A Celebration of HERstory Quilts Strong Women

Here's to the strong women.

May we know them.

May we be them.

May we raise them.

unknown. 

Suzanne Miller Jones presents 108 juried quilts celebrating women who impacted the world. Some are universally known and some are forgotten. They include women who stood up to power and women who brought laughter into our homes. Most were 'firsts' in their field. 

Each quilt has a full-page color photograph and a full-page artist's statement with a history of the woman celebrated in the quilt, a quote from the subject, and artist information.

The quilt artists use every technique and fabric available, including painting and thread painting, fusible applique and piecing, fabric dying and commercial fabrics, computers and scanners and fabric printing. The descriptions of how the artist made the quilt is as interesting as the subject of the quilt.

Subjects include women from history and women changing the world today. International and American women are represented.

The book is divided into sections: Suffragists, Strong Women, Groups, and Personal Heroes.

I was pleased to see such a diversity of women honored. Some of my favorites include:

• Sally Ride (1951-2012), the first female American astronaut.  Deb Berkebile's portrait shows Sally's well-known wide smile, the Space Shuttle in the background.
• Mary Blair (1911-1978) was a favorite illustrator when I was a child for her book I Can Fly. As a Disney artist, she created the concept art for well-beloved animated films and It's a Small World. Tanya Brown sketched, scanned, and printed her image on fabric then densely stitched it.
• I was pleased to see writers represented, including the late poet Mary Oliver (1935-2019). Barbara Dover offers a pictorial landscape quilt representing Oliver's poem The Summer Day. 
• Fannie Lou Hamer (1917-1977) fought for voting rights in the Jim Crow South, withstanding beatings and jail. Carol Vinick's fabric collage portrait rises above a lunch counter with women of all colors waiting to be served.
• Misty Copland (1982-) is the first African American ballet dancer to be a principal dancer in the American Ballet Theatre. Nneka Gamble shows a young Misty in ballet school, the only girl of color.
• One of my personal favorites among the lesser-known women is Emily Carr (1871-1945), a Canadian artist who studied the Native Americans of British Columbia. I first learned about Carr in Susan Vreeland's novel The Forest Lover. Maggie Vanderwelt honored Carr with a quilt depicting one of the totem poles Carr documented.

HERStory Quilts is an uplifting and inspiring book, educating us about women's history while delighting our eyes as a collection of art.

I received a book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

HERstory Quilts: A Celebration of Strong Women
Susanne Miller Jones
Size: 8 1/2″ x 11″ | 114 color images | 240 pp
ISBN13: 9780764354601
$34.99 hardcover

from the publisher: 

A long-overdue tribute to a selection of women who have shaped history through herstory, this rich collection of 108 mixed-media fiber art pieces celebrates extraordinary women who cracked glass ceilings, made important discoveries, or shook the world by breaking into fields dominated by men. The subjects of these exquisite quilts, by 85 artists from 7 countries, include politicians and scientists, environmentalists and entertainers, activists and artists, athletes and authors—and even a fictional heroine. The quilting medium mirrors the advances these women have made, as the art quilt movement has inspired women to express their creativity in a whole new way.