I made it to quilters guild meeting on Monday, but it has taken me this long to make it upstairs to my Mac to get the photos posted. It was a good meeting with a very interesting speaker. See below.
Sylvia Stephens was our guest speaker on Monday. Her mother, Mozelle Benson, a National Endowment of the Arts, National Heritage Award Fellow, passed away in 2012. But Sylvia had been fortunate to study quilting under her mother as her apprentice. Sylvia spoke to us about her mother's quilting techniques and about being her student. She also brought several of Mrs. Benson's quilts, as well as some of her own, to show us.
Mozelle Benson, quilter and National Heritage Award Fellow
Mozelle Benson's quilts are works of art with a Gees Bend flavor to them. She had her own way of putting quilts together, which I will not take time to explain here.
Maude Wahlman, a quilt scholar, says of Benson's work: "Her quilts are the visual equivalent of jazz or blues. She will take a basic pattern and then do variations on it just like a musician will do with a jazz piece."
The daughter of a sharecropper, Mozelle Benson spent most of her life in Opelika, Alabama. She learned quilting from her mother, who taught Mozelle that quilts can not only provide much needed warmth to a family in a drafty share-croppers cabin, but can also be works of individual and artistic beauty.
To read more about Mrs. Benson's life, go here.
*****
Now for Show-and-Tell
My computer is being such a pain in the derriere, that I'm tempted to stop here. But I won't. Below are a few choice tidbits from Monday's show-and-tell, all by our guild members.
First, since this is my blog, I'm going to show you my FINISHED "Little Pink Houses" quilt. Well, almost finished. I still have to do the hanging sleeve and label.
You may know that I'm not a big fan of t-shirt quilts. But this one was so well done that I thought I would include it here. It was made by my guild's husband-and-wife quilting team of Art and RuthAnn Abbs for their granddaughter, who chose the blue background fabric without knowing that her grandparents were making the quilt.
This is my favorite block from the t-shirt quilt.
A crazy purse
A charming mini (foreground); a beautiful Cathedral Windows in shades of green (background)
A wedding quilt
Our speaker Sylvia Stephens' Presidential Quilt in commemoration of the inauguration of President Barack Obama
A quilter is always prepared should conditions turn chilly.
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On 05/13/2015, Barbara Anne said ...
What an interesting post and I look forward to learning more about Mrs. Benson. I love the example used by Ms. Wahlman that her quilts are like jazz!
Thank you for dealing with the annoyances that arose as you tried and succeeded in posting the Show and Tell pictures. Great eye candy as usual! Love your Pink Houses, the soccer block, the Obama tribute quilt, and the cozy quilt in the last picture - but all are quite wonderful!
Wishing you well, my friend.
Hugs!
On 05/14/2015, Sandy said ...
In today's quilting world I think we've tried to have our quilts turn out so perfectly that we've lost the charm of the older, antique quilts. I love when I see the gathers in a piece to "make it fit" or maybe a tuck here and there. And there always seems to be that fabric that I would never put in a quilt that makes that quilt work!!! I will always be drawn to these older works of art. Sometimes perfect just isn't right. Just my opinion but it's mine and I'm sticking with it. Love your photos.
On 05/14/2015, Linda said ...
Thank you for acquainting me with Mozelle Benson. I look forward to following the address and learning more about her and her work. Your pink houses turned out so lovely. 6 quilts entered in one show is quite an accomplishment. What fun! Take lots of photos.
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