Friday check in: two quilt history programs

I'm composing this post on the computer while my iPad is tuned into a Zoom committee meeting.  Though we gripe about the screen time, Zoom is an easier way to meet than a conference call. (My first experience with conference calls was the White House Conference on Library and Information Sciences Task Force back in the early 1990's.  A dozen people on a phone call meant prefacing comments with your name, and a lot of pauses while people tried to figure out who should talk next.) 

I attended two quilt programs by Zoom this week. 

On Tuesday the Winnetka-Northfield Public Library hosted "Faith Ringgold: The Story Quilts and Paintings" with art historian Jeff Mishur.   

NOTE:  all images are my photos of Jeff's slides. 

Two paintings and a soft sculpture.

Tar Beach is both a quilt and a book.  It was the 1992 Caldecott Honor winner.  

Tar Beach closeup.

The "story quilts" have the text written in the quilt borders. 

# # # # # # #

On Thursday the Illinois State Museum hosted "Tales from the Vault" featuring quilts from their collection.     Again, note that these photos are my snapshots of the slides.

Lucinda Taylor Conkling was widowed at 24  and had to send her daughter to relatives "back east." She made the quilt so the daughter could remember her.                        I looked her up on Ancestry. The 1870 census shows her living with the Taylors (her parents?) with a daughter, also Lucinda, age 4, and a daughter Philena, age "4/12".   I couldn't find Lucinda Jr. but did find a death record for Philena in Scipio, NY, in 1891.  I also found a Civil War pension record for Lucinda Sr. naming the husband as Philo.   Now I'm interested in learning how the quilt got back to Illinois.

Edge triangles are red and white in the same block.

The quiltmaker solicited signatures from individuals and businesses. The blacksmith declined to make a donation.  She acknowledged his stinginess with this upside down horseshoe so "the luck runs out." 

Albert Small commented on his wife's sewing. She said if he could do better he was welcome to try.  He did and his magnificent hexagon quilts are in the ISM collection. This is the fourth.  The large photo shows the regular-sized quilting stitches and the teeny-tiny hexies.

One of the quiltmaker's sons fought for the Union and the other for the Confederacy. Pieces of both of their uniforms are in this Log Cabin.

The colors in this Amish nine-patch look contemporary.

A husband and wife effort. The stars are smaller than a hand.

Every quilt has a story! 

 P.S.  Faith Ringgold was honored at the 2015 AAUW National Convention

The AAUW Foundation staffer said, "Nann, you need to meet her! She's a quilter!" but my first thought was, "She won the Caldecott!"  

Linking up with other bloggers at Finished or Not Friday