First of all, this is not an advertisement, and I don’t mean to be a pain in the wazoo. Philosophically, I am just pondering why there are now kits so that people can make quilts to look like the quilts of Gee’s Bend. Historically, the quilts were made for warmth. The quilters there were not “celebrated” or even “noticed.” Poor people don’t get much notice. Instead, and before Matt Arnett came along to “discover them,” the quilters in that dirt poor part of Alabama were just “poor.”
Now that their quilts have attained “status” by being shown around the country and a big deal made about them, people want to emulate them? Why?
I realize that companies drive the quilt industry and dictate what they want people to buy. But this? It is just too much. Why not support the quilters of Gee’s Bend by buying a quilt made there? Do they make quilts for sale? Or has their fame made their quilts so high in price, as art treasures, that no one can afford them? Isn’t there a quilt cooperative in place in the town?
Lest the reader misunderstand me, I like the raw folk art look, the untutored sense of the original quilts of Gee’s Bend. I own the books that tell about them and the quilters there. To me, it almost seems like taking something away from the quilters to make kits of their works, sort of like trying to copy a Caryl Bryer Fallert designer quilt, exactly, down to the last thread, not that anyone could because her quilts are so unique.
Maybe I think too much but this situation of kits for African-American “treasures” seems over the top. I’m sorry. I just don’t “get it.” But then again, I guess I don’t have to understand. I do comprehend the aspect of money involved, and that may be the only thing that is being considered by those who made this decision to offer kits.
I’m having a hard time formulating why I reject this idea. I guess the bottomline is that I am getting tired of spin-offs, phoneys, and/or poor imitations. I’ll leave it at that.
Opinion? Write to me -
pat@quiltersmuse.com or leave a comment. I’d be interested to know what anyone else thinks.
By the way, the color combinations and designs of the kits look lovely!
Patricia Cummings
Quilter’s Muse Publications
