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Black Family Series #1: The Family of 3

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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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