This One

64684501_10218943144559681_5169826836837826560_n

“Queens Through the Ages” 
by Edna B. Turner
Quilted by Lena Colley

64241924_10218943144719685_8012213133651214336_o

This quilt touched me, and I kept going back to it and studying it. The top three fourths of the quilt depicts various African queens, such as Queen Nandi of Zululand in the photo above, and gives brief bio information.

But it’s the bottom fourth of the quilt that really tugged my heart and my tear ducts.

62596837_10218943145639708_4050519262412931072_o

63757946_10218943145319700_6027004104692203520_o
On September 15, 1963, four little girls were in their Sunday school class at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. None in the class nor in the church were aware that evil men had placed a bomb at the church for no other reason than that they hated the people within because of their skin color. The bomb exploded, killing Addie May Collins (14), Carol Denise McNair (11), Cynthia Wesley (14),  and Carole Rosamond Robertson (14). The four blocks at the bottom of this quilt honor these children and lift them up as queens. 

64389435_10218943146119720_2931186781472686080_oHere is an excerpt from the Atlanta Constitution, describing the aftermath of that tragedy, reprinted below"

“A Negro mother wept in the street Sunday morning in front of a Baptist church in Birmingham. In her hand she held a shoe, one shoe, from the foot of her dead child. We hold that shoe with her."

Above photos by Judy Cloe

This post was migrated from the old blog. To see the comments on the original post, CLICK HERE. To add a new comment, click "Post a Comment", below.

On 06/19/2019, Barbara Anne said ...

What a touching and lovely memorial to the Queens of history and to the four young girls from the 16th Street Baptist Church. I was 12 years old when that tragic bombing happened and I remember it well.

Hugs, my friend.

On 06/20/2019, Judy Cloe said ...

Thanks for sharing this on your blog. This quilt touched me as well. Edna Turner who made this quilt won the Viewer's Choice award two years ago. I didn't see that quilt in person because I was away at the time of the show. I think it was her family tree in folk art style.
I love that African Queen pattern and intend to make a quilt using it.

On 06/24/2019, Pat said ...

A beautiful memorial. Thanks for sharing. Lots of love and caring went into this.
-----

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Getting There

Image
The new Blackberry Creek is getting close to completion. Thank you, Jed for all your work. I've finally found a minute to get still and learn to post. Doesn't seem too difficult. When all the old posts and photos get transferred, we'll start working on the layout.  Today, I'm going to attempt to scale the stairs and do some work in the sewing room. I'm falling father and farther behind on my schedule to get things ready for the June 2026 quilt show.
Read more

Book Talk

Image
To celebrate getting the border sewn on to my millefiori quilt, I decided to read a book--all the way through without stopping to sew anything. And I picked just the right one: Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano. If I had wanted to put it aside to sew, I don’t think I could have. This is the best book I’ve read for at least a year. It’s one of those stories that almost reads itself. You don’t feel like you reading but just enjoying an enthralling story. The pages fly by, and you’ve finished the book way before you’re ready to leave those wonderful but broken characters. The main character, Eddie (Edward) Adler, at the age of 12, survives an airliner crash. The crash claims 191 lives, including his parents and older brother. For the next six years, Edward struggles to carve out a place for himself in a world without his family. The story is heartbreaking and at the same time uplifting.  If you’re looking for a good book to read to usher in Autumn, I recommend this one highly...
Read more

Catching Up

Image
This is my new granddog Ozzy. Daughter Andy recently adopted him. He initially showed up at Jesse's girlfriend's house, and after trying unsuccessfully to find his owner, she made him at home. But having one dog, two children, three cats, and a full-time job already, Ozzy (his name was Chip at the time) became too much for her. So Andy took him in. At first she was sure she had made a mistake. Not having ever owned a dog that she was responsible for (we had dogs from time to time when she was a child), she was sure she had bitten off more than she could chew. But things are settled down, and Andy and Ozzy have bonded. They visit me frequently, usually on Saturday to watch the Bama game--or in the case of last Saturday, to watch movies as there was no Bama game. Ozzie is a very good dog and appears to be well cared for. He had not been snipped, but he has been now. And the vet gave him a clean bill of health. As of yesterday, all the blocks, all 120 of them, are finished fo...
Read more