She Was Warned by Liz Harvatine (Handwork) People's Choice Award
There were quite a lot of political and social justice quilts in the show. I don't have photos of all of them, but these really stood out to me. She Was Warned was a favorite and it really struck a cord with a lot of people because it won the People's Choice Award. This wonderful quilt has been hand quilted with the phrase Nevertheless, she persisted over and over again in the penmanship of 60 different American women. That's so cool!
America the Beautiful by Ann Guiam (1st Place Youth)
A few posts ago I mentioned that the Youth category had some of the most exciting quilts in the show. All of the youth quilts in this post were created as part of the Social Justice Sewing Academy which is doing some amazing work in California to empower youth through textile art. It was these social justice quilts made by students that really struck a chord with me. America the Beautiful won First Place in the category. This quilt is so timely and sobering.
Born a Crime by Bryan Robinson (Youth)
Born a Crime is a powerful piece created by a young black male student. This piece so eloquently depicts the feelings of the African American community.
Education: The Only Way Out by Jamia Williams (Youth)
This student was inspired by this quote by Nelson Mandela, "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."
Gentrification: The New Colonialism by Juan Tapia (Youth)
This quilt is not only Juan's first quilt, it's his first sewing project ever. He was inspired by the gentrification happening in the SF Bay area. He says this will not be his last quilt. Of the many reasons to love the Social Justice Sewing Academy I think the most important is in getting young people to see textiles as a medium to explore their creativity and share their ideas.
Social Justice Community Quilt by Social Justice Sewing Academy (Youth)
This community quilt was created in art activist workshops with high school students. Pretty cool! I also love the design setting for the blocks.
Say Their Names by Social Justice Sewing Academy (Youth)
Sadly, the inspiration for this quilt really doesn't need explanation. I'll just say that it was created with reverse applique to great effect. If you'd like to see more quilts from the SJSA click the link above and check out the quilt gallery.
Twitter Tantrums by Carina Cabriales (Youth)
This student has really hit the nail on the head with this one. It is hand pieced, hand appliqued, hand quilted and hand embroidered with machine quilted overall.
Feminist Quilt by Darci Read (Applique)
Feminist quilt was inspired by this quote from Hillary Clinton, "Women's rights are human rights and human right are women's rights." Sept 5, 1995. This was made for the Women's March in January 2017 and the maker wore it while marching that day. It was great to see it in person.
Ms Conceived by Miriam Coffey (Use of Negative Space)
This is such a great minimalist quilt. I love the way the faded away part of the word has been quilted. She made this in response to the word feminist being use as an insult and worse. She says "we need to redirect the conversation back to what it means to be a Feminist- a proud human fighting for equality, opportunity and autonomy for all."
White America by Jessica Wohl (Applique)
Jessica's statement says, "This work, and its message calls into question the role of Whiteness in our country and its relationship to who speaks and who listens, or who needs to speak and who needs to listen....Using reverse applique, the text cuts into the layer of white, like a skin revealing a blanket of red, a wound or bodily cut, addressing the physical trauma our country is enduring. The "blue" section of the flag is comprised exclusively of men's business shirts, incorporating notions of labor, collared workers (white and blue), classism and capitalism."
Well, that's it for the QuiltCon posts. I hope you've enjoyed them if you weren't able to attend the show. The last thing I wanted to mention is that I have updated the Threads of Resistance gallery showing my own political quilts if you haven't seen them yet.