...and preshrunk. Some of the quilts are made with reversible sides so you can either show a beautiful patchwork look or a solid flower pattern. The Greenland Home Antique Chic King Quilt Set is oversized yet light and long enough to provide a nice draping over the mattress. The quilted patterns are arranged to mix and match easily. The bedspread and shams can be used all season round, however, it's suggested for use during summer and fall. With good care this set will last you for years and never be out of fashion. Another good set is the Greenland Home Blooming Prairie Full/Queen Quilt Set. This vibrant colored quilt is best used between early spring and late winter. This particular set is recommended for pet owners, it's very durable and any pet hair is barely...
Words: 761 - Pages: 4
...Kristina Presbitero Professor Bush English Composition II September 13, 2012 Young Adulthood: The Fitting Room for Identities Just as we use a fitting room to try clothing on before we purchase it, young adulthood can be seen as a fitting room for the many identities that we are familiar with, along with the ones we are still discovering. As we grow older, we try to fit ourselves into one particular group that seems familiar to us. While reading “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, we see Dee’s world revolving around this premise. The article “Stylish vs Sacred in ‘Everyday Use’” written by Houston Baker provides great evidence for this idea. Dee’s arrival home brings an unwelcome surprise as they notice she has altered her physical appearance, and attitude alike. This leads to her betrayal of family values. Dee’s arrival home makes a strong impression on her family. Walker writes, “A dress down to the ground, in this hot weather. A dress so loud it hurts my eyes. There are yellows and oranges enough to throw back the light of the sun” (Walker 365). This gives the impression that Dee wants to stand out above all others. Along with the flashy dress, she pairs huge bangles and hoop earrings, as if the outfit needed an extra pop of color. This dress may have made sense if not for its impracticality. Even though Dee finds the dress hot and cumbersome, she still wears it to sport her newfound identity for her family. She accomplishes her goal of standing out when compared to her...
Words: 1194 - Pages: 5
...Reading Response: The Miracle Quilt By: Kelly Cleary This story was about a quilt that a woman bought at a city- wide garage sale. It was a sweet story about the old days when her grandmother showed Janine how to sew. I was thinking this story was too descriptive. It went on and on about the details of making a quilt and the details on the three pound miracle this woman had found. I personally did not like that part much. This sort of thing doesn’t interest me. It reminds me of a time when I saw my friend crochet and thought I should try it. I found out the hard way, that crochet is very difficult, and tedious. It just wasn’t my sort of hobby. I didn’t completely hate the story because it was very nice that the woman took such an interest in this quilt and who made it. I also liked when the grandmother was telling Janine about the days when the women were stuck in their homes and they started quilting to keep them from going stir crazy. I couldn’t imagine living in a place where there was no television or neighbors for miles. I also liked that there was so much love and work put into these quilts. All the history and stories behind quilts was very interesting. Before this story I never knew how quilts came to be. Personally I don’t like the design. I’m more modern. I think quilts are mostly used by older people. I don’t think that the quilt Janine found was a...
Words: 264 - Pages: 2
...appliqué. Festive patchwork textiles created for special occasions are found in many places throughout India. Pieced and appliquéd household items are made by women for dowries. These objects include decorative bags, pillows and sitting mats. Appliqué played a part in religious textiles as well. It has long been used to make decorative clothing, because most clothing is used until it is worn out and then again reused to create beautiful patterns out of the worn fabric. This serves both economic and decorative purposes. Small pieces of fabric are cut and joined side by side to make a large piece of fabric or for repairing a damaged fabric. The craft seems to have been prevalent all over India. “ In all periods there are to be found in pieced quilts both unique and conventional designs; within the framework of the latter each maker had full liberty in terms of colors, arrangements, sizes of the...
Words: 1282 - Pages: 6
...modern times, a quilt is generally thought of as a decorative bed covering. However, the term actually originates from the sewing method. Quilting is the act of stitching through three layers of material, generally a top, a middle filler layer of down, flax or wool, and then a bottom layer. Stitching the layers to hold them together provides more insulation and warmth (History). ”One of the most universal fabric arts is quilting.” (Bonnice) In addition to providing a layer of warmth for beds, quilts were also hung over windows and doorways to help keep out the cold weather (Johnson). At first, the stitching on quilts was just a rough tying together of the material. (Lewis, p 2). The tufted quilt is tied in enough places to keep the filling from shifting and bunching (History) This method was not extremely durable, and since European women were already practiced embroiders, they began to use those techniques on quilts as well, to hold the filler materials in place better. (Lewis, p 2) Like other household goods, quilts were brough by the colonists when they came to settle here in America. (Lews, p 10) The colonists only had the fabric material they brought with them to use. Quilts were functional items, as the women did not have time for the artistic traditions of quilting which they had learned in Europe (Johnson). As these household goods wore out, blankets were patched, and even combined with old cothes and other blankets as filler material in a new quilt. (Johnson) Fabric...
Words: 2058 - Pages: 9
...The Symbolism of Quilts Designs used in quilts are not necessarily symmetrically organized; rather the art of quilting reflects an aesthetic understanding by the makers of what the quilt represents for them in their everyday experience. (Barkley-Brown, 1990). The shape of a quilt results from the meaning that the individual quilters give to the pieces that compose it. This art form is known as gumbo ya ya in Creole which means everybody talking at once. (Barkley-Brown, 1990). Alice Walker’s usage of quilts in her short story Everyday Use reflects the importance and significance of a quilt in African-American history. A quilt embodies heritage and personal stories and events; a quilt is similar to a person’s own journey in that each scrap stitched into a quilt represents “a person’s world view [which] is made up of events, circumstances and influences that shape how [she] see[s] and respond[s] to the world.” (Eshbaugh, 2008, August 21). Narrated by the mother of the two main characters, the symbolism of the hand-stitched quilts in Everyday Use represents the conflicts between two sisters who each experience the world and their heritage differently. The story begins with Dee, the eldest daughter, first homecoming since leaving for college. Walker describes Dee as a woman who no one ever told “no.” Dee is well-educated, wears bright colors that accentuates her full-figured body and exudes confidence. However, Dee will never be satisfied in life, and she...
Words: 1116 - Pages: 5
...while managing their tasks as caregivers and overseers of the brood. In the early Western communities, quilting began as a way of using limited supplies in a unique way in order to create bounty where naught could be found. “It is pioneer women, who overcame limited supplies with great creativity and perserverence of spirit, and brought the humble Patchwork Quilt into the fabric of American history and society. The Pioneer Quilting Bee was a spring and summertime way of socializing after being housebound all winter (and of finishing the quilt tops that were pieced throughout the winter months).” (Amish Quilter website) Bees, as they were called, were borne from necessity and grew into a greater power. The power of the feminine bond is strong. Women storytelling is a core of the bee. Quilting became an outlet and a form of sisterhood that is now very much the root of the Amish family order. “Like the traditional barn-raising, where members of the community work together to build a barn, quilting bees offer opportunities for the women to help each other. Socializing as they work, Amish quilters gather around a quilt frame and finish several tops in a single afternoon. “(Quilting in America) Although it began as a simple form of piecing scraps together to make use of every bit, the art of quilting became an outlet it seems for the women of this society. Quilting became a freedom from the boundaries. Eccentric designs have arisen where nondescript where the norm. It became...
Words: 441 - Pages: 2
...Assignment Artifact: antique quilt from rural Appalachian village in West Virginia from 1890, currently on display in the Heritage Farm Museum of cultural artifacts in Huntington, West Virginia. Appalachian Quilts For this assignment I have decided to focus on quilts and their cultural and historic importance. One in particular caught my eye, which is a multi-colored antique quilt that I discovered while researching the Appalachian people of rural West Virginia. While there are many different cultural artifacts that are a part of the history of the Appalachian people, this is one that has deep roots in that often times quilts get passed down from generation to generation. It is a patchwork quilt that was first started by the grandmother of a coal miner, Leanne Thomas in 1890 who left the quilt unfinished in order for her children to add patches to it and then continue the tradition. The colors featured are cream and red. The prints used also feature yellow, blue, orange, purple, green, black, tan, and brown. It is hand-sewn with triangle pieces that are attached together with pieces of yarn. The quilt has an abstract geometric pattern that is made by altering the direction and placement of both blocks and rows. Each particular patch was said to signify an important event such as a birth or death that occurred, as well as to represent a member of the family. This specific quilt is unique because it was said to be one of the original quilts created with both synthetic dyes...
Words: 812 - Pages: 4
...tea. The water slowly turned brown like waiting for the sun to rise. She looked at her dark brown skin If only she were white. She would have her own personal slave a big white house, get to eat real food and get to taste tea! As the water finally turned dark brown she poured it into the teapot. She set out the teacups the sugar on one tray and brought it out as her owner Sarah and her master Sir John sat down. They both took a teacup and put sugar in the tea. Rachel looked into the deep brown of the tea in sir john’s cup. Rachel smelled the delicious taste that was longing to be brought to her lips. Her hands went out to take the cup but snapped back in when Mistress Sarah yelled, “Stop at once! You fool! Tea is only for civilized human beings! Not a negro like you!” Rachel set the pot of tea by Sir John and ran out into the fields where her mother was picking cotton with a few other Africans. She spotted her mother and hugged her. “What’s happened?” asked her mother stroking her braids. “Oh Mother!” said Rachel wrapping her arms even tighter around her. “Rachel!” yelled Sir John. “Go child” said her mother. “I’ll be right here” Rachel ran toward the front door. “A slave owner is here to have a look at you” said Sir John pushing her into the house. Rachel’s heart skipped a beat. She held back her tears The slave owner was sure to take her away from her mother and papa and little Noel who was only eight months old. She would be thrown on a ship and would be taken somewhere...
Words: 1261 - Pages: 6
...the United States realize that slaves aren't just animals or things, but real human beings. The Underground Railroad was an amazing ingenious feat. Using verbal and visual codes, and some of the engineering feats. There were some crazy hiding techniques that people came up with to keep slaves hidden from authorities, whether the slaves were staying somewhere, or traveling from place to place. If it wasn't for the Underground Railroad, many slaves would've been beat, or worse, killed by their own masters. There are many people who believe that the Underground Railroad was exactly that, and underground railroad (aka. Subway). But in reality the underground railroad was actually just a new type of transportation. It was called “Underground” because it was hidden from authorities, and hidden from many others too. The word “Railroad” was used because of the fact that the Underground Railroad was an up and coming type of transportation, it wasn't the fastest, or the...
Words: 870 - Pages: 4
...” stated one of the slaves that Sally worked with. Sally McNeal was a slave, and she wanted to escape the plantation she worked at. Sally is an older girl, about 19 years old, that worked in Maryland, which was considered a ‘slave’ state.(3) Many states had banned slavery in 1776 already, but Maryland hadn’t banned slavery yet.(1) When the Civil war started in 1861, the North wanted to ban slavery, while the south wanted to keep slavery completely legal. She works on a farm in the south where she and many others planted cotton and other plants as well.(4) She did not like the way her owners treated her unfairly along with the rest of her fellow slaves. The house servants were given better food and clothing than the farm workers were given.(2) She had to be out in the field as soon...
Words: 992 - Pages: 4
...aeon of the past or present. Brutally bonding innocent souls with the shackles of labor, slave trade in Sub-Saharan Africa during the Post-Classical Era, 600-1450 C.E., and the Early Colonial Era, 1450-1750 C.E., correlate through the time periods with the viley vain intent to collect and sell vulgar labor force. But the slave trade differs with the slave dealer’s motivation morphing throughout time, for the initial motive for slave trade commenced with the craving for personal profit and, overtime, altered...
Words: 931 - Pages: 4
...Sheniqua Glover October 27, 2014 Dr. A. Pierre ADW 111 The Story Behind “SHHHHH!” Joyce J. Scott was born in 1948 in Baltimore, Maryland. Scott has a mixed ethnicity of Scots, and African and Native American. As a young child, the young Scott watched her mother, a well-known fiber artist created majestic quilt. Her mother’s work along with her African American family’s heritage of storytellers, quilters, basket makers, and wood metal, and clay workers contributed to the ideas Scott uses for her artwork pieces. She is known as the “Queen of Beadwork”. Each of Joyce J. Scott’s beaded statues address the stories of current political and social issues, like race, gender, and class difficulties. In one of her interviews asking about how she thinks of her artwork, Scott responds, “It’s important to me to use art in a manner that incites people to look and then carry something home – even its subliminal – that might make a change in them.” Looking at her art pieces one can really take something from just viewing it. Out of the works she has in the “Brides of Anansi: Fiber Contemporary Art” on display at Spelman College, the “SHHHHH!” statue has a lot of information to pass off to those who stop to admire its craftsmanship. In this figurine, the tale of the life of an African woman is entailed as she take of the challenge of balancing the individuals around her. Joyce J. Scott’s “SHHHHH!” statue gives the perception that Scott wanted to deliver a message on gender, feminism,...
Words: 983 - Pages: 4
...• African identity- this term will be used interchangeable. (1) realizing the African continent commonality, (2) the culture and behavior of the slaves (African born and creoles)—basically what defines the slaves’ identity. • Creoles- (1) Atlantic creoles that are phenotypically and culturally mixed with African and European cultures. The Dynamic African identity: Coping with Slavery Upon considering the changes and the creation of an “African” identity (definition 2), it is important to realize that similar to the constantly changing slavery due to the frequent shifts in the social, political, and economic contexts, the “African” identity was also dynamic. Although the overall reason that prompted the development of the notion of the African continent (definition 1) might be similar across the board of slavery, the specifics of what constituted this identity (ex: religion, family formation) is largely dependent on the time period and region being discussed—ex: the 17th Century African identity in North America is different from the 18th Century identity in Europe. Several factors that enhanced the creation of the African identity (definition 2) include: (1) ability to form families as a result of the gender ratio, mortality rates, segregation from other slaves, (2) population ratio of native-born to creolized slaves, and (3) religious movement that were characteristic of the time and space. These three factors allowed for the African identity to be realized...
Words: 1702 - Pages: 7
...contributing to that same administration. He also adds that the government is an expedient, convenient and practical, although possibly improper or immoral. Frederick Douglass’ first published work of fiction, The Heroic Slave, is centered around the main character, Madison Washington and the struggles he had to endure in pursuit of freedom. Washington, couldn’t fathom being denied his inalienable right to be free, and unlike the majority of other slaves at the time, vigorously fought to change that fact. He knows there is something wrong within the enslavement of a large group of people, based solely on their skin color and lineage. When Washington was giving his soliloquy, he further affirms his thoughts on slavery. He realizes that animals, who are indefinitely inferior to humans have a better life than human slaves because they can live their lives freely. Washington is significantly different from the mass of other slaves, he knows the severity of injustice that is brought on by enslavement in America. Within the American at the time, the law stated slaves were not even a person, but just another’s property to be used and sold. When coming back from an attempt to runaway from his master he states: Peeping through the rents of the quarters, I saw my fellow-slaves seated by a warm fire, merrily passing away the time, as though their hearts knew no sorrow. Although I envied their seeming contentment, all wretched as I was, I despised the cowardly acquiescence in their own degradation...
Words: 917 - Pages: 4
