In the spirit of improvisation, this block was created from the left-over bits and pieces from other squares: a cut-up t-shirt, an old bed sheet, a strip of yellow. Much like the materials, this block was sewn in the stolen moments between meetings or grading, over lunch breaks, and to rest. I made it as a way to play and refresh. To embrace experimentation.
American quilt, fiber art, and folk art scholarship gained significant ground in the twentieth century. Scholars in this field have worked to draw attention to what most folks have known for a long time: art is made every day, by ordinary people; art can be functional; “Art” (with a capital A) is determined by people in power, which means that “Art” is often a symbol of Empire; art can be made communally and can value of the group of the individual. The focus of this class, and this project in particular, has been to consider how power, influence, money, colonialism, and other forces determine “good” and “quality” within various art forms, and how scholars and artists respond to this pull.
Before this project, most of the students did not yet know how to sew. Most of these blocks are hand-sewn.