Tag Archives: charleston massacre

Newton Vigil for Charleston

8 Replies

The ceremony held yesterday to honor the victims of the Charleston massacre was well attended and moving. It included statements from the Mayor, prayers by a priest and a rabbi (sorry I don’t have names, I wasn’t there to take notes, and there weren’t enough flyers to go around). One long prayer was broken into sections and read by nine people (or groups of people), each of whom lit a candle in front of a large photograph of one of the deceased. Even reading out very short bios for each victim (church treasurer, pastor, retired pastor, track coach, librarian, great grandmother… ) lent a sense of the enormity of loss suffered by the community — these people were GIVERS. I should say: added another layer to the sense of the enormity of loss. The centerpiece of the ceremony was a rousing sermon delivered by a Reverend from the Myrtle Baptist Church (Alicia Johnson, I believe). She called upon us all to acknowledge the wound of racism (how wide and how deep) and then DO something about it. Surprisingly, there was a lot of hope articulated. “Amazing Grace” was sung by the LoveTones to finish and I might have cried (others did), but for the sound system’s wincing blasts of feedback. I wore a little nine patch on my chest — made that afternoon — to represent the victims. I also wanted to be able to include cloth in the “Hearts for Charleston Quilt” that had been in the energy of this vigil.  My larger square was rolled up and tucked in my purse.  And get this — do you see the woman standing in the middle of the picture above? I bought that very dress at Savers a couple of years ago and have been using bits of it here or there ever since. TWO STRIPS of it are woven into my Charleston square!! I literally gasped when she stood up. The dark strips below with ivory stamping on it, sometimes barely peeking out, are from that very dress. This synchronicity had a way of making me feel like I was in the right place at the right time, and now I wonder: does all synchronicity do that? Since she read a prayer for one of the victims, I determined that my square should be dedicated to her: Rev. Sharonda Coleman-Singleton.

P.S. The heart above is not a ‘go’ but I like the idea of a tiny nine patch occupying its center. Among other things, doing so would give the suggestion of a fractal (if not an actual fractal) — which is a sophisticated style of patterning employed by many African societies (posted about here).

Nitty gritty for Hearts for Charleston Quilt

4 Replies

 

NBC News

Does thinking about the nitty gritty offer relief in the face of the unthinkable? Perhaps.

This link provides short bios of the victims: NBC News.

Nine victims of the Charleston church shooting. Top row: Cynthia Hurd, Rev. Clementa Pinckney, Rev. Sharonda Coleman-Singleton Middle row: Daniel Simmons, Rev. Depayne Middleton Doctor, Tywanza Sanders Bottom row: Myra Thompson, Ethel Lee Lance, Susie Jackson          Via Facebook and Getty Images

African Christ – work in progress

I am rethinking the stitching of names onto the squares. Hold off on that for now, please. I think they might look better embroidered on strips that go all around the edge of the assembled nine block, rather than on the hearts or strips themselves. Some of the names are quite long and I don’t want them to get lost.

WEAVING STRIPS

This weaving method is simple. Some of the genius variations that Jude Hill has created are listed in links toward the end of this post. I encourage you to take a look at just a quick sampling of her work– even those of you who have been following her.  The method here is hers, the tricks are learned from her. The artistry will be all yours and mine — I hope!

Jude teaches two basic approaches. You can lay your strips on top of a backing cloth and weave (which is what I will demonstrate), or you can ‘anchor’ an uncut cloth to a backing with a single row of stitching, then cut that top piece into strips and weave into that.
The finished area should measure 10″. Please leave at least 1/4″ all round, or more, for flexibility at assembly.

I have chosen light and dark blue for a checkerboard affect, because symbolically I think that speaks to the intersection of people of different colors. In a checkerboard, each hue has equal weight. It is harmonious. So, I like that here. You are welcome to go in another direction.

It is easier to start in the middle and work toward each edge in turn.Laying a ruler or piece of cardstock on top helps keep things from moving around too much. When you approach the edge, the strips won’t want to stay folded back, so you might want to use a weight. A ruler is good. Here I use scissors.

To turn the square when you are done going in one direction — slide something firm underneath, like a plastic placemat.
Then rotate and repeat process.

Then, pin. I use a lot straight pins, knowing I may get stuck. As Mo pointed out yesterday, it might mean bleeding into the cloth. I can think of no better cloth to offer our blood to. But the point is (no pun intended), you may want to use safety pins. I find them too fussy.

Then, to adhere the layers with thread, it is up to you whether you want to do a LARGE BASTE, an INVISIBLE BASTE* a la Jude, or just dig right in and start stitching — across and down, in matching or contrasting threads. A woven square this large will flop around quite a bit without a lot of basting, so I will do a fair amount.

For both the basting as well as the initial finish stitching, it helps to have a firm work surface — one that a needle can encounter without you worrying. If you have a glass top table, that works. I have been using a laptop lap desk that a friend gave me. It has a hard plastic surface and is the right size. Once the layers are integrated enough, you will be able to lap quilt without these concerns.

The heart can be a color of your choosing. Except for the red, the ones I have shown are a little too big, covering up too much of the weaving. As mentioned earlier, I will use traditional applique (with turned under edge), but you may use raw edge applique.

FABRIC

Any fabric is good. I like, though, that so many of you have indicated that you plan to use indigo. This will unify whatever other fabrics come in, making it easier for me to trust this, the way one trusts a potluck. Just please do me the favor of selecting fabric that a needle will easily stitch (i.e. no batik!! no jean-weight denim.)

DATE: August 31. Email me for my address when it comes time.

INSPIRATION

So much inspiration from Jude at Spirit Cloth! It would be impossible to overstate how much I value this generous, extraordinarily talented, ever-evolving and yet humble and curious, artist.  Here are just a few samples from her blog: ‘one step further‘, ‘weaving sanity‘, ‘just corners and squares‘ (this post includes a YouTube video), ‘creative growth‘, ‘some old moon‘, and ‘lining things up in December‘.

Here are a few of my weavings created after taking one of her online classes.
I’ve archived some of the heart pieces I’ve made or photographed on flickr, here.

People stand outside as parishioners leave the Emanuel A.M.E. Church, Sunday, June 21, 2015, in Charleston, S.C., four days after a mass shooting at the church claimed the lives of its pastor and eight others. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)

* Invisible baste is when you grab just a teeny knick of fabric on the top and let most of the thread between stitches run underneath. That way you can leave the stitches in when you are done, even if the thread is contrasting.