This post isn’t really about me, it’s about my mother, Wynona Howard, who died at age 84 in 2012. She left behind a legacy of almost 30 quilts she’d made, in various states of completion. This is about Mom’s art, but you’ll see the connection to my art as you read on.
Mom learned to sew from her mother and the Price Sewing Club of rural Gorin, MO in the 1930s and 1940s. But once she married, she was far too busy raising two kids, driving tractors in the field, helping with livestock, raising and tending a thousand laying hens, prepping and selling their eggs, raising a huge vegetable garden, canning, making and patching clothes, and cooking meals to do much of anything for herself. Nonetheless, in her fifties her interest in quilting was rekindled, and she started collecting fabrics and making sets of blocks. Whenever I visited, she pulled out her latest work to show me. I confess I didn’t think much about it at the time; in my mind, it wasn’t “done” if it wasn’t a quilt! More than once, I asked why she didn’t continue and finish the sets into quilts; she said “Oh, someday when I’m gone, you and Sherlyn can pull them all out and you can finish them.” I guess she hoped to spark in me an interest in quilting, but it didn’t because I already had my own art interests.
When a catastrophic stroke ended her sewing ability and all ability to communicate in 2010, the time that Mom foretold had come. Over the next several years, I hired multiple women to assemble, machine-quilt and finish all the quilts. It wasn’t until these women independently commented, “Do you realize what perfect hand-stitching your mother did?” and showed me what they meant, that I gained an appreciation for Mom’s artistry and skill. I finally understood where my attention to detail in my art came from! I regret that I didn’t take a stronger interest while Mom was alive, and didn’t ensure that she saw at least one finished so she could hear such praise. Mothers spend their lives praising and encouraging their children’s creative pursuits, but how many children bother to praise and encourage their mothers’?
In late 2022 one of these women suggested that I ought to submit a proposal for a special exhibit of Mom’s quilts at the Pacific International Quilt Festival (PIQF) so the quilting public could enjoy them. So I did: “A Lost Art: The Masterful Hand Piecing and Stitching of Wynona Howard” was born, and it was accepted for the PIQF at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA, October 12-15, 2023.
The work began in August, and I quickly realized this wasn’t just a bunch of quilts, this was a full-on solo art show. As soon as I realized that, my art school training kicked in! I’d started with a theme and a 75-words-or-less summary, and from there I knew I needed to:
- Create a spreadsheet cataloging all the details of every quilt (size, pattern name, date, who did what, etc.)
- Photograph every quilt
- Select which quilts to include in the exhibit
- Determine the order of the quilts
- Ensure each quilt had a hanging sleeve
- Write and design a statement poster about the exhibit
- Write, design, and print descriptive tags for each quilt
- Make a banner for each “room” for continuity
- Design the poster, banners, and tags for cohesion
- Determine how to safely transport all the quilts and materials
Then at festival time in October I had to:
- Transport all the quilts and materials
- Work with the organizer to make sure the right amount of space was allotted and a table was provided
- Ensure the quilts were hung in the right order
- Attach the tags and banners
- Set up the statement poster and other information on the table
I got some good advice from a woman who had mounted a similar exhibit in the 2022 PIQF. She told me she’d wanted that exhibit to look like something you’d find in a museum, and that’s what I wanted for Mom’s, too, so I stayed in touch. I’d taken several photos of that exhibit, and she taught me how to make banner hangers from shower curtain hangers.
I’m grateful that my sister Sherlyn and my best friend Debby both flew in from St. Louis to assist with the festival! Under my direction we had everything set up within 45 minutes, and they sat with me at the exhibit all day each of the four days to answer visitors’ questions. The festival staff were also very responsive and helpful. Thanks to all the preparations I did in August, it all went without a hitch.
It was wonderful to finally see Mom’s quilts get the attention and praise they deserved, in her own solo show, that I organized. She never showed her work outside our immediate family because she was very modest and was sure others’ work was better so she didn’t want to suffer criticism. But I think she’d be proud that, yes, I did get them all finished, and they’ve now been enjoyed by many people, just not any of the people she would ever have imagined.
Denise J. Howard's Art Blog 