February 2014

NEEDLES AND THREADS QUILTERS GUILD QUILT TALK January/February 2014 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Needles and Threads Quilters Guild Officers Anita Scott, Pre...
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NEEDLES AND THREADS QUILTERS GUILD

QUILT TALK January/February 2014 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Needles and Threads Quilters Guild Officers Anita Scott, President Cynthia Varnado, Vice President Gloria Scott, Secretary Sheila Bell, Treasurer Laverne Nichols, Financial Secretary Edie Warren, Sergeant-AtArms

Happy New Year everyone! Hope everyone made it through our deep freeze. Staying warm was a challenge if you had to venture out, but thank God for the “heat wave.” Since we were stuck in the house due to Mother Nature, I’m sure we will have some beautiful quilts for our quilt show in October. So keep on sewing, everyone. Well, 2014 is going to be very exciting for us. Our programs for this year will be interesting thanks to Cynthia. Saturday’s recycling/repurposing class was so much fun and interesting, and we had a full class. We made a small ironing board and a pin cushion. Thank you, Cynthia. Can’t wait for the other 2nd Saturday programs. Sorry if you missed this one, but we have more things to come. Just remember the next 2nd Saturday in February at 9:00 am, we will begin making the “Grand Slam Quilt”. All information for this quilt will be given out at the January business meeting. Membership dues are due January 25th or before. If you have any changes to your information for the 2014 directory, let Membership know so your information is correct in the directory. I would like to welcome all of our new members to Needles and Threads Quilters Guild and jump on in. Come join us on Tuesdays and Thursdays and quilt until you hearts delight. Anita Scott

Happy Birthday NTQG: (1992-2014) Needles and threads Quilters Guild began on February 22, 1992. We’d like to express appreciation to our founding members for their vision, leadership and the love of quilting that has been passed on to us: Julia Howard, Mildred Calender, Bessie Blake, Charlene Byrd, Juanita Graham, Mildred Johnson, Jewel Dooley, Ethel Harrelson.

January Birthdays: Edith Beslisle, Nathalie Dixon, Mayme Howell, Martha J. King, Loretta Pope, Nikki Whittingham, Loretta Williams February Birthdays: Doris M. Barnes, Ruth Bradley, Lynne V. Reid, LaSheral Smith

MEMBER NEWS Library News: Just a reminder that the library is open 30 minutes before and after the fourth Saturday business meetings. Books can be checked out for one month. If you need them longer, re-sign them out for one month. Please take the time to check your shelves, stacks and other special places you have for library books, magazines and book covers that belong to the guild. This way all members will be able to enjoy all items in the library. Suggestions for the library are always welcome. See any committee member: Dorothy Battle, Jeanne Chaney, Roelisia Hicks, Marva King, Nikki Whittingham. Donations of Door Prizes are always needed for monthly Guild meetings. See Catherine Mathews. Block of the Month winner was JoAnn Gibson. Congratulations and happy quilting!

Welcome New Members! Clorissa Keyes

Our WebMistress, Erma Johnson would love to hear from NTQG members who would like to be featured on our website, www.CHICAGONTQG.com. If you have not been interviewed for our “Meet the Members” section, please contact Erma by email ([email protected]), or by phone, (773/874-6114).

20105 Lake Park Drive Lynwood, IL 60441-1550 Phone # 708/699-7905 [email protected]

Augustine Harris 14230 Kenwood Ave. Dolton, IL 60419 Phone # 708/646-6424 [email protected]

It is Membership renewal time! The deadline for dues is Saturday, January 25, 2014. Yearly dues are $20.00. You can pay on or before this meeting, and your name will be printed in the membership directory which is published once a year. The new directories and membership cards will be distributed at our February Guild meeting. All dues must be paid on or before the January meeting. Any payments after the January meeting members’ info will be printed only in the newsletter as an addendum. Anyone who has not filled out a new Membership application, please pick one up and return it to the sign-in table before the meeting is over. (We are updating our records.)

Patricia Harper 501 E. 32nd Street Chicago, IL 60616 Phone: 773/719-0041 [email protected]

Jackie Lipscomb [email protected]

2014 NTQG Show Theme: “Keepers of the Cloth”

2014 NTQG Program Calendar All activities occur on the 2nd Saturday of the month except for November. The November activity occurs on the 4th Saturday (after Thanksgiving). Jan. 11th Recycle/Repurposing --- We will make pincushions, and other items from felted wool, old ashtrays and other surprises. Feb. 8th Grand Salon Quilt from the Tula Pink book. You will need a light background fabric, and we will fussy cut sections from fabrics that have large prints or patterns. Mar. 9th Baby Quilts for Stroger Hospital.

2014 NTQG Program Calendar (cont’d.) April 12th 2 Color Quilt. Find 2 colors that you like together. We will make the blocks at this session. May 10th 2 Color Quilt –Assemble and finish the 2 Color Quilt. June 14th Ebony Love will teach “Binding Quilts by Machine” from 9-12, and give a lecture, ‘Tales from the Backside’ from 12-1 pm. July 12th Pillowcases for LaRabida Children’s Hospital August 9th Quillow – A quillow is a quilt that folds into a pillow. It is a tradition that is taught as a Community Service workshop about every other year. Sept. 13th Learn How Sessions Oct. 11th Get ready for the Quilt Show. Bring your project to work on and get some help if needed. Nov. 22nd Baby blankets for Stroger Hospital, and adult hats for Provident Hospital. (Supply lists and any other information will be available at the meeting before the workshop. Contact Cynthia Varnado for additional information.)

Quilting Inspiration: Sewing Sayings We Love: (from AllFreeSewing’s Pinterest board)

“Skip the math. Buy the bolt.” “Don’t get mad. Get Fabric.” “I love you so much, I’d use my best fabric on you.” “Monday, if it wasn’t for you I’d still be sewing.” “I play with scissors for the shear fun of it.” “Who you callin’ a fat quarter?” “If I were a sewing machine part, I would be: a) The Balance Wheel, because I’ve got it together; b) The Presser Foot, because I know how and when to put my foot down; c) The Bobbin, because I’m always getting lost. d) The Stitch Width Regulator, because my size always seems to fluctuate…”

The Underground Railroad Quilt Codes: Two Views

(“Underground Railroad” quilt by Laverne Nichols, completed 4/22/05)

A few years ago, I read a children’s book called Clara and the Freedom Quilt, by Cathleen R. Bailey. It was beautifully illustrated and made me, as an African American quilter, proud to know that someone was clever enough to devise a code to help slaves escape to freedom in the north. The question of where the underground quilt codes originated haunted me every time I learned a little more about the subject. I marveled that slaves who had worked all day in the fields could create neat and colorful quilt masterpieces by candlelight at night. And seeing as though many slaves were issued clothing only once a year at Christmas, where would they get extra fabric for piecing quilts? Ironically, it never occurred to me to question whether Quilt Codes were even factual until I stumbled upon a few websites that pulled away the proverbial wool from my history-loving eyes. I was pretty indignant at first. “See, they’re always trying to steal the pride and dignity from the accomplishments of black people,” I was thinking. My husband, a Bible teacher, has trained me and whoever else listens to him to question whatever you hear. “Be a Berean,” he says all the time. “Search the scriptures for yourself to see if what I’m saying is true.” That’s why Acts 17:11 resonates in my mind all the time. Is there historical, factually verifiable proof that slaves and Underground Railroad conductors ferried people to freedom aided by the use of quilt blocks that were actually code maps? Or is this another myth designed to make us feel smug that our African Americans ancestors had secrets skills of which the white public was ignorant? Although I have no money riding on either horse, I must admit that it was an enjoyable challenge to research both sides of this controversial topic.

First Opinion Hidden in Plain View (by Jacqueline Tobin and Raymond Dobard) tells the fascinating story of a friendship, a lost tradition, and an incredible discovery, explaining for the first time how enslaved men and women encoded messages within quilt patterns that helped fugitives navigate their escape along the Underground Railroad.” In 1994, Historian Jacqueline Tobin met African American quilter Ozella McDaniel Williams amid piles of

beautiful handmade quilts in the Old Market Building of Charleston, South Carolina. With the admonition to “write this down”, Williams began to tell a story that had been passed along from generation to generation in her family. But as soon as she began, Ozella stopped, informing Tobin that she would learn the rest when she was “ready.” During the years it took for William’s narrative to unfold – and as the friendship and trust between the two women grew – Tobin enlisted Raymond Dobard, an art history professor and well-known African American quilter himself, to help unravel the mystery. Part adventure and part history, Hidden in Plain View traces the origin of Ozella’s Code from Africa to the Carolinas, and shows how three people from completely different backgrounds pieced together one amazing American story.” (Thanks Laverne Nichols, for submitting this book review.)

Second Opinion “Underground Railroad Quilts? (Source via worldquilts.quiltstudy.org/americanstory/quiltsare/undergroundrailroad) In recent years, one of the most powerful quilt myths to emerge has centered on the role quilts may have played in the Underground Railroad. Centered on an empowering account of enslaved African Americans who ingeniously stitched codes into quilts to signal those seeking freedom in the North toward safe haven, this gratifying story has stirred controversy within the world of quilt scholarship. The Quilt Code is grounded in oral tradition, passed down in at least one family. Yet no historians have identified any additional evidence to help substantiate the use of the code. The use of other signals, such as whistles, songs, and lanterns, is more widely documented in additional oral and historical accounts. As Barbara Brackman has noted, individuals remembered using quilts in escapes, but they were used to warm fugitives or protect them from view. Because no additional historical evidence supports the use of quilts as a code for runaway slaves heading north, quilt historians consider it a folk story from an individual family. Despite this, educators, journalists, public history organizations, and others have embraced it as truth, because it’s the kind of story members of the public like to believe. It stars creative quiltmakers and courageous enslaved individuals, and results in freedom from this brutal institution. Yet it presents an overly simplified view of the complexities of the Underground Railroad and slavery that is not grounded in historical evidence.” For further study: Giles R. Wright, “Critique of Hidden in Plain View: The Secret Story of Quilts and the Underground Railroad, New Pathways into Quilt History (http://historiccamdencounty.com) Leigh Fellner, “Betsy Ross Redux: the Underground Railroad “Quilt Code” (http://ugrrquilt.hartcottagequilts.com) Facts and Fabrications: Unraveling the History of Quilts and Slavery by Barbara Brackman (9 projects, 20 blocks) Barbara Brackman, “Fact Sheet on the Quilt Code” Stitched From the Soul: Slave Quilts from the Antebellum South, by Gladys-Marie Fry Marsha MacDowell, “Quilts and Their Stories: Revealing a Hidden History,” Uncoverings 21 (2000) 155-166. Podcast: The Underground Railroad Quilt Controversy: Looking for the ‘Truth’ Laurel Horton

Book Reviews

(Submitted by Jeanne Chaney)

Quilts without Corners. Cheryl Phillips (2000). Grand Junction, CO: Colorado Printing Company. 48 pages. This is a book of medallions or “circle quilts”. The author suggests using them as tablecloths, Christmas tree skirts, baby blankets and the center of a bed quilt among other uses. Selecting fabric carefully and cutting accurately are the keys to success in creating the six circle designs. Stripes, directional prints and pattern repeats should be avoided. For accurate cutting quilters have a choice of using two wedge rulers. Large full color photos show the stunning designs representing nature as well as Native American motifs. Clear step-bystep directions and templates are provided for each design. Quilting Curves. Vikki Pignatelli (2001) Lincolnwood, IL: The Quilt Digest Press. 141 pages. By first making a 16 ¾” x 14” Spring Tulip Quilt Top, Pignatelli provides you with the fundamentals into a new way of quilting— topstitch piecing applique’. According to the author, “The technique combines surface piecing with applique’ layering using freezing paper templates and foundation stabilizer.” Following her specific directions, she then presents seven easy patterns and templates for quilts that appear “like a landscape artist pointing stroke after stroke onto canvas.” To experiment with quilting beyond the blocks, this technique is worth a try.

NEEDLES AND THREADS QUILTERS GUILD

Meetings held every 4th Saturday of the month except November and December at Fernwood Park Field House

Fernwood Park Field House 10438 S. Wallace Avenue Chicago, Il 60625 312/ 747-6132

Visit NTQG on the Web: www.CHICAGONTQG.COM