Sewing With Nancy

Memories of living in her native country of Ghana, specifically the remembrance of the "beat the drum" serve as the inspiration for the quilts of today's Nancy's Corner guest. Please welcome Wendy Mamattah, who joins us today in studio, and she's from Portland. Thank you. Welcome to Sewing with Nancy, Wendy. Thank you so much, Nancy. Wendy, when I saw your quilts in print, I thought, "I have to interview you." Right. Because they have such movement, such life. And when I see them in person, I'm even more impressed. Right, thank you. Give our viewers a little summary of how you started quilting and how you create these lively dancers. Okay. In the beginning, you know, before everything started, I was a sewer, so I used to sew a lot for the community, locally and all that. And towards the end of the recession, you know, I-- I lost my job, and that wasn't a happy moment. So when I came and sat at home, a church mommy of mine told me she would teach me how to start quilting. And then, she was a traditional quilter, so she basically taught me traditional quilting, and that was a struggle, because I-- I didn't want to do that. So I started, you know, just putting artworks together, because I did art in school, and I have that creative ability... You certainly do. And showed her my first quilt, which was "And She Said Yes." And it's just two African silhouettes looking into each other's face. You know, it's a marriage quilt. Now, your fabric is also a marriage of fabrics. So you have batik fabrics. - Right. But then you have traditional African fabrics... Yeah. - Not the original woven fabric. But explain the difference between the print and the woven that we have here. Okay, this is a Kente sash that I have. The real Kente is very rigid, and it's woven by hand in wefts and then finally joined in pieces till it gets really big. And Kente in our culture is-- is huge. Like, that's what we celebrate in for our traditional ceremonies and stuff like that. And the colors in Kente actually represent the gold, which is a raw material that Ghana has, and other colors too. And it used to be used by the royals, you know, in times of old. And right now, in my quilts, I actually-- what I do is-- Use the prints. I use the Kente prints, because they're, cost-wise... Yes. Easier to manage and to use in the quilts. And I often would select, you know, just audit a lot of fabrics-- audition a lot of fabrics, like batiks, that reflect our African weather. And this is one of the best that I found out... Sure. - And started quilting with. It's hot. Yeah, it represents, to me, the West African sun. Sure. - You know? Now, this is a small quilt of yours, but let's look at your newest edition called "Celebrations." That is spectacular. Thank you.

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It has drummers, it has dancers... lovely job. Thank you. Now, when you design quilts, you explained to me that you put on your music of your native country and get into the mode. That's right. When I'm quilting, I just want to be transported to that place. Sure. And sometimes it's hard just to zone out... And go to that place to feel, you know-- to feel the richness of my culture, to represent that in fabric. So I help myself by playing our traditional Ghanaian music, which we call "Highlife," and that's what I use. And, you know, just getting into playing it for about five minutes just takes me right home. Oh, nice. And the rhythm of the music actually helps me into placing-- cutting out the silhouettes, you know? Uh-huh. Because I know a lot about our traditional dances. So it depends on how-- what music is playing. I just tell myself, "This would go with "Adowa." This would go with "Aba Yaa." This would go with..." Sure. - You know, whatever. So, I cut out my silhouettes just according to what kind of music I'm listening to. Mm-hmm. And then I'm able to place the limbs of the silhouettes. That's the legs and the hands. - Sure. You know, in-- dynamically, just to go with the kind of music I'm listening to. Now, quickly, the very vertical quilt that we're looking at now of the women in the line... Right. The perspective you have there is amazing. Thank you. Now, they're walking into town. They're walking into town. You know, we have a lot of African villages everywhere, and in the mornings, the women would leave because they-- they are like th e hard workers of the family. Yes. They would leave, either to go sell at a local market or go shopping at the market, you know, to come and make the evening meal. And most of them have their kids behind them, and they all walk along a footpath, and some hold sticks, and others come in with pots and pans on their heads, and-- Well, it's lovely. - Yeah. That's so lovely, Wendy. Thank you for sharing your work with us. Thank you. - It's inspiring. I know it will inspire many of you at home. Okay, thank you. Thank you for joining us during this two-part series of "Magic Inch Quilts." And I hope you watch next time or watch us online at NancyZieman.com. Bye for now.