Greetings to all of you who read the We Love Quilting blog. I honestly don’t remember how Chris and I met, but we met online. I suppose through my blog or my website. I do remember that we emailed a bit and it seemed like we were old friends. We just clicked. So Chris asked, out of the blue (my favorite color) if I would write a guest column for her. And away we go………

My history: I was born a poor black child in Alabama. (Black is my last name and that is my favorite joke, those that know me well are quite sick of it!)

Anywho, while I was fairly young, my paternal grandparents lived next door. Granny Black, as we called her, was a quilter. I don’t remember ever seeing her piecing, but I am sure she must have. I do have vivid memories of her front porch with the quilt frame hanging from the rafters. When it wasn’t in use, it was just pulled up to the top. When it was in use there were several women crowded around it quilting and talking. Where was I? I was sitting in the tent. Ha, right under the quilt. I was plenty far away to not worry about the needles. But I was close enough to see the patterns from the quilt, which happened to look abstract from that angle. Plus there was the play of light and dark from the arms reaching to sew the quilting stitches. That is my earliest quilting memory.

I remember quilts too. There was always a quilt on my bed. One was a little Dutch girl that had blanket stitches around the appliqué. I loved the texture of that embroidery floss around the smooth fabric. I suppose I was a strange child. Some things never change. Ha.

My maternal grandmother also quilted, but her work was all by hand and her quilts were made with whatever came to hand. You see Mom’s family were pretty much sharecroppers. They moved a lot – always trying to just make it. Told you I was born a poor Black child. We may have been poor in money but we were rich in love, music and faith. Mom’s family – nine children – were very musical. When we would visit them, there was always at least one night that they “made music” on the porch. It didn’t matter if you sang off-key or had perfect pitch, just join right in cause you are part of the family. (even if you weren’t kin!) So quilts and music are strong in my history. Right now I have a guitar, harmonicas, pennywhistles, and an electric piano. I don’t play any of them well, but I enjoy playing on all of them. I also have sewing machines.

My now: I am doing a lot of sewing as it is my newer love. A co-worker got me started and well -it took! To me sewing is an art form. I also paint. I have a whole website http://www.geneblack.com dedicated to my painting art. I started painting landscapes and flowers. Then I branched out into non-representational abstract. The funny thing is, most people think “oh, that is easier than painting a landscape.” Let me tell you -it is NOT. With a landscape, there is a defining moment when it is finished and nothing else will make it look more like the landscape. When an abstract, how do you know when to stop? I have ruined a few by continuing past the perfect point. Hey, I couldn’t look at it and say, “It looks just like that mountain” (or tree or flower or person) Still I love to paint, and I love to sew.

Oh yes, I also make jewelry out of polymer clay beads and pendants that I design and make. If it is creative, I have probably tried it, or at least considered trying it. I even did a sculpture of a dragon for someone on request.

I have some of my items for sale on Etsy. You can see it at http://geneblack.etsy.com And if you want to wander over and read my ramblings and see some of my endeavors, my blog is at http://artbygene.blogspot.com