In Touch With Sisters Of The Cloth
By Betty Miller Buttram
FWIS Contributing Writer
The Fort Wayne Quilt Guild came together with a membership of fourteen in early 1993. They shared an initial interest in quilting and in the beginning, the meetings were held in each other homes and then in area libraries. In October 1993, The Fort Wayne Quilt Guild official name became The Appleseed Quilters Guild. The Guild currently has more than one hundred members which consists of all ages and socio-economic groups. Included within this number of one hundred members, is group of approximately twenty African American women in Fort Wayne who have named themselves Sisters of the Cloth.
A chance meeting with a member of the Sisters of the Cloth happened during Women’s History Month in March of this year. One of the sisters, Jacquei Seals, was participating in a church program honoring three historical African American Women of the past at my church. However, she had to eventually excuse herself because she also was preparing for a quilting fest taking place at the Grand Wayne Center this coming June. Rehearsing for the portrayal of that historical woman combined with her quilting project was a little more taxing on her time. Reluctantly, she gave up the role but felt that she had somehow disappointed me and made more work for me. In a display of kindness and thoughtfulness, she gifted me one of her quilts as a way of an apology. Well, I momentarily forgot about the program as I looked at that beautiful queen size quilt and thought of the time that it had taken her to create just a superb form of art. She told me about the stitching and the meaning of each sewed object on each square patch sewed together in making this into a quilted bedspread or a wall hanging.
I know something about crafts and spending time working on a cross-stitch pattern which is a form of sewing on an even weave fabric. I spent a great deal of time working on needlepoint which is a form of embroidery in which yarn is stitched through a stiff open canvas. I have completed latch- hook rugs which is a craft in which short segments of yarn are tied to the horizontal strands of a small or medium sized canvas grid and used to make small rugs, wall hangings and pillows. I spent hours with sister-friends working on individual crafts accompanied with small talk and comfort foods. My late mother-in-law crocheted square patches of colorful threads that were sewed together and made into bed quilts. These quilts were the medication that she needed in coping with the death of her daughter who was her youngest child. The crocheting kept her up late into the night and when she finished, there were three gorgeous, crocheted bed quilts that have become family heirlooms.
I appreciated the gift because I knew of the work that Jacquei had done to complete this quilt. I did not mention to her about the storage containers in one of my closets filled with cross stitch, needlepoint, and latch hook rugs. There will be another time for sharing the contents of those containers. As we talked more about quilting, she told me about the Sisters of the Cloth of which she has been a member since 1994. I inquired more about them and that is when she invited me to the ACPL main library where a few of them would be working on their quilts for the upcoming fest. She then invited me to their meeting on May 14th at the Hessen Cassel Library, and it was a lively and celebratory visit.
As the quilters were finishing their meeting, one of them was making a list of the names of the quilters and the theme of each of their quilts for the completion of the Special Exhibit Form. Twenty-four quilts from this sisterhood will be on display at the Fort Wayne Quilt Fest in June. There were ten women present and about three on Zoom. There was lots of chatter and togetherness. The Sisters pointed out to me the quilt that they had completed as a group project. I also admired their individual quilts. To describe them on paper is a challenge for me. The quilts all have a theme. The quilters usually start with just a piece of cloth or two and an evolving idea of working that cloth into storytelling patterns. The colors, fabric, and designs are amazingly dazzling.
While the sisters continued giving the collector the required information regarding their quilts, I was able to interview a few of the quilters.
Doris Green, President of the Sisters of the Cloth, was born in Uniontown, Alabama and moved with her family to Fort Wayne when she was six years old. Her quilt is named “Jelly Roll Run,” and it is her first quilt. Doris has memories of sitting on her grandmother’s porch in Alabama with her grandmother’s quilting group that consisted of four to six ladies. It was a fun time for her in watching and listening to the stories that the ladies told while working on their quilts and eating tea cakes. Her grandmother, Carnelia Jordan, also made clothing for her family. Doris did sew for her family, but she never did learn how to do quilting until she joined this group in 2013.
Sandra Brothers is from Spencerville, Indiana and has been a member of the Sisters of the Cloth for 12 years. She has been a quilter since 1968. Sandra once owned a quilt shop in Leo, Indiana. The name of her quilt is “Solid Color Circle.”
Bertha McLemore, originally from Birmingham, Alabama, has a quilt designed with the theme “Underground Railroad” as well as another quilt named “Night Sky.” Both quilts will be on display at the fest.
Amelia Culpher learned to sew as a child. She was employed with Magnavox for 35 years and retired in 2002. She joined this group of quilting sisters at that time. She has two quilts that will be on display and the themes are “Sister and Brother,” and the other theme is “Southwestern Style,” which is in remembrance of her daughter.
Radafay Martin, born and raised in Fort Wayne, has been a member of the group since 2014. She became interested in quilting because she grew up sewing all through high school. She did not get into quilting until she joined this group. She is working on her first quilt.
Yvonne Johnson, born and raised in Fort Wayne, is the only hand quilter. She does not use a sewing machine. She has been with the group for 15 years and has been quilting for 20 years. The theme for her quilt is “The Royal Rolling Star.” The quilt is of purple and gold fabric.
Jacquei Seals was born in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, raised in Fort Wayne and spent her summers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The inspiration for her quilt is based on two five charm packs that she bought at a quilt shop in Hamilton, Missouri. She knew immediately that she was going to make a quilt based on those charms. The theme of her quilt is “Shibori Diamond Chain.”
The Group Quilt took the sisters about six months to complete which normally would have taken them about a month. The group received a pattern and each one made a block. Each member completed a block within three days; however, COVID restrictions prevented them from getting together as a group. Janie White, another member, put the blocks together and the borders around the quilt. This quilt will be on display at the Grand Wayne Center in June.
The Fort Wayne Quilt Fest, presented by the Appleseed Quilters Guild, will be at the Grand Wayne Convention Center on Friday, June 10, 2022, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and on Saturday, June 11, 2022, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. General Admission for 1 Day - $8.00, 2 Day- $12; Schoolhouse Admission: $15.
Time, love of the craft, creating themes and storytelling designs make for captivating and stunning quilts. Take time out and visit the Quilt Fest and see the twenty-four quilts made by the Sisters of the Cloth.