Final Project Proposal
I will create a “network quilt” with the research that I have aggregated on my blog, www.runawayquiltproject.org, during this semester. The quilt top will include quilt blocks mentioned by Gracie Mitchell that were known to exist during the 19th C, Google Ngrams, and a topographical US map. These blocks will vary in size in the final product, depending on how many quilts with each pattern are held by the International Quilt Study Center and Museum. The quilt blocks will have edges that connect to one of the Ngrams (Quilt Events, Quilt Blocks, & Slave Resistance 1840-1865), and edges that connect to geographical locations on the map. The sashing (fabric between the blocks, black in the digital design) will be made of fabric that is printed with the 156 quotes from the LOC Born in Slavery digital collection of WPA interviews that mention quilting. The URL will be embroidered in to the bottom of the quilt, along with denim jean pockets for viewers to submit comments, and names/images of quilters interviewed by the Federal Writers Project will be emphasized over the west coast of the USA (as there are no quilts from that area in the project, and connected by their edges to the area of the country in which they were interviewed. The border (white in the digital design) will contain a suggested citation. On the back of the quilt the source code will be printed on fabric and listed in columns. As much of the process as I can will be documented for a short digital video to place on the blog, showing how I made it.
To finish the quilt, I will hold a quilting party with some of my sisters and female friends, and then take the quilt to my grandmother’s quilting group in Rochdale, Queens. After presenting in class, I will submit a write-up to my quilting group (Empire Quilters) newsletter, show it in show-and-tell at the EQ meeting in May, and enter it in local quilt shows.