The Henry Ford museum has the newly acquired Nude is Not a Color quilt on display until mid April, and Phoebe and I went yesterday to meet Hillary Goodwin (@entropyalwayswins) and see it.
It is beautifully displayed just inside the entrance to the museum. The case is out from the wall so that you can see the front and back of the quilt. The signage with photos and stories from some of the contributors really bring people over to look more closely and read the background information.
Here is my story that is included in the display material:
“My daughter, Phoebe, who was 10 at the time, often spent time in my sewing room with me and loved to help choose fabrics for my projects. I had Phoebe help choose a fabric that matched my skin tone. She noticed that HER skin matched a different color and wanted to contribute a block too. I loved that teachable moment we had in the sewing room. I think that my family looks very similar but even my daughter and I have different color skin. This moment contributed to her journey of looking at how people are the same, how people are different, representation, and fighting for social justice as she is now doing in her teens.”
The blocks we contributed are shown below. I found it interesting to choose fabrics that best matched our skin. The fabrics that matched have much more color to them than I would have guessed. Both of the blocks we contributed can be found in the photo above.
I am honored to be a contributor to this quilt and have it displayed at it’s new home, The Henry Ford museum.
Please read more about the quilt here.
