Stories in the Seams: A People's History of Black Quilts and Their Makers - Hardcover
Stories in the Seams: A People's History of Black Quilts and Their Makers - Hardcover
by Sharbreon Plummer (Author)
A sweeping survey of Black quiltmaking in America with stunning archival photographs of quilters and quilting bees, as well as full-page reproductions of both significant historical quilts and bold contemporary creations.
This compelling volume gives Black quilting traditions long-overdue attention, highlighting the artistry, innovation, and community solidarity of quilters from the 1700s through today. The deeply researched text of scholar and artist Dr. Sharbreon Plummer explores quilts as an archive of collective and personal memory, delves into methods of Black quiltmaking--both distinctive and endlessly diverse--and demonstrates the power of quilts and quilting as medicine against grief and oppression.- This book evokes the craftsmanship and tactile beauty of quilts with stunning archival and full-color photos.
- Discover the stories of scores of individual creators throughout history, including self-taught seamstresses, community organizers, and archivists of everyday life.
- Delve deeper into the stories behind world-renowned artists, past and present, like Bisa Butler, Faith Ringgold, and the Quilters of Gee's Bend.
- Each profile illuminates the reasons behind the quilts: to honor heritage, express political beliefs, process grief, find peace, or simply create beauty.
- Quilters, sewists, and other crafters, makers, and collectors
- Art history buffs and readers of artist biographies
- Anyone interested in Black culture, history, and art
- Professional artists and designers, art students, and researchers
- Creatives interested in the intersection of art and activism
Author Biography
Dr. Sharbreon Plummer is an internationally distributed writer, public scholar, curator, and interdisciplinary artist. Her research and artistic practice have been shaped by her investigations into Black art history and cultural studies, craft and material studies, Southern folkways, and her lived experience as a native of South Louisiana. She is the author of Diasporic Threads: Black Women, Fibre and Textiles and editor of Of Salt and Spirit: Black Quilts in the American South. She is primarily based in New Orleans, Louisiana.