months. Although, she was not able to use her sewing room since her last surgery, she used her living room as an annex of her sewing room so that she would be able to quilt. Her desire to quilt and participate in quilting events prompted her to seek her doctor’s approval to take a bust trip to attend the American Quilters Society’s large quilting conference held in Nashville, Tennessee during her recovery period. I asked Doris, “What place does quilting hold in your life?” “It’s fourth place but during the week it’s first place. Number one are my children, number two is cooking, number three is church, number four is quilting, and number five is volunteer jobs.” she replied, “Quilting is very important in my life. I want to be more productive,” she said. “I can’t picture myself not quilting. I’m praying for one of my daughters to do it.” Doris showed me some of her quilts and fabric that had water damage which occurred while she lived in her previous residence. When I asked why she kept the fabric and quilts, most of which had mildewed areas of various sizes, Doris said she couldn’t stand the thought of throwing them out because they represented work she had completed or had been in the process of completing. If she threw it out it was as if she had never made it.

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Doris wanted to be known as a Black quilter. This statement told quite a bit about how important quilting was to her. She would like to earn her living through her quilting and would like to have her work on display and in books. She made ten large quilts a year and numerous smaller quilted items mostly by hand. She was very dedicated to her goal. In fact, one of the quilter’s in her guild recommended her for this study as an African American quilter. Quilting appeared to have a connection to every aspect of Lauren’s life. When I asked her, “What place does quilting hold in your life?” She replied immediately, “An obsessive one.” She worked for most of the day on her quilts in her studio during my visits and then usually drew wherever she went. Lauren attributed quilting with her becoming an artist. “Wouldn’t have become an artist if not a quilt artist. Because of that experience.” she said referring to her 11th grade art teacher’s comment to her that she did not have any artistic talent. At that point, she said she “stopped drawing and turned to sewing.” She made king-sized bed quilts, gave them away, and continued to make quilts except during law school. She stated she would have failed if she did not spend all of her time reading and focused on school. Lauren said of law school, “It inhibited my ability to do art.” After her husband got her a studio, while she was a professor teaching law school, she said, “I made my first quilt with people in them.” Subsequently, she spent a few years working at the community folk art center at Syracuse University. While she was there she gained some insight. “I realized that I couldn’t do what I wanted to do unless I did it full- time.” she commented. Currently, as the Artist-in-Residence, she had taught high school art a few days a week, worked in her studio, prepared work for exhibition, conducted quilting workshops in conjunction with the exhibitions, and had open studio periods. During the open studio period visitors may come into the studio and see what she was working on. She usually told them about the different quilts that were present in some form of construction in the studio at the particular time they visited. Lauren, as a full-time quilter had dedicated a part of her life to quilting. In fact, it took over the personal, family side of her life also. When she and her husband were alone without the kids for a period of time he asked her if she would like to go out, get coffee,

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or something. She told him “We can go to the studio!” Then she said to me, “That’s not what he had in mind. I always want to go to my studio. I like making stuff.” Her ideas and motivations for quilting come from her everyday life and she spent countless hours quilting and educating others about quilting. Lauren frequently had exhibitions and has had her work published in a recent book in addition to having a website online. Quilting is a major part of her life. Emergent Foci Dedication to Quilting The dedication to quilting and subsequent productivity that was apparent in the quilters’ interviews and observations reinforces it as an art media worthy of specific inclusion in the art curriculum. Textile art is a broad category that encompasses weaving, quilting, basketry, and other art forms that utilize fiber. This may mean that while textile arts are taught in school quilting is not. Quilter Faith Ringgold’s works were used in elementary classrooms. Heintz, an elementary art teacher used some of the art, ideas, and themes from Tar Beach (Ringgold, 1991) in her unit on “Dreams, Fantasy, and the Imagination. Other elementary school teachers taught similar units (Masenas, 1999; Willing, 1997) also incorporating text with the art. There was not much evidence to support the idea that quilting was widely taught in the K-12 art curriculum. The three quilters did not have any formal school education in art/quilting. Doris learned how to quilt from her Great Aunt when she was a child. She took classes through quilting conferences and her quilting guild. Lauren learned also learned how to quilt as a child. In high school she had an art class and when the teacher told her she had no artistic ability she stopped drawing and concentrated on quilting. As an adult, at the college level, she took classes in figure drawing and fiber reactive dyes. Lynette learned how to quilt as an adult. She took a beginning quilting class, a class in appliqué, a drawing class, and two design classes. As an adult Lynette took quilting classes through quilting conferences, quilt shops and her quilting guild. Quilting Productivity Related to their dedication to quilting was productivity. Each quilter valued productivity in quilting. The quilters all worked on numerous, rather large, quilts at one time. This would not be feasible in a typical K-12 art curriculum. Whether working on

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quilts or other media having more than one project going on at the same time in the typical art room is likely to cause storage problems. However, with a much smaller size and method of construction it would be possible to create more quilts or art in other media. Class schedules and classroom storage limit how much work can be done and subsequently stored at one time. Art education classes vary in length and frequency, and quilting can be time consuming, thus making the time available an important factor. Although, all three quilt regularly they each mentioned the importance of actually working on and finishing quilts as opposed to not quilting frequently enough or not finishing quilts. Family Focus A family focus in art would make art personal for each individual student. Many students that do not respond to traditional art done by the masters would be enthused to work on art that focused upon themselves and their family members. Although, holiday art often was frowned upon by art teachers having students make personally relevant art that coincides with holidays can make the students experience even more successful. In addition it will help develop support for the art program as the family members observe what the student has brought home from art class. Quilters Lauren and Lynette both focused on family members in the creation of many of their quilts. Lauren used family photographs and her drawings of her family members, enlarged and otherwise altered them in Photoshop and then printed them out onto fabric. She then used this fabric as the focal point of her quilt. When she did not use fabric photographs, Lauren, used her dyed fabric to create images from her family life. She has created portraits of her children, mother, father, grandmother, and she and her husband. Lynette’s family focus is providing family members with quilts that celebrated events. She has made quilts for her daughter’s marriage, one of her sister who is going blind and the birth of grandchildren Exhibition Lauren, Doris, and Lynette all had their quilts on display in an exhibition at least a few times. For Lauren that was a frequent occurrence, for Doris and Lynette it was not as frequent. They all wanted to share their work with the public. Lauren regularly exhibited her quilts in museums and hosted visitors in her studio to view her artwork. She listed

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five recent exhibitions on her website (http://www.thatblackgirlart.com/the_artist.html) Doris wanted to finish her latest quilts so that she could exhibit them locally. She has exhibited her work in the Women’s History Department at the University of Florida and the City Commission Office in Gainesville. Lynette has exhibited her work in different quilting exhibitions. She has a website with photos of her quilts but it was not online at the time of our sessions. She has participated in challenge quilts and other quilting guild related exhibitions. In most cases, exhibition is what most artists do or at least strive to do. Student exhibitions are common in K-12 art education and could be easily implemented for quilts. Exhibitions may occur in or out of school in small or large settings, and formal or informal settings. Fabrics and Tools All of the quilters in this study had an abundance of supplies, fabric, and tools. The quilters reflected a variety of income levels yet within the confines of income they all had amassed sizable collections of tools, supplies, and fabric. Lauren provided an abundant amount of fabric for her workshop goers to search through to find pieces they liked. All of the quilters had plentiful amounts of fabric and specialized tools. Having a bountiful amount and even what non-quilters might consider an excessive amount of fabric, supplies, and tools would be vital to give students creative freedom in designing and fashioning their quilts and other artistic endeavors. Students would be able to design and work on their art without any major fear of making mistakes or not having enough of items or tools they needed. This would certainly enhance the creative process for these students as often, in art education classes, supplies are not necessarily plentiful, and tools must be shared. That could certainly discourage the level of creative interest needed to sustain the production of a quilt from design to completion. Creating even a small quilt can be a time-consuming process and all students will benefit from continued motivation along the way. The high levels of enthusiasm with which all three quilters showed me their tools, fabrics, and supplies that they used demonstrated the motivating effect of having sufficient and even excessive amounts to work with. Instruction in using the specialized tools would need to be provided as it had been for the quilters.

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Although, each quilter will still shop for more pieces of fabric without having exhausted their fabric stash, having the stash at hand allowed them to shop and audition different pieces of fabric in their studio as part of the quilting process. All of the quilters mentioned other people giving them fabric or tools. Sometimes, as in Lauren’s case it was from the families of quilters or sewers that had died, other times it was material that other quilters, for whatever reason, didn’t want, and sometimes it was a gift specifically meant for them. Part of the quilting process was the enthusiasm generated by the appropriate selection of fabric. Sewing machines would seem to be a major tool that is necessary for quilting today, however, Lynette and Doris did not use it for the whole process. Although she could quilt by machine Lynette was not yet confident in her machine quilting abilities. Doris had expressed similar concerns and usually hand quilted also. This suggested a level of training would be needed to allow students to successfully quilt by machine. It also raised the question of where hand quilting fit in given the usual time frame in K-12 art classes. Lauren used the sewing machine for the whole process. Having an excessive amount of sewing machines, especially the computerized models, would hardly be cost or space effective for most school systems, even with donations. But, access to sewing machines is clearly a necessity for a few reasons: time, skill building, and creativity. The time needed to machine piece and quilt is ultimately shorter than the time it takes to hand piece and quilt even with little machine skills. However, smaller quilts with intricate details may be more accurately pieced by hand until machine skill levels have further developed. Creativity may increase as many techniques and effects are possible with machine quilting that can enhance artistic expression due to the speed and ease of experimentation. Machine work can be used in conjunction with hand piecing and quilting in a quilt. Having access to a machine, even if it is not exclusive and must be shared with other students, would be beneficial. Lauren was discouraged from pursuing art by her eleventh grade art teacher. She is vehemently against formal art education, as she sees and experienced it, yet teaches art to high school students. As an artist in residence, she had been asked to continue with the high school teaching aspect of her residency along with her artistic endeavors. Clearly, these students benefited from her instruction in contrast to her art education

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experiences. Encouragement and positive statements were what Lauren offered me when she looked at one of my quilts. This was also how she interacted with her students that I saw when I attended her workshop. With the ages of the quilters being from the late forties to sixties it is unlikely that they were exposed to quilting as an art form during their K-12 education. Indeed, none said that they were. Faith Ringgold, a prolific African American quilter did not become a fixture in the fiber arts and the art world until the 1980s. Now it is common for art teachers to include Faith Ringgold’s quilts in their art curriculum. Further study, utilizing surveys of both art teachers and fiber artists in their twenties or early thirties might address if and how art education had more recently affected these artists. Quilting Education Quilting education had a big role in advancing knowledge and skills for two of the quilters. Both Lynette and Doris learned different techniques and processes by taking classes at quilting conferences or their local quilt shops. During the overall time frame of our observations and interviews Lynette and Doris both attended conferences and took classes. Lynette created quilts or quilt blocks in the quilting classes that she attended that had her own personal sense of design while learning and demonstrating a new found technique. Lynette mentioned that she wanted her quilts to be different so she learned the techniques being taught and then applied her knowledge in the creative way she envisioned. Doris learned different techniques and how to use a variety of templates and tools. She supplemented this knowledge by asking other quilters in her guild, how they used the tools. Doris showed me a multitude of tools, patterns, and fabric that she got from the quilting conference she attended. As I looked over the templates, fabric, some of it themed, and other I noticed that some of the companies that produced these items were national and had websites where their products were sold. Others were small businesses from around the country. Since most of these products could be ordered without attending a conference, part of the quilt education experience involved exposure to the different tools, materials, and other products available. The conference method of quilting

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education through classes and workshops involved more than just the instruction it also included the camaraderie, thrill of purchasing new items, and travel. At the different quilting conferences she attended, Lynette mentioned that there were a vast variety of fabric, embellishments, supplies, tools, books, and other quilt related items available for sale. She gladly bought many of the items offered for sale during quilting conferences especially if it was not available locally. Lauren, on the other hand, most recently provided quilting education to budding and experienced quilters at workshops in conjunction with her art exhibition at the Museum of Florida Art in Deland, Florida. Lauren’s quilting workshop provided opportunities for learning new techniques and processes, camaraderie, and travel for the majority of the participants. Workshop participants were provided with a guided tour of the exhibition by Lauren, unlimited access to fabric and supplies, quilting instruction, design guidance, working feedback, and a critique of their final quilts. I think the structure of the workshop was somewhat similar to K-12 art education classes. The students looked at art, were given general parameters for their work, instruction in using and access to supplies, feedback as they worked, and then finally a critique. However, the workshop allowed a larger degree of independence than would be customary in most K- 12 classes and much more individualized attention and focused on a specific area in quilting. These methods of quilting education consisting of classes and workshops through quilting conferences or in conjunction with museum exhibitions are outside the parameters of formal education. It is more closely associated with networking. Conclusions In this study I set out to find the answer to my guiding question “How and why do three contemporary African American women quilt artist in Florida make quilts, what is the meaning and significance of that activity to them, and what are the implications for art education?” In looking for varied demographics in the quilters that I selected I achieved just that. These three contemporary African American quilters, their quilting styles, and processes are very different from each other. Lauren’s political and family themes utilizing figurative, photographic, sculptural, and unrestrained method of appliqué have

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little in common visually with Lynette or Doris’ geometrically oriented quilts. However, Lynette and Doris’ quilts are dissimilar in complexity and thematic content to each other. They all work thematically ranging from political, to family, to historical. Therefore, the main thing that I see that they have in common is that they are all African American quilters in Florida that work thematically. They also share a strong love of quilting as evidenced by their longevity and perseverance in the field. Through the interview and observation sessions I was privy to the expressed thoughts and actions of the three quilters as they quilted. Quilting was not a peripheral part of their lives. They all have invested heavily both in supplies and with their time. For each of the quilters, quilting played a major role. For Lauren, as a full-time quilter it was her life. Her life was expressed through her quilting. Any event, issue, or person of importance to Lauren was documented and translated through her quilts for the viewer. Lauren’s figurative quilting style was uniquely hers and she purposely did not try to fit her quilts into any preconceived notions of what quilts should look like or how they should be sewn. She was very confident in expressing herself through her art and did not look to others for artistic advice. She was highly creative and enjoyed experimenting and discovering additional ways to express herself through her quilting. I saw two sides of Lynette’s quilting. One side was highly complex and intellectual in nature. With this complex side she created intricately pieced, somewhat mathematical, usually abstract, originally designed quilts with a great variety of fabrics. She chose fabrics that were personally relevant and others that presented a challenge to incorporate and integrate into a cohesive look. Lynette enjoyed the challenge. She found the creating of these pieces was both intellectually and creatively stimulating. The other side of Lynette’s quilting was geared towards her family. With these quilts, which were precisely pieced, she sometimes had figurative elements and text celebrating the family member for whom she was making it. Both of these aspects of her quilting addressed her family or personal life and her intellectual or career related life. Many of Doris’ quilts used traditional patterns and methods of construction. Doris added her own fabric choices and arrangements. Precision was very important in creating her quilts. She explored themes for her quilts that were inspired by things that she found

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important, largely historical events and periods in time. Doris had an intense interest in creating different series of quilts based on these historical events and times. Doris was very dedicated to quilting and interacting with others in that respect. The differences in socioeconomic status, education, and environment that I perceived affected the way the quilters quilted, the type of space they had to quilt in, and the materials they used. I believe it also influenced some of the types of quilts they made. Lauren as a full-time professional quilter had the most space and was able to produce more quilts thereby reinforcing her status as a professional quilter. Also, because of that status and her position at the ACA as Artist-in-Residence her expenses for her artwork were minimal. Most things were paid for by her position or by the art she created. Her longarm quilting machine, a very expensive item, is evidence of that. The large longarm that she owns is not within the reach of your average quilter. There are much smaller machines, similar in appearance to a very big sewing machine, that are still expensive for the budget of the average quilter. Lauren’s civil rights quilts reflected her position as a former civil rights lawyer. Lauren’s own conception of her identity is very confident in general and perhaps even more so as a quilt artist. She is always looking to try out different techniques to see how they fit into what she wants to make. She did not express any doubts or indecision about her abilities or the career path she intends. Lauren wants to develop a personal clientele for her quilts and become an art rock star. Lynette, a university faculty member, had a large amount of space available to her in which to quilt. This was not paid for by her art, though. This was because of the upper middle class earnings she and her husband have. Their work provided them with the means for her to have a good sized studio and to afford to travel, go to conferences, and purchase the massive amount of supplies and materials that she owned. Lynette works in a physics lab and incorporated very precise piecing, and even machine quilting that reflected a scientific wave formation in one case, into her quilts. Lynette’s identity appeared somewhat tied to whether she had had adequate time to perfect a technique. If she did, she was confident, if not, she often said she procrastinated and worked in another area. Stitching and other work that I thought was very precise Lynette often downplayed it as something that she was just learning to do. It appeared to me that she was proud of what she did but did not want to pat her self on the back. Lynette, on the other hand, was

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very confident about her design abilities. She did not have any hesitation in explaining what her intent was and how she intended to do it. She had no doubts about her design abilities. Lynette expressed the desire for her art to pay for itself during our interviews. Doris, whose income was mainly derived from Supplemental Security Income, had a smaller space in which to quilt, less materials, and less variety in the types of materials and equipment she had. Doris, like the other quilters, received donations of fabric and other quilting items. I believe these items are of more importance to Doris than Lynette or Lauren since it is unlikely that she would have been able to provide all of the items for herself. Her guild members, in particular, seem to look out for Doris and provide her with things from their own collections that they think she would like that they no longer do. This affects what Doris has available to use in her quilts. However, she does look and purchase specific fabrics that she wants to use in her quilts. She likely spends a larger percentage of her available income on quilting than do Lynette and certainly Lauren. Doris, who used to be a caterer, has a degree in Food Science, and loves to cook wants to make a cake quilt. Most of her other quilts are patterned and reflect an interest in history. Doris’ own conception of her identity included wanting to be known as a Black quilter in Florida, not famous for it, just known as one. She expressed some doubts about her abilities and a desire to ask other quilters for their advice. Doris was interested in collaborating to have someone else’s ideas on her quilt. It seems that she is not yet comfortable with her own quilting or perhaps confident that others perceive her quilting favorably. Doris would like to earn her living from quilting. Historically, quilting has been functional, decorative, and more recently expressive. Doris’ interest in rendering quilts that focus upon the Underground Railroad or particularly the Bible are similar to those created by quilter Harriet Powers in 1886 (Fry, 2002). Powers used appliqué to create her quilts, as does Doris when she uses images in her quilts. According to Fry (2002), appliqué was brought to the southern states by West African slaves. This form of appliqué was linked to the tapestries made by the Dahomey. Appliqué was a popular technique when Harriet Powers made her quilts. Powers quilts, as Doris intends, were narrative, they told different stories from the Bible or other events. Doris’ quilts will expand on this tradition by making narrative quilts of the Underground Railroad and other historical events in black culture from her viewpoint.

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Since Doris wants to be known as a black quilter in Florida this is a good way for her to establish her reputation. Documenting events in black culture through her art, exhibiting her work at least locally, but preferably throughout the state, and being featured in the media would help get her name out to the public as a black quilter in Florida. Lauren’s work, especially those with a political focus, fit in historically with the work created by artist Faith Ringgold beginning with the civil rights era in the 1960s. Ringgold, a painter, created paintings on canvas at that time, not quilts. Her paintings depicted civil rights riots, insightful portraits of black and white people, and graphic imagery such as The American People Series #18: The Flag is Bleeding. Lauren’s family work fits into the tradition of Ringgold’s later work as she moved into making quilts and creating imagery that was personal or family focused. Lauren’s work communicates to viewers important political events and many aspects of the human experience. She provides social commentary through her work. Viewers can relate to the images she makes of her own family as they are reflective of family life whether they depict happy or sad moments. The fabric in most of Lynette’s quilts and some of her themes are multicultural. She mixes fabric from different cultures, frequently Japan and Ghana, in her quilts. Historically, she pulls from many different traditions within many cultures, but seamlessly incorporates them into one cohesive unit of complexity. Lynette’s use of these fabrics from different cultures is as an extension of her heritage and the importance she perceives in their history and fabric. Access and use of these authentic fabrics and knowledge of the history behind the process of creation, colors, and images is fairly recent historically for quilters as far as I can determine. As such I consider her use of these fabrics in her work to be very contemporary and inventive. Fabric resources from various cultures are available to quilters in different parts of the world. Work that meshes these fabrics continues to be developed. The complex, piecing that Lynette does is similar to those done by quilter Michael James in the 1980s. Though Lynette’s quilts are much more complexly pieced and arranged, James’ quilt which I saw in America’s Glorious Quilts (Duke, Harding, & Harding, 1987) was similar in its focus on geometric patterns, built up from a multitude of fabrics. Since quilting had been considered women’s work for such a long time, from

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what I have seen, it did not receive the same recognition as art work done in traditional media mostly done by men. Women painters were also overlooked in the history books and in exhibitions. I believe that is why there are still debates, in some circles, whether to accept quilts as art within the traditional art world. In The Art Quilt, McMorris (1986) discussed the introduction of the biennial juried exhibition of contemporary art quilts, Quilt National, in 1979, as the beginning of contemporary quilts becoming slowly accepted as art. This reflected the entry of artists, primarily women painters, into the world of quilt making. Earlier generations of African American women quilters quilted with the purpose of creating a functional item. Their environment and finances may have dictated the need for creating a quilt. But as time passed and economic and environmental issues lessened in severity, although quilts were still functional, the design aspect became more of a priority, such as with the quilters of Gees Bend. African American women quilters and their work historically were rarely if at all featured in galleries, museums, or in art history books. Now that quilting has become more accepted than before as an art form, mostly, and with the widespread popularity of African American women quilters such as those from Gees Bend, Faith Ringgold, and Lauren Austin, some African American quilters are having their work exhibited in mainstream galleries, such as the Whitney Museum, and not just galleries that feature African American work. However, until this becomes more widespread for African American quilters in general and not just a few groups or individual African American quilters, as a whole the status of African American quilting in the art world is still minimalized. Mazloomi (1998) and others have documented the wide range of diversity in contemporary African American quilting. Now I would like to see that diversity reflected in museum and gallery exhibitions, publications, and popular culture in general. Famous artworks are popularized on different children’s television networks. My students tell me about the different artwork, usually traditional European artists, that they see while watching cartoons or other children’s programming. It would be great to see work by African American quilt artists there. Implications for Art Education and Further Research As an art educator there are several areas that I would like to see addressed as a result of this study. They are instructional resources, redefinition of art to include

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quilting, affirmation and modeling of this art form for African American students, an emphasis on process, the instructional process, and finally an abundant amount of tool and materials. Instructional Resources I want to see more instructional resources developed for use in the art room and the classroom. Currently, the major focus for African American quilters is Faith Ringgold. I love Ringgold’s quilts and books. She has made many contributions to the art world with them. Instructional resources about her work in the form of posters, books, and videos are readily available for use in the schools. However, other African American quilt artists, such as Lynette, Lauren, and Doris are also producing artwork that could be effectively introduced to students if the instructional resources existed. With an estimated over one million African American quilters in the United States in 2000 (Hicks, 2003) this is an area with enormous potential. Many teachers are unaware of other contemporary African American quilt artists, and without instructional resources, they are not able to introduce their students to nor help perpetuate this art form with African American students. Redefinition of Art to Include Quilting As quilts have evolved as an art form so to should the definition. Quilts should be included in the definition of art. Quilt artists use the same types of processes to create their artwork as do others working in media that are more traditionally defined as art; such as painting and sculpting. Artists develop ideas, issues, concepts, or themes to address and use their chosen media to express them. A precedent has been set with the quilts of Gees Bend, Faith Ringgold, Lauren, Lynette, and Doris using quilting as an expressive medium. Affirmation and Modeling of this Art Form for Young African American Students According to Hicks (2003), the average age range of African American quilters responding to her online survey was between 45 to 54 years. “79.3 percent of African American quilters on the Internet are 54 years and younger, with the majority (45.1 percent) being 45 to 54 years.” (Hicks, 2003, p. 167), Hicks concluded. The second largest percentage was in the age range of 35 to 44 years (30.5 percent). There were no quilters under 18 responding and very few in the18 to 34 years old (3.7 percent) range.

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This suggests that this art form is not being passed down to young African American students. It really needs to be. It is a valid art form that should not be allowed to die out as the current quilting population ages. Innovation within the medium and a youthful viewpoint are just two of the areas I would expect to see evolve with younger quilters actively involved. Within the schools, seeing and studying art work by African American women will affirm the validity of this African American art form, particularly for African American girls. It would also be useful in building student self-esteem especially for non- traditional learners who may be academically at risk. Students would be able to make personally relevant artwork in a form that they can easily transport and store. One less likely to end up crumpled up and destroyed in a backpack on the way home. An Emphasis on Process The focus of many school art programs is on the product. Often art projects are given to students that allow little room for creative thought much less any problem solving. They are instructed to recreate what the teacher has. Once the artwork is completed it is displayed or taken home without any reflection on the actual process of creating the artwork. However, an emphasis on process is important in art. Students should explore how and why they made their particular artwork. I believe an emphasis on process would help change the way art is viewed in the schools. It is often perceived and treated as a throwaway subject and is frequently one of the first subjects cut when the budget is tight. Similar to the math refrain on tests to show your work and not just your answer an emphasis placed on having students think, problem solve, evaluate, and reflect on their artistic process will make the artwork more valuable to the student. They will benefit from using critical thinking, problem-solving, creative thought processes, and evaluation on a recurrent basis as these are useful life skills as well as used in other school subjects. Instructional Process Much of the quilting education experiences that the quilters had involved one-on- one instruction. They all learned to quilt from an individual. This individualized attention is much more intense of a learning experience than learning in a large group. This one on one instruction is what inspired them and developed their initial quilting abilities. Later after they knew how to quilt quilters learned new techniques from each

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other. Many accomplished quilt artists offer individualized instruction at their studios or other locations. Conferences, quilt guilds, and quilting shops offer group classes and individualized instruction is often provided within that structure. With the amount of new technology and different tools available students need one on one instruction to best develop their skills and be able to apply them creatively. An apprenticeship model would be ideal to develop master quilt artists. Abundant Amount of Tool and Materials Having an abundant amount of tools on hand for artistic endeavors in the art room is a necessity for a quality art program. Operating from a culture of abundance rather than scarcity, as Lauren does, would certainly enhance student creativity. As an art educator I have noticed that when students are restricted in the amount of materials or in the wait time to use tools a lot of the enthusiasm they have generated is considerably inhibited. If students are restricted in the amount of materials they are able to use they will be fearful of making mistakes and will not be willing to take any chances or try something new. They will be too worried about having an artwork with a mistake that they do not like and feel they cannot change or not having enough materials to complete their work. Adequately funding schools, and subsequently art departments, would greatly assist in this area. The high levels of enthusiasm with which all three quilters showed me their tools, fabrics, and supplies that they used demonstrated the motivating effect of having sufficient and even excessive amounts to work with.

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APPENDIX A HUMAN SUBJECTS APPROVAL FORM

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APPENDIX B SURVEY

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Quilter Interest Survey

Name______Date______

Address______Phone Number______

______

Length of time you have lived in Florida ______

Do you think of yourself as Floridian? ______

Birth date______Birthplace______

Occupation______Race/Ethnicity______

1. How long have you been quilting?______

2. What size are most of your quilts? Check one size category.

______Large (larger than 6 ft x 6 ft) OR ______Medium ( larger than 3 ft x 3ft but smaller than 6 ft x 6 ft) OR ______Small (3 ft x 3ft or less)

3. Approximately how many quilts have you made? ______

4. Describe some of your quilts (materials, patterns, designs, subject matter). ______5. What ways, if any, has being in Florida influenced your quilting? ______6. Are you a member of a quilting group? If so, what’s the group’s philosophy and how has that influenced you? ______

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7. What other influences do you have? ______8. What do you usually do with the quilts you make? ______9. Have you exhibited your quilts? Describe. ______10. Have you won any awards for your quilts? If so, please list them. ______11. Would you be interested in being interviewed about your quilting and observed as you quilt as part of a study on female African American Florida quilters?

______Yes, please send me more information. ______No, I’m not interested or don’t fit the parameters you describe above.

12. Do you know anyone else I should contact that might be interested in participating in this study? If you know of more than one person please provide her information on the back of this page.

______Yes, her name and contact information are Name______Address/phone/email______No, no one else.

Please place your completed survey into the provided postage paid, pre-addressed envelope and return to: Qadira Davidson, P.O. Box 38562, Tallahassee, FL 32315

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APPENDIX C

INFORMED CONSENT FORM FOR INTERVIEWS

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APPENDIX D INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

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Interview Questions

First Interview: Relevant life history Focus: To learn about the life history of the quilter going back as far as when she first became a quilter. 1. When did you begin making contemporary non-traditional quilts? 2. How did you learn to quilt? 3. What or who are your main influences? 4. Does anyone else in your family make quilts? 5. In what way does your marital status or family composition impact your quilting? 6. Do you earn your living by making quilts? a. If so, for how long? b. If not, how do you earn a living and do you have any interest in making a living with your quilts? 7. What issues (social, artistic) have impacted you as a quilter? 8. What is your artistic background? c. Do you create art in any other medium than quilting? d. Has your work been the subject of or included in a published book? Second Interview: Quilting Experiences Focus: Quilting processes and quilt production 1. How do you come up with your ideas for your quilts? What are your influences and/or motivations? 2. Do you work alone (collaborate on ideas or have someone else do the actual quilting)? If not, please elaborate. 3. Where do you get your fabric and other supplies? Do you use scraps to create an entire quilt? 4. Describe how you make a quilt (construction techniques and perhaps related rituals). 5. What are some of the themes, issues, designs, and patterns you have used in your quilts? 6. Overall, how would you describe your quilting style?

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7. How frequently do you make quilts? 8. Do you complete most quilts that you start? Third Interview: “Reflecting on the meaning”(Seidman, 1998 p. 12) Focus: Making meaning of her quilting Considering how you described your life history and quilting experiences: a. What place does quilting hold in your life? Where does it fit into your life? b. Where do you think it will lead you in the future(Seidman, 1998)?

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APPENDIX E COMPLETED INTERVIEWS

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Lynette Johnson, Sunday, April 22, 2007 1:00 p.m. – 2:35 p.m.

Interview Questions First Interview: Relevant life history Focus: To learn about the life history of the quilter going back as far as when she first became a quilter. 1. When did you begin making contemporary non-traditional quilts? Eighteen years ago I moved here from Teaneck, New Jersey. I made it [a quilt] in Tallahassee. In New York and New Jersey I had access to lots of cultural things. I could satisfy aesthetics through others. But in Tallahassee I didn’t. When I saw the quilt in the Bernina store window I felt that inspiration that I did in New York and New Jersey. It brought me peace. I was born in San Antonio, Texas. My father was a university professor. We lived in several places. Boston, Delaware, and Oklahoma. The last place I lived before marriage was New Haven, Connecticut. I am the eldest of four daughters. 2. How did you learn to quilt? I’m interested in computers and quilting. There was an article in Quilters Newsletter on computers and quilting. I took a beginning quilters class. To learn the fundamentals. By hand. I didn’t know any quilters then. We made six [quilt] blocks with different techniques. It was an exploration. I still do a bit of hand piecing in my current quilts. I enjoy it. My second class was appliqué. Then I learned to do hand stitches. My goal was to make six quilts then for the seventh get a computerized machine. I got a Bernina 1630. I had to relearn the precision of sewing—straight lines for piecing. I was doing paper piecing. The color palette I preferred was pink and turquoise over the suggested red and green. Learning the technique meant I wanted to go further. I wanted to be distinct. People referred to my difference in color choice as my making something different. I didn’t want to be like the others but I still needed to learn the techniques. Appliqué with Betty Jo had a block of the month. My blocks were not the same size. So I incorporated the computer into my quilting and used Mathematica—calculus and physics software. It helped me

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even out and figure out the fabric needed for the uneven blocks. My second class was appliqué. Then I learned to do hand stitches. I hand quilted it for the next year. I was practicing yoga at the same time as quilting. It gave me a sense of well-being. 3. What or who are your main influences? Architecture, lots of circles, and Japanese Art Quilts in books. Saw a quilt show in CA, then to Australia, and the Pacific Rim after flight. Aborigine influences, English ex patriots. Exposure to lots of fabric from different cultures and different shows. Go to shows, big name quilters. I go to at least one show each year. International Quilt Festivals in San Jose, California, Paducah, Kentucky or in Houston, Texas. Texas is the biggest one. Interacted with Michael James. Studied with twenty four hours a day access. I went to the Quilt Surface and Design Symposiums for two weeks with classes. There were a variety of people in the classes. Vendors of all sorts, worldwide. Provides inspiration—design classes, not structured, not really for traditional quilters. Then get critiqued. Adventures, all kinds of people, and their enthusiasm. Benin African Mask quilts (at the Design Symposium in Columbus, Ohio). Famous quilting shows in the area in conjunction with the Symposium. Debra Lunds and Michael Morwka, a husband and wife team complement each other. Very unique Shibori and painted potato prints, they worked in a former funeral home. They couldn’t make enough money doing this. Now doing commercial dyeing. Saw Nancy Crow in New York when I started. Tried my own ideas. As art quilts were becoming known I found a place for me. Met Valerie (Goodwin), we were similar, at a quilt class. Took a trip to Paducah, KY with Valerie. I choose colors by seeing fabric in a store or symposium and deciding to use them. 4. Does anyone else in your family make quilts? No. My sisters all have my quilts. A lot of their grandchildren have my quilts. Grandmother made sateen coverlets. Wanted historical ties to Harriet Tubman for

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her grand kids. Not making any more quilts for my grandkids after the last grand kid. Why not? They put it on the wall. I wanted them to use it. Two of my grandchildren quilt. The seven year old, now nine, and the ten year old, now twelve make quilts. They live in London. She [twelve year old] will go to a hands-on quilt shop for her first quilting class. 5. In what way does your marital status or family composition impact your quilting? My husband is supportive. He made me like Tallahassee. His hobby is photography. He takes photos of my quilts. Quilt store has a book with quilt stores around the country in it. We go to quilt stores with activities for the husbands (like golf), and families of the quilter. 6. Do you earn your living by making quilts? No, I haven’t sold any. How do you earn a living and do you have any interest in making a living with your quilts? I manage a physics research lab. There are eight different labs in the building. I had four kids after getting my EdD in epistemology, a branch of philosophy. My research was how very young children acquire abstract thought. I work in my husband’s lab. He has lots of research dollars at FAMU. I work with my husband and seven researchers. I’m one of the few females in the building. All of the researchers and students are supportive of my quilting. A lot of them have artistic interests in photography and music. There’s too much stress—producing on demand. Made quilts for sister’s office. She’s a pediatrician. She gave out cards. I want to earn enough to write off my new Bernina (sewing machine) purchase. And keep myself in fabric. 7. What issues (social, artistic) have impacted you as a quilter? I don’t like to be categorized by race in quilting. That means dismissing me, allowing me to be exotic. Characterized as if there is no forethought in quilting. Often expected to quilt similar to the Gees Bend quilters. They are doing a fantastic job of expressing themselves with few resources. But I admire Anna

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Williams’ work and appreciate the Gee’s Bend quilters. Small space, little machine, I look at it as part of our history. I admire their use of color. I consider myself to be more conservative. I like to use 100% cotton. The tactile feel is part of the pleasure. Art is to express yourself. 8. What is your artistic background? One drawing class and two design classes. The drawing class was a disaster, I didn’t find it interesting. I’m enjoyed the two design classes. a. Do you create art in any other medium than quilting? No. b. Has your work been the subject of or included in a published book? No. Lynette Johnson 6/9/07 Second Interview: Quilting Experiences Focus: Quilting processes and quilt production 1. How do you come up with your ideas for your quilts? I look at buildings, designs, other peoples’ work, circles, textures. Really like lines. That it is continuous (circles). Been doing them for one year. Work with colors, depends on my stash. Read on web, websites, a lot of quilt shows, techniques. What are your influences and/or motivations? Love to touch fabric. “It calms me.” I feel at peace when working (unless I’m frustrated about a technique). I’ll buy a lot of fabric---hand dyed---the fabric suggest how to use it. Like to use a lot of textures. Fabric I purchase has something in common but not necessarily used in the same quilt. Occasionally I use a pattern to create a quick quilt. But not a redundant (repetitive) pattern. I would alter it in some way (color). 2. Do you work alone (collaborate on ideas or have someone else do the actual quilting)? If not, please elaborate. Yes, alone. No time to collaborate. Except for once, I do my own. Although, I’m not that interested in the quilting aspect but the design. Hidden circles.

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3. Where do you get your fabric and other supplies? Do you use scraps to create an entire quilt? People that die and quilting stores, QSDS (Quilters Surface Design Symposium in Ohio—with big name quilt teachers 24 hr classes with each teacher you choose), subscriber to hand-dyed fabric, order online. Yes, use scraps to create an entire quilt. 4. Describe how you make a quilt (construction techniques and perhaps related rituals). I spread out fabric in colors. I’m interested in moving them around. With an idea in mind. I compromise on items not available. Draw out sketchy idea. Start on a part of it. Background is piecing not whole cloth. Variety of ethnicity (Africa, Japan), modern fabrics (taffeta), and hand-dyed fabrics. May use the same colors in different quilts (blues). Blues—not matching. Wide variety of blues, even clashing. “The sum is greater than the whole of its parts.” Trying to pull together to make it work. Commonality in putting together fabrics from different cultures. Use rotary cutter and rulers for seam—not other measuring. Machine quilting is a basic grid. When 2/3 finished, I’m already thinking about the next quilt. 5. What are some of the themes, issues, designs, and patterns you have used in your quilts? Themes: Make what doesn’t appear to be compatible work in the quilt-- challenge. No issues. Designs & patterns are circles and geometric shapes. 6. Overall, how would you describe your quilting style? Not consistent or repetitive. Unique. Art quilter. 7. How frequently do you make quilts? I make five or six a year. One or two are baby quilts 48” x 36”. The others six feet wide and proportion length. 8. Do you complete most quilts that you start? There are some incomplete but I intend to finish them. There is one I didn’t finish—it had a feeling of disequilibrium.

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Lynette Johnson Sunday, 7/1/07 at 2:00 p.m. Third Interview: “Reflecting on the meaning” (Seidman, 1998 p. 12) Focus: Making meaning of her quilting Considering how you described your life history and quilting experiences: a. What place does quilting hold in your life? Where does it fit into your life? It’s very important because it’s my major source of self-expression, other than my work. It gives me more of a reflective, softer, counterbalance to my work. Also it gives me new challenges because, for example, the reason I gave up doing that wedding ring quilt was because I wanted to do it without paper piecing, that means you have to worry about biases [Bias is the crosswise grain of the fabric. When sewing a seam on the bias you have to be careful not to stretch it out of shape or it won’t fit properly with adjoining pieces nor be the right size]. Right now at work it’s too stressful for me to do something like that. That would just give me double stress. So I decided I had to think about doing something else. That makes me feel good about doing something. But actually producing it when it takes not only aesthetic intent but true talent to get the biases correct so that when you try to put them together it’s close enough so that it can be easily cropped. I decided that is not what I want to do right now. It would not bring me pleasure. So, it needs to bring you pleasure, definitely? Right now, because I’m still at work. Still moving into a building and trying to get everything settled and get some research done and just a whole lot of things. I don’t need another thing that gives me stress. When you’re not stressed it doesn’t have to bring you as much pleasure? I like the challenge of acquiring new skills, so no. There are times when that’s just basically what I want to do. Right now, I’ve decided is the time for me to do design. Because I can play with all kinds of tools, and pencils, and graph paper and stuff like that. And always I love to combine fabrics. Oh, that would work well right now. So, a typical day when you want to quilt how does that begin? Do you go to work and you come home and quilt? Or when do you decide to quilt?

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It used to be that I could get up early in the morning. I usually, basically, right now can only do it on the weekends. Occasionally, after yoga on Wednesday night I feel blissful enough to be able to do some work for the last three days. But not consistently. How long do you usually quilt? I can quilt three or four hours. But I’ll be doing different things. Since I work on more than one piece. The putting together of the project within the blocks, not the blocks themselves is the most difficult part for me because I don’t really sew. One way of getting around it is doing hand piecing because then you control it a lot more. But, I have hand pieced and used my mouse so much that my right wrist is sort of tentative right now and I don’t want to mess it up anymore. So, I’m only doing machine work now so my skills are limited. But if I’m on a roll I can set a goal and I can meet it. That means it could be three hours, four hours. On a Saturday it could be all day if it’s at that part where I feel comfortable with what I’m doing. The part of doing the quilting I mean being a quilter for me is the challenges because I’m always learning new things. Would you say it occupies a big part of your life? In my mind if not in my actual action. One of my students in architecture showed me some of her pictures of St. Augustine. It got me really excited to work with architecture. I’ll do the pictures and then see how I can implement that in my quilting. So it’s exciting. It’s all going together in my head right now. That’s the best part because I’m not holding myself accountable for it. It’s fantasy right now. Do you use a sketchbook? I don’t sketch. I use a sketchbook but it’s completely geometric. b. Where do you think it will lead you in the future (Seidman, 1998)? Well, it’ll be just like it has been thus far. I’ll work within an area and then I’ll decide that I’ve satisfied my need to understand or experience. Then something new. I’m hoping it will be often motivated by one of the international quilting shows that I’ve been to. I’ll see something that looks interesting and decide I want to try something in that genre or whatever it is. Or take another class with somebody who will make me think about things. Actually, I’m taking a

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course with (quilter, author, and teacher) Libby Lehman. Libby Lehman is going to be here in town. She is? Yes, the twenty-eighth through the twenty-ninth of August. She was here in the spring and there were so many people that wanted to come they had to schedule a second one. So, I’m excited about that. I like to take those kinds of classes with people who really have great skills and who are also good teachers. Because I understand she’s a really good teacher. A lot of adventures. That will include taking a trip to Japan with a quilting group. It won’t be so much for quilting but to visit textile places. Visiting their flea markets. They don’t like antiques as much as we do. So finding some of the traditional items will be inspiring. I have a lot of things I want to do. That’s why I’m starting to do photography more, too. Do you anticipate your quilting work supporting you? Yes, I want to become a professional quilter so I can write off all the stuff that I buy! It doesn’t matter if I can break even or not. As long as I can write that off. Do you see yourself stopping your work as a researcher? Oh, yes, I definitely want to do that. Not because I don’t like it. I want to be selfish now. What kind of time frame do you see on that? Just depends on when the last graduate student...we have PhD students. They don’t always finish when they’re supposed to. Hopefully, the last student will finish in two years. But, maybe, three years I would imagine. The last one. Also, I’ll try to distance more. I take my work too seriously. Your work is stressful? Yes. I don’t think we’ve talked about that much. What exactly do you do? I am the Deputy Director of the Research Center. The Center for Plasma Science and Technology. I manage the grants we bring in. It’s a very busy life.” Anything else about you and the future and quilting?

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Just want to try new stuff. I plan to buy a lot more fabric! And we’re also planning to move out of this house. She looks around. It’s just too large. When you have children it’s fine but when you don’t it’s too large. I’m going to design my studio this time. The house we buy will be based upon his needs for his studio, his photography and my needs for my studio and then we’ll meet in the computer room. We think about that to maximize our self-expression. We think about that a lot. Does that depend on whether you’re working or not, or a professional quilter by then? No, I probably won’t be in an eight to five job then. I might be doing some work on the side. That would just be to keep me going with all my stuff and all my travel. And I’ll go to professional meetings, too. As far as how I spend my day I hope I’ll be able to spend my day far more engrossed in just stuff that I want to do. Have you taught anyone to quilt and do you want to teach anyone? I have taught two of my little granddaughters. I was truly impressed. One lives in London, one in Connecticut. So its not like they are around me a lot. Last summer they both visited at the same time. They actually made two really nice pieces. Each was thirty-six inches. The older one used Asian fabrics, the younger one used kitties. I see your kitties there [Lynette pointed at my tote bag on the floor]. Laurel Burch [name of the designer of the kitties]. She actually had some kitties from Laurel Burch but they were really very nice and I was very proud of her. I have worked with a couple of other people who wanted to who were in school and wanted more of an artistic outlet at that time. But I haven’t taught a class. I don’t really think I’m interested in doing that. Because a lot of times…well, depending, I can’t generalize, but a lot of the classes that I’ve been in people expect to have products and they aren’t really thinking about process or trying to explore their own creativity. Everybody comes out with a bird or something like that. I don’t like those kinds of classes. I would not be interested in teaching those. At the other side there are other kinds of work

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you can do with a couple of students and you’re not doing it for the money you’re doing it because you have something that you want to explore with some other people. I could do that. I don’t really need to. I’m tired of having to always put my things in context of other people, you know, working all these years. So, I really want to be a little selfish. Maybe, I’ll do one of those with Valerie that would be fun. They have this African-American email list that I used to belong to and we made a couple of sets of blocks. Those things don’t work because some people put more work and effort into what they produce and others don’t. Then you get a whole lot of stuff that you really can’t use. Seems like some people will go out and get the cheapest stuff they can find. Part of sharing is letting other people know what I like and what they like. But that didn’t happen so I stopped doing those. I belong to the sit-and-stitch group here in town. But I haven’t been there in awhile. How often do you go? At first, it was supposed to be a contemporary group. A lot of people weren’t contemporary because it was at a convenient time and we were all friends. The purpose for being in it…if I want to be with my friends without quilting, I can do that. Therefore I really would like to learn from other people. I didn’t feel like that was happening. In fact I just ran into the leader of the group and she reminded me that I haven’t gone in awhile. Actually, when quilting becomes my major job then I will have more time probably. Because I like quilting people. Everybody who takes it seriously has something to offer me as far as some insight into user materials. I always find that beneficial. I don’t require that everybody be contemporary. Because I’ve learned how to do hand stitching and all you know and appliqué. I really enjoyed that. But I don’t like to just take a pattern and do somebody else’s pattern. I can get ideas from somebody else’s work but I don’t want to duplicate it. That doesn’t interest me. Anything else you want to say about quilting and your life? It’s amazing that I could survive as many years as I did and not having discovered it. If I hadn’t been in Tallahassee I wouldn’t have discovered quilting. I don’t think. Living up on the east coast although they have some major

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museums in New York. In the city I was always in regular museums, but not in an environment where they had quilts. Now I do go into New York and the shows in New York or out to California. I went last year to a show out in California and I will definitely make sure I go this year. I want to go to the Houston show again. Now that I know about all of these kinds of things because I have the books and all now I can shape my life and my experiences to include those kinds of things. There was a show up in Thomasville, maybe seven or eight years ago that had these older black ladies in their eighties who were quilting. And really had some really nice quilts. Most of them were working by hand and some of the pieces, I mean the concepts, were rather complicated. And I thought that means those brains are still working very well, and I want to be like that. All of my faculties…my circles are hand appliquéd…I hope I can continue to do that. Otherwise I’ll just have to learn how to use a sewing machine more than I do now. So you don’t anticipate retiring from quilting? No, I don’t think so. Not unless physically I lost my sight or something like that. Have you seen Susan Shie [quilter]? She’s almost blind they say. Yes. She has humongous glasses. She was at QSDS when I was there. She was teaching a class. She uses a lot of embellishments in her class. Her students have a lot of fun in there. Lauren Austin, Wednesday, June 13, 2007 11:45 a.m. Interview Questions First Interview: Relevant life history Focus: To learn about the life history of the quilter going back as far as when she first became a quilter. 1. When did you begin making contemporary non-traditional quilts? Probably eighty-five. Was there anything in particular going on in your life? I joined the Foreign Service. I was living in Mexico. I was seeing a lot of contemporary art in the museums there. It was a visually stimulating place. I just

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really liked it. I always made quilts. The people that I learned quilting from did very traditional quilts for missions and church socials, things like that. They were very particular about the designs. But when I was overseas I didn’t have anybody looking over my shoulder while I was making stuff. I also started corresponding with Carolyn Mazloomi and Gwen McGee and that’s when the Women of Color Quilters’ Network kind of started up. They were doing a newsletter and they would send it to me. Carolyn, Gwen too, but especially Carolyn her whole thing was supporting quilters. That’s her agenda. I would send her pictures and she was always so incredibly supportive. I went back to the States in eighty-eight and I was a member of an African American quilt guild. One of the founders was Barbara Patella who was also in the Women of Color Quilters’ guild. That group had meetings twice a month. Everybody was doing very different things. Some people did very traditional stuff, some did abstract, and some did figurative work. And it felt for me like that was the first time I really felt like the way that I did things was right. When you go to a white guild, and I would do this occasionally and everybody would [Lauren tenses up her face and puts her hand on her chest and said], Oh those colors are so bright it’s so interesting. And I would feel kind of like a freak. But the Baltimore group the way I put quilts together a lot of people made them that way. It freed me up from feeling I had to plan every piece and it needs to look exactly how I planned it. With geometrical things you kind of have to do it that way. And I did it but it never really gave me the pleasure that creating something on a wall does. 2. How did you learn to quilt? My grandmother did not quilt. And every time something is written about me they always say my grandmother taught me. Even though that’s not what I said. My grandmother did not quilt she crocheted. And that is why I don’t crochet. When I would crochet my grandmother would take out what I did because it was wrong. Now I won’t crochet because grandmother took what I did out. But she had friends that quilted. The thing was they would gossip while they did it. So I liked to hang around them because I liked the stories. Who was doing what with whom? Things I didn’t really understand but I knew I would someday.

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They allowed me to sew. I didn’t find out ‘til years later that they would pick out what I did later. I was an adult. They let me stitch and praised me. But they took it out later because of my stitches. I kind of like that you know. To give you self-confidence but still have a standard of what is acceptable work. I always felt very loved, very special. Were you an adult when you made your first quilt? I was seven when I made my first quilt. What brought you to making your first quilt at seven? I don’t know. I think I just saw one and I wanted one. My mother was very big on reading. She kept a log of the books we read. And at the end of the summer we had to write book reports for her. I’m sure when I said I wanted to make a quilt she said I’m sure there’s a book in the library that can teach you. 3. What or who are your main influences? My family, people especially young people, I love faces, expressions, hands, people doing things, and reading a lot about art and black people. I guess that’s it. How does your family influence you? Well, I make art about my family. 4. Does anyone else in your family make quilts? No, but they all want one. Or two, or ten. I tell you, I made my brother David a quilt, he’s the baby. Are you the baby or the oldest? I’m the oldest. Oh, okay. My brother David is the youngest, and when he got his first job out of college as a newspaper reporter I made him a king-sized quilt. Black and white and red all over. It was hand quilted, hung down to the floor. You know what happened? [Lauren dropped her voice to a whisper] They were using it as the beach blanket. I do not make any more bed quilts. And I just started talking to him and that was twenty years ago [Lauren laughed]. Well, maybe not twenty years but it feels like it should have been. When I tell that story to quilters they say you didn’t kill him? Where is he I’ll go kill him for you! 5. In what way does your marital status or family composition impact your quilting?

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I have a lot of support from my husband. So that means I can quilt a lot more, because I have that support. And it also gives me subject matter. My figurative work, especially, are pieces that are about our life, about my family. 6. Do you earn your living by making quilts? Yes, I give shows, I do workshops. But I would rather say I make my living making art. Because now that I’ve started to get into doing things in paper its not just quilting. But quilting is the majority. How long have you been doing that? Eight years. 7. What issues (social, artistic) have impacted you as a quilter? Racism impacts everything I do. In the art world we aren’t any less impacted by issues of race, class, and color. People pretend they aren’t racist. Issues of need and scarcity, judgment of others. Anything else? Being a woman. And not being an art school person. I never went to art school. The way that I’ve learned art and the way that I teach art is not the art school model. I don’t believe in or participate in critiques. I know what I need to do. If you don’t know what you need to do you need to think about it. Spending time in meetings is a problem in this life. 8. What is your artistic background? Not going to art school—don’t believe in or participate in critiques. Should know what to do—others will just tell you how to be like them. a. Do you create art in any other medium than quilting? Yes, I do drawing on paper. I’m thinking about doing some stuff in concrete. I want to do some outdoor people. And three-d sculpture with kite people using kite material. I’m making an origami book. I use chains and rusted rebar to create fabric design. b. Has your work been the subject of or included in a published book? Yes, Textural Rhythms by Carolyn Mazloomi. Two pieces, the Piano Man and He Drums Lubolo. Lauren Austin, Tuesday, June 26, 2007 at 11:00 a.m.

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Second Interview: Quilting Experiences Focus: Quilting processes and quilt production 1. How do you come up with your ideas for your quilts? Everything is an inspiration. I spend a lot of time looking at people. I mean I’m nosy [Lauren showed me some images from her sketchbook. One of them was of me with a different hairstyle. Another was of a vase of flowers that she drew when she was getting a pedicure.]. Everyday experiences, history, family history, every day items like saltshakers. Not about creating positive I mages of black people in particular. Surprise element in parenting and teaching. So basically my ideas come from people because I like people better than things. Mostly. What are your influences and/or motivations? I’m ambitious; I want my work to be seen by lots of people, being an art rock star. I want to be in the MOMA and the Schomburg. Why an art rock star? Because it would be cool. My status now, maybe two to three more years of small museums and building a clientele. I like small black museums because they feel like home. The Dillard museum in Ft. Lauderdale is an African American research center part of the county center. There will be five hundred people at an opening. I’d like to be in a large museum and make them sponsor exhibitions in small museums. That to me would be being an art rock star. Because you get to call all of the shots? Right. Give expenses to those in these communities. Our organizations are so dedicated and so poor. Getting paid is important. I don’t work for free. Do you think that separates you from other artists? Other artists’ philosophy on payment may be different. Others may not be dependent on fees. I have a lot of family support. But, my husband’s a teacher. Also, I think art is valued more when it costs. Especially, women’s art. I price by size no matter where it’s sold, plus how it’s quilted, or whether it’s figurative. This is related to credibility. Pricing doesn’t change when displayed at different sites or with different artists.

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Anything else on motivation? Looking at black art and Latin American art in books. 2. Do you work alone (collaborate on ideas or have someone else do the actual quilting)? If not, please elaborate. No, I do it all. It’s important because I’m an egoist. The artist does the work or how is it your work? In collaborations, give notice that someone else quilted it. People should work out the details before enter into a quilting agreement. Anything else on collaborating? I collaborated with Jacob. With my son. It’s on the website. On Anna and Ezra. Which is from photos that Jacob took of his cousins when they first visited, when they were little. And I put the photos on fabric. And I want to do that again. I like that kind of collaboration. I want to do more of that, if he’s willing. 3. Where do you get your fabric and other supplies? Do you use scraps to create an entire quilt? Mostly online. I stopped buying store bought fabric. Just dye. Too much time spent finding what will work. Use only castoff commercial fabric. I get dyes and paints mostly from Dharma Trading Company. I get donations because I sew. I dye most fabrics I get. If it’s a cotton or rayon I can over dye it. I found Churn Dash patterns, they were hand pieced and use Mom’s favorite Flying Geese and Ohio Star. So what I did was I dyed them. When I did piecing, I liked ovals and faces. Dyed areas that look like faces will be emphasized with stitching. They were in the trash and were dirty. Where was this trash can? It was in a street by my house in Syracuse, New York. Anna and Ezra collaborated with my son Jacob on photographs. I used them in my quilt. Do you use scraps to create an entire quilt? Everything is a scrap. I only throw away very small stuff. I’m not in a scarcity mentality if I need more I can make it. Dying fabric helps me to be abundant. When I go to teach a workshop I bring a bin of fabric and I tell them to

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get what they want for their quilt today and for their quilt tomorrow. I want the bin empty when I leave.” 4. Describe how you make a quilt (construction techniques and perhaps related rituals). On the wall, I try different ideas out. I may piece it to make it a certain size. Mostly appliqué. I would call it an uncontrolled appliqué. Not your Baltimore Album quilt. Any related rituals? No rituals its either going to work or not. 5. What are some of the themes, issues, designs, and patterns you have used in your quilts? My family life, celebrations of kids, things that have upset me –like being a black lawyer. Anything else about themes, issues, designs, and patterns? Any shapes? I like ovals. I like faces [Lauren pointed out some ovals that she created by spraying over leaves with bleach]. 6. Overall, how would you describe your quilting style? Uncontrolled Appliqué. I’m not measuring, no really controlled kind of stuff. Heavily quilted then embellished with beads and metal charms. I quilt the background first on figuratives. Developed by experience. When I teach a class I don’t give out handouts or patterns. I don’t want your stuff to look like mine…don’t do my work do your own. Choosing fabric and putting it on the design wall and then step back and look at it, rearranging as necessary. When it looks right I sew everything down. So, no piecing. Then I quilt it, and maybe embellish it. 7. How frequently do you make quilts? I made forty this past year. Since January 2006 --ten large figurative. I usually have about five going on at one time. If your studio was smaller and you didn’t have all of this wall space would you do it differently?

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If there was no room, I would use the doors in my house. I did in Syracuse. 8. Do you complete most quilts that you start? I would say most of them, yes, because this is what I do. I can leave it out until it is finished. When I’m not doing it full-time I have to carve out time they may have to stop if it doesn’t turn out perfect. Because I sacrificed to make it, it better turn out perfect. And if it doesn’t you put it away and then it’s an unfinished. Having a work ethic is important in art, not talking about it, doing it. Lauren Austin, Tuesday, July 10, 2007 at 9:00 a.m. Third Interview: “Reflecting on the meaning”(Seidman, 1998 p. 12) Focus: Making meaning of her quilting Considering how you described your life history and quilting experiences: a. What place does quilting hold in your life? An obsessive one. My husband and I are without kids for the moment. So last night he said let’s go get some coffee or something, just hang out. I said we can go to the studio! That’s not what he had in mind. I always want to go to my studio. I like making stuff. By stuff you mean? Quilting is where it started. You can pretend it’s functional at least in the beginning. Especially, with black women. I draw all of the time. Everywhere I go. Invariably someone will ask what I’ll do with the drawing. Maybe, nothing. Others, especially black women think it’s a waste of time. It’s practice; it’s not a waste of time. Women artists may turn to quilting because of its functionality initially, so they’re not wasting time. So you can just pretend it really is functional even when it’s not. Urge to art can be decorating your house. Males can put all of their energy into art. Women are siphoning off by doing other art related things such as makeup, house décor, taking care of others. If you had not gone into quilting would you have done a different art form full-time?

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No, for the same reason. When I was in high school I drew very curvilinear trees with perhaps leaves and one bird at the top. My eleventh grade teacher told me I had no artistic talent. And so, I stopped drawing and turned to sewing. I made patchwork skirts. I made my first quilt at seven and gave away bed quilts. Made king sized bed quilts—like making large quilts. Wouldn’t have become an artist if not a quilt artist. Because of that experience. I had a supportive family – but not as a priority. Mother’s emphasis was on earning a living “food on table,” “roof over head.” She was divorced and widowed. Mom’s education kept the family off the street. Dad didn’t want Mom to work (physician’s wife). Mom didn’t care what others thought and continued to work. She bought me good art supplies without me having to ask. One, we like what you do (art), two, better have a way to make a living and uplift the race. I ended up going to law school because it fulfilled number two but it inhibited my ability to do art. I made quilts all the time except during law school. I read “all the time” or you would fail during class periods when asked to explain cases—whether you understood them or not. Still have my license but I don’t practice (civil rights—helped lots of people). Now I can get to the people a different way that is better for me. Learned from seeing Dad dedicated to work and relationships suffered. I had 250 active cases at one time. Working eighty to ninety hours a week. Clients were approaching me at restaurants. My husband said no because of the detriment to our family relationship. I became a professor but continued with the work ethic from being in practice. Other professors said, slow down. My husband got me a studio --no phone and all of my sewing stuff was there. I made my first quilt with people in them. I wasn’t happy with drawn or cut out people then began [from] 1996-1999 Human rights commission, three years law school (taught), two to three years at a community folk art center at Syracuse University. Then quit to do art full-time. I realized that I couldn’t do what I wanted to do unless I did it full-time. Women taking classes, copying others, trying to find their style. Did your 11th grade art teacher know about your quilting?

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No. Where does it fit into your life? Where doesn’t it? b. Where do you think it will lead you in the future (Seidman, 1998)? Number one, to the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Number two; write a book about making art with boys of all ages. Set-up and clean up gets too much attention in schools and camps. I made art books with campers. They cherished them because it’s personal. Photo memory quilt in adult and school programs (Oakridge). Number three; continue to do camp –one week per summer from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. This year I will focus on Romare Bearden. I like self-expression and am bored with reproduction. When at the Folk Art Center I worked with Joshua Stuart, a self-taught painter, and got him a show. He had 700 paintings in his basement. He worked as a janitor during the day. He was a married man. He painted scenes of black life. Not wanting to be influenced by other artists he didn’t look at other artists. He never sold paintings; he made prints and sold them. During the show twenty of his paintings were stolen. He wouldn’t sell them. School programs- kids from intensive reading class to do an art book program. Related to culture and self-expression documenting who you are. Working with the Black students, students that draw compulsively and then the bad students. I tell the students that I asked for those that will be open to something different. What is your main focus? Making quilts. Quilting in camp or in school programs? No, not enough time in a one week camp. Not enough time in school. How do you see quilting passed on? A drop in community center for art with lockers for students to store their work. Informal—not classes. Include that as part of my plans for the future. Doris George Manning, Thursday, August 9, 2007 at 10:30 a.m. First Interview: Relevant life history

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Focus: To learn about the life history of the quilter going back as far as when she first became a quilter. 1. When did you begin making contemporary non-traditional quilts? In 1974. Not traditional by hand. 2. How did you learn to quilt? In the 1960’s, Mama (her Great Aunt who raised her) showed me how to quilt when I was under 10. Pieces of pants were sewn together. I stopped when Mama died in 1966. Picked it back up when Anna Lupkiewicz showed me in 1974. Anna Lupkiewicz was on the Older American Council. I was the only Black. I wasn’t an older person then. We did traditional quilting similar to the rail fence (pattern). 3. What or who are your main influences? Mama, my Great Aunt, in the 1960’s (because of the quilting). 4. Does anyone else in your family make quilts? Nobody (said with a sigh). They don’t value quilting and don’t appreciate my quilting. My son Paul might try if he could sew on the machine. I have tried to interest them. 5. In what way does your marital status or family composition impact your quilting? I’m a single mom with four kids and eleven grandkids. It had no impact. One of my sons thinks it’s a waste to buy big pieces of fabric and then cut it up to make something. The more he says it the more fabric I buy. 6. Do you earn your living by making quilts? No. If not, how do you earn a living and do you have any interest in making a living with your quilts? Yes, I’d like to make a living with my quilts. I get SSI (Social Security Income), work as a Foster Grandparent at the Boys and Girls Club and I’m the resident manager at Oak Park. I tried to teach quilting here (Oak Park apartments) when I first moved here. The manager paid for templates (Plexiglas) to be made—but the residents didn’t want to quilt or learn to quilt. They were not interested.

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7. What issues (social, artistic) have impacted you as a quilter? Slavery and the Bible. Making slavery and Bible quilts using preplanned patterns. I use the book Facts and Fabrications by Barbara Brackman to create blocks using the patterns but with my own fabrics. I want to make a cake quilt because I like to quilt [cook]. I envisioned a cake shaped quilt but did not think that was what she meant. What will it look like? It will look like a quilt (I understood. A themed fabric quilt.). 8. What is your artistic background? None. I like to draw flowers, trees, and petals to make appliqués. Also stems and leaves. e. Do you create art in any other medium than quilting? Draw on paper. Drawing flowers. f. Has your work been the subject of or included in a published book? No. But it was in the courthouse at the University of Florida in women’s studies. When was that? In the 1990’s. I want to exhibit my newer quilts. Doris George Manning, Saturday, September 1, 2007 at 11:30 a.m. Second Interview: Quilting Experiences Focus: Quilting processes and quilt production 1. How do you come up with your ideas for your quilts? I look in books, common things, kitchen items, utensil, cookie cutters, shapes. Quilt stencils can be versatile and used for more than quilts. What are your influences and/or motivations? Reading books. Mother showed me and I want to keep up with it. I made a quilt for her but didn’t send it because she said she doesn’t like quilts. Quilting in general. Other quilters, all Black quilters. Like traditional patterns. My life goal is to do an Underground Railroad series. I’m looking for fabric similar to that in the book Facts & Fabrications [by Barbara Brackman]. Looking for help with choosing colors. Will ask the quilters in my guild.

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2. Do you work alone (collaborate on ideas or have someone else do the actual quilting)? If not, please elaborate. Yes, I can’t find anyone who wants to work with me. Why do you want to collaborate? Because it’d be more fun, others’ ideas on my own quilt. 3. Where do you get your fabric and other supplies? Do you use scraps to create an entire quilt? From different quilt shops. Quilters give me donations. I also purchase from the guild the major portions I need. Doris answers the phone at this point. When she finishes a brief conversation she tells me that someone called to ask if she would teach quilting to seniors at the senior center. She wants to. 4. Describe how you make a quilt (construction techniques and perhaps related rituals). I get all my pieces and a big table and go in the community room. I lay the pieces out, look at it, step back and look at it on the table. Then I cut out pieces and start. I use rulers, patterns, ironing board, iron, starch, pencils, pencil sharpener to trace pattern. I read the Daily Word and say prayer. I work 4-5 hours. I try to work everyday. Not Sunday. No washing, ironing, etc. [got from her parents]. No quilting but I might look at it. 5. What are some of the themes, issues, designs, and patterns you have used in your quilts? Jacob’s Ladders and Dresden Plates are my two favorites. Slavery, Bible, hearts, and flowers. 6. Overall, how would you describe your quilting style? Traditional patterns, fabric (older prints), and hand pieced. 7. How frequently do you make quilts? Takes awhile. Ten big quilts finished each year. Fifteen-twenty pillows, 250 dishwashing liquid aprons, potholders, and want to start making fabric postcards. Making the dishwashing liquid aprons for Taking Off Pounds Sensibly to go in conference grab bags.

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8. Do you complete most quilts that you start? Yes. Used to didn’t. Before I was motivated but not grounded and rooted in it. But now I’m finishing. I’m bound and determined to finish. Doris George Manning, Saturday, September 29, 2007 at 12:00 p.m. Third Interview: “Reflecting on the meaning”(Seidman, 1998 p. 12) Focus: Making meaning of her quilting Considering how you described your life history and quilting experiences: a. What place does quilting hold in your life? Where does it fit into your life? It’s fourth place but during the week it’s first place. Number one are my children, number two is cooking, number three is church, number four is quilting, and number five is volunteer jobs. I’m just now putting it in perspective since I’ve been sick I’ve been reorganizing my life to make it better. I quilt everyday now versus every other week. It fits in daily after breakfast and I read my daily devotional. I spend six-seven hours daily now. I didn’t before. Only 3-4 hours weekly before. Quilting is very important in my life. I want to be more productive. Why? Because I’m getting older and want to get more done. It takes longer because of hand quilting. And I enjoy doing it. I’m focused on three things- African prints, Kwanzaa, children’s quilts & small items. I can’t picture myself not quilting. I’m praying for one of my daughters to do it. She likes fabric and decorating and cooking. Family is coming for Thanksgiving. I will cook to order (whatever her kids ask for). b. Where do you think it will lead you in the future (Seidman, 1998)? Not to be famous but known as a Florida Black quilter. Someone knowing that I quilt and have been doing it since 1974 by hand. Anna Lupkiewicz was my quilt teacher. My quilts will be in museums, libraries, quilt shops. I want people to know that I do quilting. Would you do commissions?

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Yes, starting at $500 because of fabric costs. But I wouldn’t charge less if the fabric cost less. Would be twin-sized by hand only. May be a machine border. Would love to teach others starting with children. I do quilting with the Boys and Girls Club. It was in the newspaper. The Guardian is a Black newspaper. I want to see progress with the Bible quilts and the African quilts. Unless I can’t work on it for health reasons. I feel a sense of urgency. I want them photographed and displayed in the city or county commission (offices) for a period of time. I’ll sell my quilts with a good offer.

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APPENDIX F ONLINE SURVEY RESULTS

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REFERENCES

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Arnett, W., Beardsley, J., Arnett, P., Livingston, J., Beardsley, J., & Arnett, P., et al. (2002). The Quilts of Gee's Bend. Atlanta: Tinwood Books.

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Brackman, B. (1997). Quilts from the Civil War. Lafayette, California: C&T Publishing.

Brunson, J. E. (1996). Patterns of Community: Quiltmaking in Florida During the Depression Era. Florida State University Editor). , 238.

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Cameron, D., Powell, R. J., Wallace, M., Hill, P., Gouma-Peterson, T., & Roth, M., et al. (1998). Dancing at the Louvre. Berkeley: University of California Press.

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Hazard, P. J. (1993). Comforts of Home: African-American Quilts in Tucson, Arizona. The University of Arizona Editor). , 174.

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Wahlman, M. (2001). Signs and Symbols: African Images in African American Quilts. New York: Tinwood Books.

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Qadira Davidson is currently an elementary art teacher in a Title I elementary school in Tallahassee, Florida. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree, in Fine Arts, from Florida A&M University. Later she earned a Masters degree from Florida State University in Art Education. Her research interests there included multicultural art education and student self-esteem.

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