QUILT INDEX RECORD
12-8-5261
Who documented this quilt?
Michigan Quilt Project; Michigan State University Museum Collection; Quilts and Human Rights; Black Diaspora Quilt History Project; Cuesta Benberry Collection; Women of Color Quilters Network
Where are the records for this quilt housed?
Michigan State University Museum
Michigan Quilt Project Number:
08.0080
If this quilt is owned by a museum, enter the accession number:
2008:119.20
Object label:
Rafiki
Carole Harris
Detroit, Michigan
1992
Collection of Michigan State University Museum acc.#2008:119.20
Essay:
Rafiki means friendship in Swahili and was made in honor of Nelson Mandela obtaining his freedom.
Carole and I have also been friends for a long time. She was the first African American quiltmaker that I knew who made Art Quilts. She has never made any other kind. She has always been an original quilt artist, influenced perhaps by her training. She is a Fine Arts graduate from Wayne State University, but she preferred to work with fabric instead of painting. – Cuesta Benberry, information that was with the quilt collection.
By Mary Worrall, from the exhibit Unpacking Collections: the Legacy of Cuesta Benberry, An African American Quilt Scholar.
Quilt's title:
Rafiki
Subject of the quilt:
Nelson Mandela's freedom
Names for quilt's pattern in common use:
Friendship (in Swahili)
When was the form filled out?
4/22/08
Quilt top made by:
Harris, Carole
Quilted by:
Harris, Carole
If you are the quilt owner, how did you acquire this quilt?
Received as a gift
Where the quilt was made, city:
Detroit
Where the quilt was made, state:
Michigan (MI)
Where the quilt was made, country:
United States
Time period:
1976-1999
When was the quilt finished?
1992
Why was the quilt made?
Art or personal expression; Gift or presentation
Quilt is presently used as:
Museum collection
Quiltmaker's gender:
Female
Quiltmaker's city:
Detroit
Quiltmaker's county:
Wayne
Quiltmaker's state:
Michigan (MI)
Quiltmaker's country:
United States
Quiltmaker's birth date:
1948
Quiltmaker's ethnic background/tribal affiliation:
African American
Quiltmaker's educational background:
Fine Arts degree from Wayne State University
Quiltmaker's occupation:
Commercial interior designer, graphic designer, and owner of a gallery specializing in Third World and Diasporic artifacts.
Quiltmaker's mother's ethnic/tribal background:
African American
This is a:
Finished quilt
How wide is the quilt?
35"
How long is the quilt?
35"
Shape of edge:
Straight
Shape of corners:
Straight
What color is the quilt?
Black; Gold; Green; Red
Overall color scheme:
Dark colors
Quilt's condition:
Very good/almost new
Type of inscription:
Signature; Date
Describe the type of inscription:
Title
What is inscribed on the quilt?
"Rafiki" C. Harris
What is the date inscribed on the quilt?
1992
Method used to make the inscription:
Embroidery
Location of inscription:
on back
Describe the quilt's layout:
Nontraditional or art
Fiber types used to make the quilt top:
Cotton
Materials used to make the back:
Cotton
Describe the back:
Back art/design on quilt back
Materials used in the quilt binding:
Cotton
How is the binding made?
Edges turned in/ no separate binding
What kind of filling is used in the quilt?
Cannot tell
How are the layers held together?
Hand quilting
Number of quilting stitches per inch, place 1:
5
Number of quilting stitches per inch, place 2:
5
Quilting designs used, overall motifs:
In-the-ditch; Single parallel lines
Features or notes about the quilt's appearance, materials, or construction:
Made in honor of Nelson Mandela obtaining freedom.
Where did the maker find their pattern?
Original to maker
Source of the information on this quilt:
MSU Museum employee
Ownership of this quilt is:
Public- Michigan State University Museum
Quilt owner's name:
Michigan State University Museum
Quilt owner's city:
East Lansing
Quilt owner's county:
Ingham
Quilt owner's state:
Michigan (MI)
Quilt owner's country:
United States
How was this quilt acquired?
Purchase
Tell the story of how the quilt was obtained:
This quilt was collected by Cuesta Benberry to further her research on quiltmaking and/or African American quiltmaking. Her son donated the collection to the Michigan State University Museum when she passed away in 2007.
Access and copyright information:
Restricted
How did the quiltmaker participate in the creation of the quilt?
Made entire quilt
The quilt was made to be used for:
Artwork/wall hanging
Describe anything about the design of the quilt that wasn't already recorded in a previous field:
From Cuesta, "Carole and I have also been friends for a long time. She was the first African American quiltmaker that I new who made Art Quilts. She has never made any other kind. She has always been an original quilt artist, influenced perhaps by her training. She is a Fine Arts graduate from Wayne State University, but she preferred to work with fabric instead of painting. Over the years I have learned to love this perfectly matched couple, Carole and Bill. He is a playwright and she is a quilt artist, both of them in the Arts."
Describe any favorite patterns, tools, etc. used by the quiltmaker:
Carole Harris became interested in quilting because it seemed to be a "non-intimidating art form." What started as a "fun" craft project for her has grown into a serious avocation. Like traditional quiltmakers, Harris works with fabrics that she has on hand; she thinks of herself as a collector of fabrics first, and as an artist second. She made a quilt for her marriage. Harris usually approaches a quilt or project with a sketch, "but it sometimes controls itself, it takes over and becomes what it wants to become." Harris is grateful for her strong art background because it helps her to see the designs in things. "I see quilts everywhere. In something as unlikely as a flower, or in architecture. You can look all around you in nature for color schemes, you don't have to be original, there are a lot of things already done for you. I'm very attractive to linear elements, and I see those lines everywhere." Harris is fascinated with what occurs when she plays with pattern and color. She describes her art as "painting with fabrics" because she uses color in the way that a painter would. Her favorite color for quiltmaking is black because it makes all the other colors look so vibrant. Harris works mostly with the string pattern because it is so amenable to the mixing of fabric and color. "The process of making a quilt is like the art of a jazz musician-they start with a melody and improvise from there. Both jazz and quiltmaking are spontaneous, putting little bits of things together to make a complete piece of art. Carol Harris is an interior designer in Detroit. She revealed that Rosa Parks was a quiltimaker in addition to being a noted civil rights pioneer, heroine and activist. Mr. Harris met Rosa Parks, who said, "Everybody was a quilter, but they were useful." This meant that the quilts were useful objects and that everyone they knew made them. When Rosa Parks died, people came forward to agree.
Who photographed this quilt?
Pearl Yee Wong
Copyright holder:
MSU Board of Trustees
Cite this Quilt
Harris, Carol. Rafiki. 1992. From Michigan State University Museum, Michigan Quilt Project; Michigan State University Museum Collection; Quilts and Human Rights; Black Diaspora Quilt History Project; Cuesta Benberry Collection; Women of Color Quilters Network. Published in The Quilt Index, https://quiltindex.org/view/?type=fullrec&kid=12-8-5261. Accessed: 04/18/24
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Collection
African American Quilt Collection
Michigan State University Museum
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Harris, Carole Quiltmaker
Michigan African American Quilt Project