This is Kris with a little update on our Fannie Lou Hamer (FLH) project. We introduced this project in a couple of earlier posts. (Links to them are at the end of this post.) Today I thought you’d like to see how the actual quilting is going. I sometimes think the quilting is the hardest part of any project we do. As we mentioned in an earlier post, Deb was in charge of free-motion quilting and I was in charge of the straight stitching. Yes, that’s because Deb is a better quilter! [Deb’s note: And I just consider myself an adequate quilter.]
Symbolic Quilting
We don’t just quilt, we try to make the quilting carry meaning when appropriate. For this piece, we wanted to focus on some key aspects of Hamer’s life. She struggled mightily to bring the right to vote to her fellow Black Mississippians. Hamer was raised in Sunflower County, which she sued in 1970 for continued illegal segregation. We thought it important to add a quilted sunflower to the piece to mark the importance of “place” in her life.
Hymns were an important part of Hamer’s personal and public life. She was known to break out in “This Little Light of Mine” whenever things got tense. To honor this part of Hamer’s character, Deb stitched in the title of the hymn on Hamer’s arm.
Slow Stitching
Figuring out how to quilt the background was not easy. We practiced with some hand stitching and also with our “tatami mat” machine stitching. After showing our two close friends the practice piece, they both quickly voted for the hand stitching. We had to admit it does look (and feel) wonderful! The drawback? It takes forever to sew that much background! Sewing outside makes it more fun, but remember, we live in California, so it just gets too hot by 11 am! By the way, there is indeed a slow stitching movement. Read more about it here.
Previous Posts on Fannie Lou Hamer
Voting Rights and Our Fannie Lou Hamer Project
Collaboration in Isolation: A New Road Map