Ooh La La Design Studio

Vanessa Newton We always had the laying around. Playing underneath them and wrapping our little brown bodies in them to keep warm on cool Autumn nights. Pieces of left over history, dreams, stories, hand me downs and bits all stitched up together to make a quilt. They didn't make them for show. My Grandma would say, " Only the white women got to make dem kind. The real pretty ones with diamond and log cabin patches. Didn't nobody have time to make dem kinda ting." They made the kind that was called ," Necessary Quilts." My Grandma called them " "Nesasity" She was Gullah Geechee. The community of women would come together and work to create a quilt for each family. They would work on one and finish that one and start someone else's. They would sing songs and talk about the happening in the community and pray. Some used the quilts to hang up against the crack in the clap board houses to keep the cold out. Some to make a mattress for the family to sleep on. They even used them for storytelling, teaching the Bible and yes, even as maps to get to freedom. Now I am trying to learn how to make these quilts so that I might share them with my baby girl and leave a legacy for my family. This book is about a very talented woman named, "Harriet Powers". Harriet was a fantastic quilt maker artist. This book tells her amazing story and I got to do the artwork for. If you are quilter or would like to be one, or just like quilting stories, you are going to love this book. "Sewing Stories " By Barbara Herkert. Illustrated by your's truly. Coming soon! I'll keep you posted!