Quilts and Quiltmaking in "The Invention of Wings" by Sue Monk Kidd

Sue Monk Kidd's latest book (the author of The Life of Bees and The Mermaid Chair) imagines the plantation childhood of Sarah Moore Grimke' (1792-1873) who became an abolitionist and a promoter of women's rights.  The Invention of Wings reveals the story through the voices of Sarah and her slave Handful, called Hetty by her owners.


Sarah Grimke' from I Will Lift My Voice Like A Trumpet by Nancy Bekofske

Angelina Grimke' from I Will Lift My Voice Like a Trumpet by Nancy Bekofske

Sarah Grimke' and her sister Angelina were born into one of Charlestown's most important and distinguished families. Their father was a Revolutionary War hero and a successful lawyer. The Grimke's were deeply religious Episcopalians. But the need for slave labor to maintain the family wealth was necessary.

Sarah's mother dealt out harsh punishments for minor offenses committed by the slaves, appalling and upsetting the young Sarah. Unlike on many plantations, there is no evidence that Mr. Grimke' sexually abused the female slaves, which often resulted in the wife's mistreatment of female slaves.

Sarah was a remarkably intelligent child who yearned to be educated along with her older brothers. But she was expected to go on the marriage market and participate in the frivolous social whirl.

For her eleventh birthday Sarah was given her own slave, Handful. Their relationship frames the story. Sarah and Handful yearn to fly beyond their conscripted lives. They have to invent their own wings.

The Grimke' sisters reject Charlestown societal values and traditions to become Quaker abolitionists in Philadelphia. But the Arch Street Meeting House found their views extremist, especially their views on the rights of women to speak publicly on political issues, to enjoy equal education, and to become ministers. They women become ardent abolitionists, focusing on their first hand experience with Southern plantation slave owners. Angelina becomes the first American woman public speaker.

 "...nights she teach me everything she knows 'bout quilts. I tore up old pants legs and dress tails and pieced 'em. Mauma say in Africa they sew charms in their quilts. I put pieces of my hair down inside mine."

Handful's Mauma is a master dressmaker and seamstress. Handful describes her mom making several quilts. One is a floral applique for the misses in 'milk-white and pink.' They have quilt frame that is raised to the ceiling by pulleys. Mauma uses quilts to hide things for safe keeping by sewing pockets on the quilts or hiding things in the batting.

The women's supplies include a box of patches; a pouch with a needle and thread; a cake of tallow to "grease the needle" so it "would almost glide through the cloth itself"; quilt stuffing; shears; tracing wheel; charcoal; stamping papers; and measuring ribbons. Handful has her own brass thimble. Stamping papers were perforated with the tracing wheel, then the charcoal rubbed through the holes to mark a quilting design. 'Measuring ribbons' I assume were early measuring tapes. As a dressmaker for the master's family Mauma had quite a nice supply of tools.

Fabrics used included an emerald green silk; pastel dress fabrics, lavender ribbons, and oxblood red, black, orange, and brown fabrics.

Handful's grandmother was born of the Fon people in Africa, an ethnic group from Benin and Nigeria. Mauma shares the old stories and vudu traditions with Handful, including the stories about when their people could fly. Mauma makes a quilt with tiny black triangles, which she calls blackbird wings, appliqued on oxblood red patches. She adds small splashes of yellow for 'sun splatter'. Handful sews on the homespun backing and they filled it with batting, feathers, and charms.

Mauma also makes a quilt that tells her life story, with each block representing a pivotal event. She cut the applique pieces freehand and stitches them onto blocks of fabric. Her Fon people all kept their history on a quilt, Mauma told Handful. To this day the Fon people make appliqued textiles with animals and objects. You can see an example at: http://www.museum.msu.edu/glqc/collections_2008.119.47.html
For an article on the appliqued cloth of the Fon people see:
http://www.epa-prema.net/abomeyGB/resources/hangings.htm

The story quilt Mauma makes is based on the famous quilts by African American quilter Harriet Powers. To learn about Powers' quilts visit:
http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_556462
http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/pictorial-quilt-116166
 http://www.historyofquilts.com/hpowers.html

Kidd discovered Grimke' by chance and delved into researching her life and career. She also went to see the Harriet Powers quilt. The events in the book are based on fact, with some tweaking of timing. I enjoyed reading the book. Kidd's Sarah is conflicted and unsure of herself, while under her tutelage her younger sibling Angelina is able to commit to her convictions and scorns public or family opinion. Handful was based on the slave Hetty given to Sarah on her eleventh birthday, but the real Hetty died young. Handful is the most vividly drawn character in the book, and her story gives the reader insight into the daily life of a plantation slave. We learn about the punishments dealt out, the Work House where masters could hire out punishments, and about free black society. Most importantly it is Handful and her mother's dreams of freedom that is best portrayed.

As a quilter it was a nice surprise to find that quilts were central to this novel. I wanted to read the novel because it was based on Sarah Grimke' and I had no idea that quilts figured into the story.

Read an interview with the author by Oprah Winfrey for her book club at
http://www.oprah.com/spirit/Oprah-Talks-with-Sue-Monk-Kidd-About-The-Invention-of-Wings

I had read Lift Up Thy Voice by Mark Perry on the sisters when researching for my quilt I Will Lift Up My Voice, the title of which came from a speech made by Angelina Grimke'.

My thanks to Viking and NetGalley for allowing me access to read the e-book.

The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
Published by Viking, January 7, 2014

$27.95

ISBN: 978-0670024780A New York Times #1 Bestseller

Jane Austen Family Album : Cassandra, Leigh Austen Block

Every Sunday Barbara Brackman releases the next block of her album quilt representing the family of Jane Austen. This one was easy, all squares. :) The pattern is Thrifty and it represents Jane's mother Cassandra Leigh Austen.

See Barbara Brackman's blog at 

http://austenfamilyalbumquilt.blogspot.com

Acts of God by Ellen Gilchrist

Imagine ten perfect jewels of deep clarity that catch the ambient light and focus it into prismatic rainbow arches against the darkened corner of the room. Link then together in a stunning chain that takes your breath away and illumines the room.

Then you can imagine reading these ten stories.

I am not exaggerating. I am not saying this because I was given this ebook free from Algonquin Books via NetGalley so I could review it for this blog. Gilchrist's stores are just that powerful.

No none escapes life unscathed, not even the rich and successful. And everyone can find joy in the life they have, no matter how troubled.  There is war. There are tornados and hurricanes and floods and death and disease and accidents. How we respond to what happens to us defines who we are more than anything else.

These stories about people, ordinary people, who come face to face with tragedy or loss, or love and grace, teach the reader about how to live.

"We are born of risen apes, not fallen angles...The miracle of man is not how far he has sunk but how magnificently he has risen." Robert Ardley

This quotation, here abridged, sets the tone for the stories. For what we read are incidents where ordinary people rise to their better angels and are transformed by the experience.

People in the stories go into disaster zones after tornados, hurricanes, and floods. They lose loved ones. Their vacations are stopped by bombs. They face deliberating or fatal disease.

We learn about life and what matters along with the protagonists, and they show us how to live and about what really matters.

Acts of God by Ellen Gilchrist
Algonquin Books
PAGES: 256
ISBN: 978-1-61620-110-4
LIST PRICE: $23.95

1954 Sealtest Recipes

"The people who have achieved, who have become large, strong vigorous people, who have reduced their infant mortality, who are the best trades in the world, who have an appreciation of art, literature and music, who are progressive in science and in every activity of the human intellect, are the people who have used liberal amounts of milk and its products." Dr. E. V. McCollum, Emeritus Professor of Biochemistry, The John Hopkins University

LOL.

We may not believe this 'science' today but we still love our dairy products.

Here are some of the recipes Sealtest developed in 1954 for American homes.






Champion's Soup
1 8 oz can salmon
1 cup Sealtest milk
1 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp. chopped onion
2 tbsp. flour
dash of Tabasco
2 cups Sealtest cottage cheese.
Drain salmon; add liquid to milk. Melt butter in heavy saucepan and add onion and cook slowly until tender. Add flour; mix well. Add milk all at once. Cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until thickened. Add Tabasco, chees and flaked salmon. Reheat stirring constantly. This soup has a rather tart, deliciously unusual flavor.

Creamed Eggs in Bologna Cups
4 tbsp. margarine
4 tbsp. flour
2 cups Sealtest milk
salt and pepper
8 hardboiled eggs
6 slices bologna, skin left on.
Melt butter I heavy saucepan. Add flour; mix well. Pour in milk all at once and immediately stir vigorously over moderate heat until thickened. Season with salt and pepper. Add quartered or sliced eggs; reheat stirring very lightly. Heat bologna slices slowly in frying pan in small amount of butter or other fat until they for cup shapes. Fill with creamed eggs. Sprinkle with paprika.

Butterscotch Trifle
1 pkg butterscotch pudding mix
1 1/2 cups of Sealtest milk
1 1/4 cups of fine graham cracker crumbs
2/3 cup shredded coconut
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 c Sealtest whipping cream
1/3 cup melted butter
Prepare pudding according to package using only 1 1/2 cups of milk. Stir in coconut. Cool.
Mix 1 cup of graham cracker crumbs with sugar and butter. Press into the bottom of a 10" x 6" x 2" pan. Chill. Spread cooled pudding over crust. Chill several hours. Cut into rectangles. Whip cream until almost stiff, fold in remaining crumbs and serve on rectangles.

Yogurt was well enjoyed in Europe at this time, but was new in American grocery stores.

Orange Waldorf Salad
1 large unpeeled red apple diced
2 oranges peeled and cut into sections
1/2 cup diced celery
1/2 c Sweet Sour Fruit Dressing: 1 cup Sealtest  cottage cheese; 1 half-pint Sealtest yogurt; 1 tbsp. sugar; 1 tbsp. mayonnaise; 1/4 cup frozen orange juice concentrate. Press cottage cheese through sieve. mix all together and beat with rotary beater until fluffy.

Lettuce
1/4 cup chopped nuts
grated orange rind
Mix diced apple, orange sections, and celery in a bowl. Moisten with dressing. Serve on lettuce. Sprinkle with nuts and rind.

Sealtest offered basic advice about shopping, menu planning, and nutrition. Even a guide to sandwich making.

Down-to-earth Sandwiches: Banana Cheese

Spread 12 slices of  canned or homemade brown bread with 1 cup of cottage cheese. Top half with think slices of banana. Put slices together.

I'll pass.



Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin--FINALLY FINISHED

"...I stood in the presence of the great guiding light of the age." Judge Joseph Mills

I have lived with Abraham Lincoln and his cabinet for over a year. I savored each episode as one holds a sip of fine wine on one's tongue. I held each sparkling story in my mind before I read on. Instead of my usual gallop through a book, I read in a week what I usually would read in an evening.

"I consider the central idea that is upon us, of proving that popular government is not an absurdity. We must settle this question now, whether in a free government the minority have the right to break up the government whenever they choose. If we fail it will go far to prove the incapability of the people to govern themselves." Abraham Lincoln

Many men wanted to be president. Some took it for granted that they would be elected the presidential candidate for the new Republican party. When the least likely candidate won there were some hard feelings. No one expected much of Lincoln. When William Seward lost to Lincoln, and was asked to take the position of Secretary of State, Seward thought he would be the power behind the throne. Instead he became Lincoln's greatest supporter and admirer and his close friend.

Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin is about how Lincoln used the skills of his political foes for the good of the country. It is also a moving portrait of a remarkable leader of great insight, intelligence, and constraint.

Secretary of War Edwin Stanton was a Quaker by birth and pacifist by nature. Lincoln himself was considered 'soft-hearted' and saddened by the human toll of war. "Doesn't it strike you as queer that I, who couldn't cut the head off a chicken, should be cast into the middle of a great war, with blood flowing all around?" "There could be no greater madness," Stanton said, "than for a man to encounter what I do for anything less than motives that overleap time and look forward to eternity."

A government by the people, for the people. It was an experiment worth even the blood of the people to ensure it's success. The Confederacy considered itself a separate country. If the Federal Government valued peace over unity, it would not last. The Civil War was a war to end all possibility of war among the states of America.

Treasury Secretary Salmon Chase was a radical abolitionist who sought the presidential nomination and lost to Lincoln in 1860. In 1864 he conducted a secret bid to be a presidential candidate running against Lincoln. Lincoln understood Chase's desperate need for recognition, and although Chase was no end of trouble, he  respected the man's abilities. After Chase has resigned from the cabinet Lincoln offered Chase the position of Supreme Court Chief-Justice. Not because Lincoln wanted to reward Chase, but because "the decision was right for the country." Lincoln was that great a man that he could put aside personal feelings, toss off all prejudices, and view choices from the greater perspective of eternity. It was Chief-Justice Chase who swore in Lincoln at his second inauguration!

I dreaded those last pages, the death of Lincoln. But I knew what had happened to Abe and his family afterwards, I had read stories and books and seen the documentaries. What I was not prepared for was the assassination attempt on Secretary of State William H Seward. He was bedridden after a brutal carriage accident left him with a broken jaw and shoulder. The assassin pushed his way into the sickroom. Seward's son Frank tried to protect his father and the assassin slashed him with a knife. Frank died of his injuries. I was sadly ignorant of Seward, except for knowledge of "Seward's Folly", the purchase of Alaska, but Goodwin's portrait of Seward and his importance to Lincoln and the country caused me to shudder and nearly come to tears when I read about the assassination attempt, which took place at the same time as the assassination of Lincoln. 

Indeed, all of the men who served with Lincoln are so vividly drawn we come to know them and esteem them as Lincoln did.

President Lincoln. His is a mythic presence across the world. Goodwin's book makes it clear what kind of man he was, how he operated as a political leader, and plumbs his deep humanity.

The movie Lincoln was a wonderful film BUT movies are entertainment, and even when based on excellent motives, are made to make money. One should be always aware that not everything in a movie is historical fact. Art can move a viewer in ways most historical writing can not, and if the viewer then seeks to learn more, opens to new ideas, experiences a new awareness, then art has served its purpose. At times, mostly during the war, I did bog down, but overall Goodwin's characterizations were deeply drawn and her portrait of Lincoln made me believe I really know him as a man, a politician, a leader, and as the moral compass of an age.

For some insights into historical bloops in the movie read
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/11/22/what-s-true-and-false-in-lincoln-movie.html
http://www.thenation.com/blog/171461/trouble-steven-spielbergs-lincoln#
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/mr-lincoln-goes-to-hollywood-82330187/?no-ist

Visit the Doris Kearns Goodwin's website at http://www.doriskearnsgoodwin.com/books.html#team-of-rivals

Note: I read Goodwin's book No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II when it came out and it is remarkable. And I read it quite quickly! Her book Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream was the first LBJ book I read. I have been fascinated by LBJ ever since mock election in junior high when I was told about his Great Society dream. I have Robert Caro's The Passage of Power on my shelf to be read. His Master of the Senate was one of the most remarkable books I have read.

Jane Austen Family Album Block Three

The third block, Cross Within a Cross, represents Jane's father the Rev. George Austen. I decided I wanted a cross to stand out, and used a high value contrast dark green next to the inner white cross. The larger cross is the red striped fabric. I did some fussy cutting of the prints. But the red fabric has strips going every which way, because why be too formal? Austen may be a product of the Age of Reason, not the Romantic movement, but she had a feel for the ridiculous. So I can't have things too serious! 



So here are my first three blocks together.

I am using MODA French General fat quarters I bought from a bargain bin a year ago. I didn't know what I would do with them at the time, I just liked the quiet grey, red and brown colors and great prints. I went on eBay and found some additional yardage so I will have enough fabric for this project. I added the red strip and the off white tone on tone cream from my stash, and also the dark green.

This project makes a nice balance to the Love Entwined applique quilt. Pieced, easily accomplished in a few hours, and a more subtle and sophisticated fabric palette.

Follow Barbara Brackman's blog and patterns at http://austenfamilyalbumquilt.blogspot.com/

Roots of Understanding: Rainer Maria Rilke

"I beg you, to have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer."

I was in my late 20s when I stumbled across Stephen Mitchell's translation of Rainer Maria Rilke's Letters To A Young Poet in a downtown Philadelphia bookstore. I had never read him before, or even had heard of him. Soon after I started to read his poetry. I read his Duino Elegies while sitting on cliffs overlooking the ocean in Maine.

The creature gazes into openness with all

its eyes. But our eyes are

as if they were reversed, and surround it,

everywhere, like barriers against its free passage.

We know what is outside us from the animal’s

face alone: since we already turn

the young child round and make it look

backwards at what is settled, not that openness

that is so deep in the animal’s vision. Free from death.

We alone see that: the free creature

has its progress always behind it,

and God before it, and when it moves, it moves

in eternity, as streams do.

We never have pure space in front of us,

not for a single day, such as flowers open

endlessly into. Always there is world,

and never the Nowhere without the Not: the pure,

unwatched-over, that one breathes and

endlessly knows, without craving.

Generations of aspiring writers have turned to Rilke's letters. But what I most found in them was advice on how to LIVE. Most importantly, how to accept the unknown and the frightening things in life as part of life. He said that the things we encounter are not external threats, but arise from our inner selves and are part of ourselves. So we should not be frightened. If we trust the process we will live into the answers. "Life is right, in any case."

I loved his advice to turn to one's childhood as a creative source. Because of this advice I wrote several poems about childhood memories.

"And if you were in some prison the walls of which let none of the sounds of the world come to your senses—would you not then still have your childhood, that precious, kingly possesion, that treasure-house of memories? Turn your attention thither."

When I included an open book on my Album quilt I thought long on what to write on it. I finally chose these lines from the Eighth Elegy. Having moved when young I found myself for years looking backwards. Homesickness has been a part of my life every since.

Who has turned us round like this, so that,

whatever we do, we always have the aspect

of one who leaves? Just as they

will turn, stop, linger, for one last time,

on the last hill, that shows them all their valley - ,

so we live, and are always taking leave.

You can read the first letter at

http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/07/letter-to-young-poet.html

From Open Culture, Dennis Hopper reading from the first letter:
http://www.openculture.com/2013/03/dennis_hopper_reads_from_rainer_maria_rilkes_timeless_guide_to_creativity_iletters_to_a_young_poeti.html