Story Quilts
A story quilt is a quilt that uses pictures to tell a story. Here is a story quilt by Harriet Powers. It tells stories from the Bible. Harriet Powers was famous artist who worked in the African-American tradition of quilting. This tradition is influenced by old quilting techniques that were brought to the United States by slaves from Senegal, Ghana, Nigeria, and Angola.
Harriet Powers, Bible Quilt, 1885-86
Faith Ringgold is another artist who makes story quilts. This quilt, Woman on a Bridge #1 of 5: Tar Beach, has a painting in the center that tells a story. The painting is then sewn to a patchwork border and the whole thing was quilted together. Ringgold added her own painted details to the patterned fabrics on the border. In the center panel, you see a family on a rooftop. It looks like a hot summer night. The two children are resting on a mattress while the adults play cards. In the sky there is a little girl flying over the George Washington Bridge. Is it the same girl that is lying on the mattress? Is she really flying or is she imagining flying?
Faith Ringgold, Woman on a Bridge #1 of 5: Tar Beach, 1988
If you look carefully, you will see that part of the border is filled with writing. These pieces tell the story of what is happening in the picture. Faith Ringgold also made a book about this story. In this video, Faith Ringgold reads her book, Tar Beach, to us.
In the story, Cassie Louise Lightfoot flies around the city. She tells us about where she will go and what she will do. We learn about her parents and the barriers that racism has placed on them. Cassie tells us how she will change her family’s life by flying around the city. She claims the union building for her father. She makes it so that her mother can sleep in late. She gets an ice cream factory so that she, her parents and her brother can eat ice cream for dessert every day!
Story Quilts
What would you do if you could fly? Where would you go? What would you do when you got there? When make art, you can use your imagination to make anything happen. You could give yourself even more super powers! When you make your story quilt, think about what you would use super powers to do. Then, tell that story in your picture.
Materials
paper
colored pencils, markers, or crayons
scraps of fabric, patterned paper, or patterns cut out of a magazine or newspaper
glue
scissors
Process
Draw a border around your paper. It should look like this:
2. Draw your picture inside the border that you drew. Where would you go if you could fly? What would you do when you get there? What other super powers would you give yourself? How would you use those powers?In my drawing, I am flying on a bird and sprinkling color all over the world.
3. Gather your materials for the quilted border. I found a scrap of fabric and some patterned photos from a magazine.
I used the shape of the flowers from my drawing to draw a pattern onto my fabric with a marker.
4. Cut your fabric or paper into strips that are about the same width as the border you drew.
5. Cut your strips into even sized squares.
5. Finally, arrange your squares around the edges of your paper to create a border. Glue them down.
