QUILT INDEX RECORD
12-8-5273
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:
08.0091
If this quilt is owned by a museum, enter the accession number:
2008:119.31
Object label:
Black Family Series #1: The Family of 3
Carolyn Mazloomi
West Chester, Ohio
1996
Collection of Michigan State University Museum acc.#2008:119.31
Essay:
Aeronautics engineer Dr. Carolyn L. Mazloomi is acknowledged as being among the most influential African American quilt historians and quilt artists of the late twentieth and early twenty-first century. In 1985 Dr. Mazloomi founded the Women of Color Quilters Network (WCQN), the largest organization of African American quilt artists in the United States. In 2014, Dr. Mazloomi was honored with the 2014 National Endowment for the Arts Bess Lomax Hawes National Heritage Fellowship, one of the nation’s highest accolades for artists and champions of traditional arts (http://arts.gov/honors/heritage/fellows/carolyn-mazloomi).
The WCQN provides African American quilt artists opportunities for professional development, networking, and showing their art in the United States and abroad. In addition, the WCQN is an important resource for research into African American quiltmaking and supports educational projects and workshops designed to have a social and economic impact for audiences of all ages, income levels, ethnic background, and learning abilities.
This quilt includes stylized portraits of faces and their hands. The hands are enlarged to the point where they are larger than the heads of the figures. Mazloomi created a pattern similar to one found in African cloth by cutting away triangular portions of the white fabric to resemble Xs. This is to represent figures' clothing or robes.
By Mary Worrall
Quilt's title:
Black Family Series #1: The Family of 3
When was the form filled out?
4/22/08
Quilt top made by:
Mazloomi, Carolyn
Quilted by:
Mazloomi, Carolyn
If you are the quilt owner, how did you acquire this quilt?
Received as a gift
Where the quilt was made, city:
West Chester
Where the quilt was made, state:
Ohio (OH)
Where the quilt was made, country:
United States
Time period:
1976-1999
When was the quilt finished?
1996
Why was the quilt made?
Gift or presentation
Quilt is presently used as:
Museum collection
Quiltmaker's gender:
Female
Quiltmaker's city:
West Chester
Quiltmaker's state:
Ohio (OH)
Quiltmaker's country:
United States
Quiltmaker's ethnic background/tribal affiliation:
African American
Other notes on how the quiltmaker learned, and how and why they quilt:
Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi is Director of the Women of Color Network. Dr. Mazloomi mounts exhibits of quilts. She has made quilts that are in the permanent collections of the Renwick Gallery, the Smithsonian Institution, The American Craft Museum, The Indianapolis Museum of Art, the Wadsworth Athenum, the Cincinnati Underground Railroad Museum and other museums. She has a newsletter and encourages quiltmakers, women of color, to join together, share their information, and make quilts. The mission would be to promote African American quiltmaking, its history, its continuation, and to recognize all segments of these quilts.
This is a:
Finished quilt
How wide is the quilt?
54"
How long is the quilt?
60"
Shape of edge:
Straight
Shape of corners:
Straight
What color is the quilt?
Black; White
Quilt's condition:
Very good/almost new
Type of inscription:
Signature; Date
What is inscribed on the quilt?
Carolyn Mazloomi
What is the date inscribed on the quilt?
1996
Method used to make the inscription:
Ink
Location of inscription:
on border
Describe the quilt's layout:
Medallion or framed center
Fiber types used to make the quilt top:
Cotton
Applique techniques used to make the quilt top:
Hand Applique; Reverse Applique
Materials used to make the back:
Cotton
Materials used in the quilt binding:
Cotton
How is the binding made?
Straight grain
What is the width of the binding (measure on the top only)?
half inch - one inch
What kind of filling is used in the quilt?
Polyester
How are the layers held together?
Hand quilting
Color of thread used in the quilting:
white thread on black fabric and black thread on white fabric
Number of quilting stitches per inch, place 1:
6
Number of quilting stitches per inch, place 2:
7
Width between quilting lines:
3/4"
Quilting designs used, overall motifs:
Echo
Features or notes about the quilt's appearance, materials, or construction:
This quilt includes stylized portraits of African American faces and their hands. The hands are enlarged, and are larger than the figures' faces. Their fingers point out toward the sides of the quilt. The maker also created a pattern similar to African cloth by cutting away triangular portions of the white fabric to resemble Xs. This is to represent figures' clothing or robes.
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
Who photographed this quilt?
Pearl Yee Wong
Copyright holder:
MSU Board of Trustees
Cite this Quilt
Mazloomi, Caroly. Black Family Series #1: The Family of 3. 1996. 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=12-8-5273. Accessed: 03/29/24
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