HAND STITCHED INTO HISTORY
Marjorie Diggs Freeman was so inspired by Barack Obama during the Democratic National Convention that she immediately began to design a quilt.
The fabric artist had not been as moved by any political candidate since John F. Kennedy --and that was more than four decades ago.
So the 72-year-old retired school principal set out to frame her feelings with a patchwork of red-white-and-blue fabric and hand-stitched stars.
That work is part of "Quilts for Obama: Celebrating the Inauguration of our 44th President," an exhibition that will hang through Feb. 1 at the Historical Society of Washington.
The display, with 44 new works from 44 African-American artists, celebrates the historic thread that quilts weave through many families -- with their folksy stories and cherished fabric of years gone by.
One of the quilts in the display, exhibit organizers say, is from Carrie Nelson, the oldest member of Michelle Obama's family.
Sauda Zahra, another Durham resident, also has a quilt in the exhibit.
Freeman, a member of the African-American Quilt Club in Durham and workshop chairwoman for the Durham-Orange Quilters Guild in the western Triangle, said that hope was the theme of her project.
Not only was the quilter optimistic that she would see the first black president in her lifetime, she hoped to someday weave Obama into the fabric of her life.
"If my prayers are answered, I will be able to present this quilt to him when he IS the president of this great nation," Freeman wrote on the label for her quilt, titled "Yes We Can, And In My Lifetime."
The artist had to redo her original quilt to fit the show's required dimensions. But that just means the 44th president of the United States has his choice of quilts -- the original or the one tailored for the show.
"He can have either one he wants," Freeman promises.
anne.blythe@newsobserver.com
3 comments:
I remember seeing this great quilt when you posted it before--it's so interesting to read about the woman who was moved to creating it. Thanks for sharing the newpaper article!
Very cool. Thanks for sharing!
That is so so cool Lynn thanks for sharing. This one man has the hopes of the world on his shoulders. I haven't known a president with so much charisma -Kennedy-esque.
It is good to see racial barriers come down in such a big way.
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