African-American Quilts
 

I've recently been researching Dimensional quilts and came across the, "Pine Cone Quilt," an African-American design. Well, that got me off on a tangent on AA quilts. Does anyone collect them, make them, just admire them? What are some of the distinctive characteristics of an AA quilt?

~ Cindy

I seem to recall the quilts that were made to help escaped slaves go north to freedom when I think of AA quilts. So many of the quilt blocks are the basic staples of American quilting.

Rachel Kincy Clarke taught a class in La Conner, Washington one year on clothing, and she is a very interesting lady, maybe try to seek out her info as I think she would be very knowledgeable on this.

I know that there is a whole myth/story about the AA underground railroad quilts...that there were secret messages in the quilt blocks. I'm not sure how true that is, but it's interesting, none the less. I really like the Pine Cone, or Pine Burr quilt block. I also love the primitive, pictorial quilts that were done by slaves. The African influence is also interesting.

~ Cindy

Not sure if this is what you mean, but have you seen Eleanor Burns "Underground Railroad" quilt? Has a bit of history to go along with each block and I just love her instructions. Here's the one I made.[ATTACH=CONFIG]474608[/ATTACH]

One African quilt comes to my mind......Coffee tree quilt given to Queen Victoria if my memory serves me right............calla

I've seen exhibits of the Gee's Bends quilts. They're so graphic and inventive. I have a kit or 2 to make, but I haven't made them up yet.

I also made one of these. I did this in the 6 inch blocks, and it is my favorite wall hanging.

I do know that many AA quilts will tell a story of the family's history. With each block showing a different happening, they are very interesting.

Try these four quilters: NedRa Bonds, Sonié Ruffin, Sherry Whetstone and Michele David.

The New England Quilt Museum (NEQM) had an exhibition of African-American quilts a few years ago (Oct 21-Dec 31, 2010) entitled "African-American Quilts Today: A Celebration of Motherhood, Sisterhood, & the Matriarchy". Guest curator was Dr. Pearlie M. Johnson and the above named quilters were featured.

http://www.nequiltmuseum.org/past-exhibitions.html (far bottom of the page includes the promo blurb and one photo)