What Inspires Me...

Many things inspire me to create. I have been playing around recently with making my own fabric as well as exploring ways to incorporate old family portraits into my art quilts. My grandfather inherited family tin-types that were photographed in the mid-1800s and early 1900s. My ancestors were free Blacks who lived in pre-Civil War Newark, NJ. According to historical records, they owned property on Broad Street in downtown Newark in the early 1800s and lived somewhat prosperous lives. They also intermarried with both the Dutch and German immigrants who came to the States during that time.

I was inspired to start making quilts using these old tin-type photographs. My Ancestor Quilt #1 quilt, a true work-in-progress, is the first in a series. I started by transferring a photo of my maternal great-great grandmother, Laura Thompson Green, and her son, my great-grandfather, Richard Green, onto a transparency. I then embellished sari yarn into black acrylic felt (using my Babylock Embellisher) and added a layer of chiffon. I machine stitched over the chiffon and then took a heat tool and distressed it. From there, I sewed the transparency onto this fabric and added additional beadwork. On the right side of the piece, I made some Angelina fiber fabric and added a piece of embossed colored metal shim with the lyrics to the gospel song, Take my Hand, Precious Lord.

When I look at the quilt, I am reminded of a story my grandmother told me about my Granpa Green who lived with my grandparents toward the end of his life. One day when my grandfather was overseeing a funeral (he was a funeral director), Granpa Green cut some pieces of medicinal tape and wrote the names of all his relatives on individual pieces. He then put the names onto the respective tin-types very much to my grandparents dismay. Looking back, I am so glad that he did that. Many times we lose connections to the past like pictures without names. Without his foresight, we might have lost our connection to our direct ancestors.

Granpa Green was also a deeply religious man. He was raised in the church and stayed there until his dying days. According to my grandmother, he passed away (or went home as we say) singing, "Take my hand, precious Lord..