Kente Quilts: My Journey

– TaMara Howard: Well, welcome everyone.

I wanna just take a moment and bring greetings to you all from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

So thank you for coming out this morning and spending an hour with me.

I do know that there are many things you can be doing right now, but I’m very grateful to have you all with me today.

So my presentation is on Kente Quilts: My Journey.

And I wanna begin by just telling you a little bit about myself and how I got started in quilting.

So this is my great-grandmother, Maggie Virginia Folk, and I’m just gonna kind of read through this really quickly and it just kind of gives a nice synopsis of who I am.

I was inspired by the many colorful quilt stories that I heard about my great-grandmother, Maggie Virginia Folk.

She passed away in 1967, just three years before I was born.

But I was called to follow in her footsteps by pursuing what I consider to be the craft of quilting in 1996.

Without even a sewing machine, I began studying patchwork techniques, color theory, quilt layout, and design.

My background is industrial and manufacturing engineering.

By day, I am a CFO for an affordable housing nonprofit, one of the largest in southwestern PA.

But in all of my free time, I’m always behind a sewing machine.

Since that time, my love for quilting has evolved into a deep and genuine passion for the art form.

My work fuses the old with the new, the traditional with the modern, and the recently woven with the recycled.

A little bit of accolades as well.

I am a member of the Modern Quilt Guild and have been since its inception in 2011.

I’m also a member of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee and also an equity officer.

I’ve had one quilt shown in their journal, and you’ll be able to see that quilt today.

And then also, I’ve written three articles with Curated Quilts magazine on black cotton, black cotton farming, and just how that plant grows.

And you know, as sewers and quilters, we use a lot of cotton.

How many of you all have on cotton today?

Raise your hands.

Just about everyone, right?

But we rarely take the time to think about the plant that we sew with every day and the farmers that farm it.

And it is a fascinating plant.

And so I’ve had a wonderful time writing this series of articles on why we farm, how they farm, and then, of course, their future.

And then also, I’ve got a quilt showing in the show today.

If you get a chance to walk through, and I’m sure you will, you’ll also see my quilt, and I’ll have a picture of it for you so you can identify it.

So this is a picture from Tillery Farms in North Carolina.

This was a picture that I personally took as I was touring the farm.

I took my children; they’re both 15.

We went to the farm three times: before they planted, while they were growing, and then back again from Pittsburgh to North Carolina for the harvest.

It’s really an amazing plant.

But how did I get started in quilting?

So my first class was at the Cotton Ball.

Isn’t that funny?

[TaMara laughing] And my teacher was Becky Rogers.

And again, I did not have a sewing machine.

She handed me some needle, thread, and a pair of scissors, had me pick some fabrics.

And there I sat, learning first how to do three-patch blocks.

So we did Monkey Wrench, we did Shoofly, and then we did Crossroads.

And I’ve always find it fascinating how these blocks that we’re all familiar with got their name.

And so that’s something that I’ve begun to pursue during my career.

And then from there, I moved on to a little bit more difficult blocks, four-patch, and then seven-patch blocks.

So we’ve got the Star Quilt block, and then Bear Paw’s Trail, which you all know, that’s a challenging block with all those half triangles.

And then from there, I took some specialty classes with Becky.

I did everything with Becky, as you can see.

She was the master teacher in the entire community of Pismo Beach, California.

At that time, there was no other teacher.

So we moved from Log Cabin and then we did some appliqu.

And then from there, Tumbling Blocks and Drunkard’s Path, curve piecing.

And you know, curve piecing is probably one of the most challenging styles of quilting of all.

But once you get the hang of it and a nice rhythm, it works out.

So after taking all of those classes with her in 2001, I designed my first quilt.

And that’s the quilt that you’re seeing here.

And this is what is called a freedom quilt.

My first quilt design was based on this book, Hidden in Plain View, and it’s by Jacqueline Tobin and Raymond Dobard.

And what’s interesting about it, facts versus folklore, these are the coded messages that were used for slaves to escape from slavery through the Underground Railroad.

Now again, fact or folklore, I do not know, but what I do know is I enjoyed making the blocks and designing them.

But since then, Eleanor Burns and Sue Bouchard has come out with a book titled Underground Railroad Sampler.

So if you’re interested in learning how to make these blocks or make a freedom quilt yourself, you can purchase that book from Eleanor Burns.

And it’s a wonderful book.

And it’s very simple.

The only thing that they don’t have in the book is that small carpenter’s wheel in the bottom with all the parallelograms.

That design is not in their book.

They have a little bit more simpler design in their book, but it’s a wonderful book.

So I say all this to say, as much as we all love YouTube, and it’s a great place to go and learn something quick.

If you wanna learn to quilt, take classes.

So this is “Eclipse.”

I am my family’s genealogist, and I wanted to learn more about my grandfather on my mother’s side.

His name was Cato Hadrass Shorter.

And he and his family, he was born in 1906, he’s a twin, grew up in Cuthbert, Georgia on the Shorter Plantation.

And that plantation is still there.

And it’s now a museum, it’s beautiful.

You can rent it out for weddings and social events.

So my sisters and I went down and took a tour.

And what we, what I noticed, now, what they took away was something different.

But what I noticed is that there was a abundance of cotton decor everywhere.

The plant itself.

So it’s a part of flower arrangements.

It was in decor on the walls throughout the town of Cuthbert.

People had vases of cotton in their store rooms, et cetera.

It was really, really interesting to see that plant used in that way, given the tough history of African Americans and cotton.

Okay, and so I came away inspired and I bought all the cotton I could find in Pittsburgh and decorated my home with it.

And so I was inspired to make this quilt called, what I called “Cotton Wreath.”

But my sisters didn’t like it, so they renamed it “Eclipse.”

And so if I can borrow Maria, and I can share this quilt with you all.

And this was the first time that I worked with black and white.

‘Cause black and white is hard to get value out of sometimes.

And so you really have to work with the texture of the design of the fabric.

And so all of these are concentric circles pieced inset into the bigger circle in behind it.

So it’s a whole circle, each ring, and they’re each two inches apart.

And then just to add some value, I like binding.

I know a lot of modern quilters like to face their quilt where the binding doesn’t show.

I am a traditional quilter by training.

And so I do put a binding on all of my quilts, and then I alternated the binding to coordinate with the background.

Okay, and then if we flip to the back, I used a nice Indah Batik on the back.

Okay, and now across the top, I think you…

So there was a local designer– you can hold on, I’m sorry– a local designer designed her own fabric.

And this is the town of Pittsburgh.

If you looked at the whole piece, it’s the entire city of Pittsburgh and some of the iconic structures that are significant within Pittsburgh.

So that’s what you’re seeing there.

There’s the West End and some other places, if you’re familiar.

Okay, thank you.

And then one last thing that I like to do, and it’s just kind of interesting.

Of course, labeling quilts are important.

I like to print right onto fabric, sew the label into the back, and then quilt.

So then its permanent record stays with your quilt permanently.

All right, thank you.

So that’s whole circle.

So I played around a little bit more, took some whole circles, and cut them into quartered.

A little bit more modern in style as well.

But when you cut this whole circles into quarters, then you have a fun times kind of with different layouts and designs that way as well.

And then similar on the back, playing with reds is a tough one, and getting that value.

So I had a lot of mistakes with the red, but I decided to use them all on the back.

So what I learned about this symbol though, in Ghana, there are two types of symbols.

There are Adinkra symbols and then Kente symbols.

Adinkra symbols are very popular.

They’re used in a lot of African-American art and fashion.

You can Google Adinkra; they’ll pop right up.

They’re very well-known.

This is an Adinkra symbol.

I bought this fabric last year at this quilt show, and they’re just everywhere.

So Adinkra symbol is something you definitely wanna Google if you’re not familiar with it.

But as it turns out, these concentric circles, which look like the Target logo, right?

It’s an Adinkra symbol, and it’s called Adinkrahene, and it’s the chief of all the Adinkra symbols.

And it means greatness, charisma, and leadership.

So a fun fact, something I didn’t know, but as I began to learn more about Ghanaian history and seeing that my family has that heritage, I wanted to know more.

So it was more of a coincidence than anything, but I absolutely find fascinating.

So I took my journey to an expert, Mr. Asare.

He’s a Master Kente Weaver, mathematician, African sage, and teacher.

And his father founded the Dento Mills in Kente in the 1950s.

At the height of that time, there were over 50 weavers and apprentices.

But today, there’s only ten.

So this craft is a dying craft, as most crafts are, such as cursive, right?

Our youth aren’t learning cursive anymore, but he’s doing his best to keep the mill going, to keep the mill alive.

And it’s been wonderful getting to know him.

He and his father both have had Kente pieces on display at the United Nations.

His father’s piece when it was installed in 1960, and then in 1995, they reached out to him and he had a piece installed as well.

And his piece is called “Consensus Has Been Reached.”

So he’s also the author of this children’s book because he’s really trying to get the information out about Kente, ’cause it does involve some math and science in terms of teaching youth.

So he created this children’s story book to share.

And so if anyone’s a teacher or has grandchildren or know young children, this is a wonderful book to continue to teach about the history of Kente cloth and Kente weaving.

There are two types of Kente.

There’s the Ashanti and then the Ewe.

And what he is wearing is the Ewe, and the style’s a little finer, a little more grainier, where with traditional Kente, it’s a little bit bigger, a little bit more bold, if that makes sense.

So just a different style, but equally beautiful.

This was made on a broad cloth, but most times– a broad loom, rather.

But most times, Kente is made in strips that are about five inches long.

And then the strips are sewn together.

And it’s like a whip appliqu stitch, nothing fancy.

And then they attach them together, okay?

So this was a strip that I wore when I graduated, and we’ll talk about that significance.

So this is the loom.

And you can see again, just five inches.

There’s nothing fancy about it.

It’s all done by hand.

And it’s been my goal to learn about the people, the traditions, the values, and what some of these symbols mean.

So in African-American culture, when we graduate from college, because that’s a monumental event, and typically it’s the first.

So when I graduated in 2019 with my MBA, I was given this stole, and we all wear them, and we have no idea what any of it means, okay?

[laughing] But we wear them with pride.

So I wanted to learn a little bit more about, well, what are these symbols?

So of course, you know, red represents the bloodshed that Africa has experienced for centuries.

Of course, green is the land itself.

Gold is what a lot of people over the years have fought for.

And then, of course, black represents the people.

And then, this is what’s called an armpit drum that’s used during, you know, ceremonial events where the drum is played and it could be heard for miles, gathering people together for celebration.

So that’s what the stole means.

And then if you recall, in 2020, there was the famous shot of the government in the halls and kneeling, and they were all given from the Black Caucus, Kente stoles.

And so, and it created, of course, quite a bit of controversy, but at the end of the day, it was a ceremonial gesture showing acknowledgement to what happened with George.

So Kente cloth, it’s a piece of cloth woven from threads and strips sewn together.

They’ve been making Kente for over 375 years.

So these symbols have been around a long, long time.

And there’s no book of symbols in the Kente world as there are with Adinkra symbols.

Adinkra symbols are highly recorded, so that’s why you can go and you can look them up.

But with Kente symbols, you can’t.

It’s not an easy thing to do.

It’s quite a bit of research.

And then how the symbols are put together then create an entirely different meaning.

So how did it come to be; so fact or folklore?

The legend is, there were two brothers that came across a famous spider known as Ananse, and the spider is known for trickery and cunningness.

And so they were amazed by the web that this spider was creating, and they went home and made their first Kente cloth out of raffia tree.

And it was so beautiful that the royal family decided to reserve it for themselves.

And Kente traditionally has only been worn by royalty, which is why in African-American culture, it’s typically worn for a special occasion.

Okay, so that’s what we’re seeing now.

It’s typically made out of, this is made out of cotton, but this one is made out of silk.

So it’s a little bit different, has a different sheen to it, if you notice.

And that’s the thread that it’s used.

But primarily, you’ll see cotton nowadays, but I don’t want you to be mistaken for Kente cloth, Kente fabric.

So the concern that Mr. Asare has is that when we begin to mix cloth with print, we begin to believe that print is in fact cloth, when it’s just a print.

So this is Kente print.

It’s not the actual cloth; the cloth is woven.

But as you can see over time, that can get lost in translation.

You see what I mean?

And these, this cloth is important.

And you know, one of the things you wanna think about when you’re looking at cloth in particular is the quality of it.

African wax print cloth does have that wax feel to it, but it’s not, it should not be very, very heavy wax.

It should be light.

So before you leave, if you get a chance, feel free to come up and feel the cloth, because if you’re getting it from China, it’ll have more wax.

So the waxier, the stiffer the cloth, the cheaper the quality of the cloth, okay?

Now, it’ll never feel like a bolt of cotton fabric because it does have the wax on it, but it should not be stiff, if that makes sense, okay?

So Kente cloth versus Kente print.

And Kente cloth is used in everything now.

We’ve got shoes, we’ve got home decor, we’ve got building structures, we’ve got, you know, formal attire.

It’s amazing how it’s become a symbol of African-American pride.

But again, you don’t wanna confuse it with Kente print fabric.

People really do mistake this as Kente cloth.

Which is why I use this as an example.

There was a, there’s a group of Pittsburgh youth choir in Pittsburgh, it’s a big group of youth, and they did a show in partnership with another African-American arts organization.

And I was asked to make Kente sashes for them for their formal presentation.

Now, for youth, I would not do any Kente cloth, right?

It’s far too expensive.

The piece that Mr. Asare is wearing is over $1,000, right?

And so what I did was I took this fabric, this is why I have a piece left, and then I cut and then serged the edges, and that served as their sash, okay?

But it’s fabric and not Kente cloth.

But September is African Fabric Month.

So this is the month to support African designers that produce African fabric.

Now, for the most part, most African wax print fabric is not produced in Africa.

It’s produced in the Netherlands.

[chuckling] But Ghana has now a partnership with Vlisco.

And they are, for the first time, producing African print fabric in Africa by Africans.

And so if you Google GTP, that’s the Ghana Trade Production, they’re now producing their own African wax print fabric in Africa.

So again, one of those things.

And why is that important?

Well, our African designers are who are designing these quilts, these fabrics rather.

No differently than here in the U.S. when we buy fabric, there was a designer that created the pattern, right?

And the different colorways.

Well, the same is true of our African designers.

They’re making their designs, and if you’re not careful, China can replicate and then it, the label will look similar.

It’ll be green, it’ll stick.

But if you look closely, it’ll say “Manufactured in China.”

So that money is not going back to the country, so you wanna make sure that you’re buying good quality fabric that then reaches the people.

And each of them have a design, so just take a look at these pebbles real quick.

So I’m gonna read you this story and see if you can’t guess.

This pattern is called “The Household Pebble.”

“They are pebbles, just pebbles, not rocks.

“They’re in the house, not in the house, not in the streets.

“You see them always, day and night.

“So presumably, you know where each one lies.

“You have walked on them daily and made them smooth, “making them even more beautiful than those from the Shai Hills.

“Yet when hell’s pebbles hurt you, it’s more painful than that from a cut by street pebbles.”

What do the pebbles represent?

Let’s try again.

“They’re in the family.

“They’re not strangers.

“They live with you and toil with you.

“They know you very well.

“Your comings in and going out.

“You don’t fear them, and they do not shy of you.

“When you are eating, “they pull their hands into the bowl.

“When you drink from their cup, you don’t fear.

“That is why a cut from a house pebble is so very painful and takes so long to heal.”

They’re your family members.

And so that’s what the story was behind this design.

So celebrate African Fabric Month.

So as I began to learn more about Kente symbols, I stumbled on a few that I’ve seen over the years that I’ve just loved.

And so that inspired me to begin to learn more about each symbol and then of course to design some quilts.

And so this one is called Nsafoa, and it means keys.

And so I do have that here.

Oh, do you want me to step back?

There we go; you wanna hold that up?

All right, okay.

And so this means knowledge, unity, and diversity and harmony.

The design and the crucifix are almost identical, except the crossbar is at the lower end.

And basically, the story with this design is that one can make melody on either side of black or white keys of the piano.

But when you make harmony by playing both the black and white keys together, you create more harmony.

So that’s Nsafoa.

And we can show the back is a wonderful African wax print fabric as well.

– Audience Member 1: Beautiful.

– And I have a hard time cutting it up into small pieces, that’s just me.

[laughing] You know, the designs are always so big and bold and vivacious.

But for quilters and sewers that do, it’s always beautiful.

But I like to leave the cloth whole.

Thank you.

– Maria: Are we done?

– TaMara: So the next one is Afa.

And Afa has been the symbol that I have loved.

It’s so playful and childlike.

It’s a wonderful basic pattern and can be used in so many different ways, especially if you’re making a quilt for a child or if you’re a beginner sewer.

And so Afa was a device for melting raw gold and/or iron.

And as an engineer, a manufacturing engineer, I was just absolutely attracted to this particular design.

And this is the quilt that is currently on display in the show.

And so one of the things I wanted to share though, when I’m learning to design or just figuring out a design, I like to put ’em on canvas.

So it’s a small way to look at your design, get your color palette correct, and then also it makes a wonderful gift, or you can hang it in your home versus having random quilt blocks all over the place.

And so I stretch it onto canvas and then staple it.

And if I was giving this as a gift, I would just run a piece of felt around the edge of it.

So no matter what surface they put it on, then it doesn’t, the staples or what have you, don’t mar or scratch the wall, okay?

And so if you’ve never stretched your quilts or fabric on canvas, you should.

Canvas is very inexpensive to buy, typically at Michael’s, Joanne’s, 50% off with your coupon.

And then you just lay it across it.

And really, the pine is so soft, you don’t need a, you know, traditional staple gun.

You can just use your regular stapler.

But if you do have a staple gun or have access to one, they’re inexpensive and you can just use that, okay?

So that is Afa.

Now, I didn’t like just the green with the purple with the brown when I put this together.

So when I did the design for this, I added more shades of green and more shades of purple to get some interest and some depth.

And this particular quilt, I then put it in a Three Rivers Quilt Show, which is a local show, not as big as this.

It’s much smaller.

And I typically don’t show my quilts, that’s just not my thing.

But when it comes to a new design, I like to get feedback on it.

And so the feedback that the judges gave was that it was a unique color, innovative design, very graphic.

That’s what I was looking for.

Okay, so it received honorable mention from the judges.

So that’s Afa.

And the next one is Apremoo.

Apremoo means lightning or thunder, cannon, power, a symbol of resilience against foreign domination, superior military strategy.

And so this looks very reminiscent to Courthouse Steps.

Log Cabin, right?

Courthouse Steps came on– This is just a fun fact.

Came on the scene in the 1960s.

And Courthouse Steps is much easier to make than Apremoo because you get to, at least somehow, you’re still going around in a circle with Courthouse Steps.

But because of the color of the fabric you’re using, it creates a different design.

That is not true with Apremoo.

Everything is done in the rectangular blocks and then assembled together.

So you don’t get the ease of going in the circle, but it’s very reminiscent of Courthouse Steps.

They almost look almost identical to each other.

And so Apremoo, and I have this version.

Let me, before I do that, let me show you this, because I again wanted to get the color palette right.

So I went to small size again, ’cause again, getting the green right with the pink, with the yellow, sometimes that stuff all can conflict with each other, or it reads too bright or not bright enough.

So I started with this size, and then I love that color palette.

So I did make that quilt.

I didn’t bring it with me today.

But then when I went to the Modern Quilt Guild, they came back and said, “Well, we like the pattern, but can you change the colorway?”

Which I did, and so this is what was published for the Modern Quilt Guild.

And so this pattern is out there; it’s a free pattern.

And it was published in April of 2022.

And the pictures here are by Rebecca.

But you can see though, right?

Color matters, right?

It’s very different.

Very different.

Apremoo means lightning or thunder.

And so I was trying to kind of create some lightning and thunder, right?

And I did this on my domestic machine.

I didn’t use a longarm for this.

And so, you know, you just gotta take your time.

I did some Xs and then I looked at it, came back, did some more Xs, took a break, come back, add some more Xs.

And you know, you’ve gotta kind of mark your lines a little bit so you at least have some direction.

But that was all done on my machine and my back.

[chuckling] And it turned out, it turned out really well.

You know, you get, you’re in the middle of a project sometimes and you’re like, “Oh, I don’t know if this is going well,” but it did what I needed it to do to kind of give the effect of, you know, some lightning per se, without doing an actual lightning bolt.

So this is another version of Apremoo.

So if you look here, it’s right there in the center, right?

So this is its own Kente pattern in and of itself.

Can you see it?

– Audience: Mm-hmm.

– It looks a little bit more like Courthouse Steps even, but just depending upon the angle on which you’re looking at the pattern itself.

And so with the two side by side, you can see how they’re distinctly different.

Okay, [laughing] thank you Maria.

– You’re welcome.

[TaMara laughing] – So I can, I think one, oh, nope, you can have a seat.

You’re good, yep.

So this pattern, which I just showed you, I was commissioned to make some gifts for Pittsburgh Cultural Treasures.

Those are a group of African-American artists that apply for funding for projects with the Heinz Endowments and the Ford Foundation.

And so those that were chosen as an artist, I was asked to make some gifts.

So I made these for everyone.

Now, this was my first; you can see all these staples, right?

That’s a mess.

But when you’re learning how to do something, it’s better to over-staple than not.

Now I know how to do it.

The hardest part would be the corners, but however you get it across the corner will work just fine.

So anyway, this symbol is a traditional pattern, as I said, and it means “carry poverty to Agyeman.”

And Agyeman was a king in the early 16th century.

And this pattern represents and reminds us that we have to carry each other and ask, and it’s okay to ask for help.

So what King Agyeman wanted everyone to do was to come to him when you needed help.

Whether you needed money, you needed food, he wanted the people to rely on him.

And so that’s what he named that symbol as an offshoot of Apremoo, okay?

And so, as you can see, my journey is still going.

You know, I began with this quilt, but Maria, I’m gonna borrow you.

[chuckling] ‘Cause I wanna show it.

– Maria: I’m not tall enough, you know.

– Thank you.

So I started this in 2001, and I wanted to meander.

I didn’t know how to meander.

I didn’t even know how to quilt at that point.

So there it sat until about three years ago, where I finally got a longarm and I let the longarm meander.

And so I’m still not done because I want to couch the Underground Railroad trail onto the quilt.

But I don’t yet know how to couch.

But I know that my machine can do it.

I just now need to take a class, and then I’ll be able to bind it up and finish off the quilt.

So these works in progresses, those WIPs that we all have.

Sometimes it just takes us learning the skill we need to complete the vision that we have for the quilts.

And this is one of those cases, okay?

And this fabric is called Starburst.

It’s no longer in print.

It was very popular in 2001.

I think it’s by Bernadex, Bernatex.

I forget the official, how to say the name.

But it worked really well.

I didn’t know how to pick color back then either.

So sometimes it’s good to get the entire set and then you have all the colors playing together in harmony.

All right, so that’s all my presentation.

[audience applauding]