Mazloomi means love

A friend knows my love of quilts and all things fabric. She pointed out that Ohio Magazine, one of the first markets I sold writing to and a magazine from my home state, offers an article about quilts in its current issue. Of course I checked out the online copy and there it was: A Stitch in Time by Jennifer Haliburton. But better than any old article about quilting is one that features Dr. Carolyn L. Mazloomi and her legion of African American quilters.

Subversive stitchers indeed! Subversive, subverted, enslaved, impoverished, all part of the history. But also talented, creative, joyful, and Mazloomi has made it her life's work to collect the stories, document the history, and make sure we all understand the facts of not only being African American -- but also what it means to be a woman.

On Mazloomi's website she writes, "Quilts are metaphors for love and family...." I say Mazloomi and love are synonymous. She makes quilts and chooses quilts for her books, exhibits and collection that as she explains, "...are visual stories layered with historical, political and social conditions that call attention to the circumstances of people around the world, especially women. My intention is to invite the viewer into contemplation, raise awareness and feel the spirit of the cloth."

The article in Ohio Magazine came about to herald the exhibit “Quilting African-American Women’s History: Our Challenges, Creativity and Champions,” that will continue now through Nov. 8 at the National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center in Wilberforce, Ohio.

The work by one of my favorite quilters, regardless of race, gender, religion or politics, Valerie C. White is included in this exhibit and her quilt The Guardian is featured on the exhibit program.

For anyone not familiar with Mazloomi, please note that she answers to a variety of titles including: author, curator, artist and historian. Her work resides in numerous museums and corporate collections, such as the Wadsworth Museum, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, American Museum of Design, Bell Telephone, the Cleveland Clinic, and Exxon. She has made the rounds of major television programs including the morning talk shows and she has been the subject of several documentaries.

Mazloomi's quilt "A Peacekeeper's Gift" is featured with this blog. She certainly knows how to tell a story in cloth.

Healing Quilts come in all styles

When I hear the term 'healing quilt' my memory brings forward a snapshot of the handmade quilts my grandmother and mother made and wrapped me in on sick days. It also reminds me of the various charity quilts that are made for people suffering from various diseases from AIDS to infants born with alcoholism and face withdrawal the first days of their lives.

But, The Society for the Arts in Health Care offer a twist on the healing quilt in the 27 quilts that have traveled in The Healing Gardens Quilt exhibit from 2002 through 2005 and can be viewed at their website. Many other aspects of this website will intrigue you concerning art and healing, take some time to browse. You'll see a variety of 'healing' quilts featured there. The photo featured here is of the quilt made by Judy A. House, "Podophyllum Peltatum," 34" x 37."

The Podophyllum Peltatum that House used for her quilt may be more familiar to you by its other name: May apple. I remember seeing patches of this plant growing for miles along an overgrown Ohio fence row beneath stand of scrubby maples. Other regions may refer to it as Devil's apple, hog apple, Indian apple, umbrella plant, wild lemon and American mandrake. It is not a true mandrake.

The twenty-seven Healing Gardens quilts feature approximately twenty-four varieties of plants that are being scrutinized as sources for potential cancer fighting drugs. These Northern Virginia quilters including Jinny Beyer, Barbara Bockman, and Eileen Cavanagh, chose plants with names like Brucea Antidysenterica or Ochrosla Vitiensis or Catharanthus Roseus and recreated them on their individual quilts using all forms of quilting -- piecing and applique, hand and machine and embroidery.

The quilt speaks of natural healing, drugs found in nature, and plants yet to be explored for their medicinal uses. As a by product of these quilts, thoughts also follow the natural progression to the need to care for and nurture our environment so these plants are not lost and their healing properties forever closed to us.

It is astounding what a small percentage of plants man has actually explored. And yet, twenty-five percent of modern drugs used in the U.S. today derived from plants. Plant medicine is not new.

Animals and man have been using it for all times. Prehistoric cave drawings depict the use of plants.

Wikipedia reports: "There is evidence from the Shanidar Cave in Iraq that suggests Neanderthals living 60,000 years ago used medicinal plants. A body that was unearthed there had been buried with eight species of plants which are still widely used in ethnomedicine around the world.^[6]"

Animals have sought out plants for their health. Watch your house cat seek grass to cure fur balls and indigestion. Researchers from Ohio Weslyan University discovered that some birds chose nest materials that are rich in antimicrobials.

Only since industrialization have countries thumbed their noses at natural remedies. Thankfully hearty souls, such as these quilters, continue to demonstrate the potent cures that nature provides. Science is listening. I just hope it isn't too late and we haven't destroyed the plants that will save mankind.