Over the past few weeks ... in the evenings ... after dinner ... while watching television with Steve ... I've been stitching on this collection of forty-two Sun Bonnet Sue blocks. Each one is an art history lesson in itself. I've learned plenty too! Below is the documentation for how the group was created followed by individual photos of three units at a time! Please read and scroll down!
I don't ordinarily scroll through the listings on Facebook marketplace, but more than a month ago, I did. I landed on a picture of an old, threadbare Sun Bonnet Sue quilt with forty-two figures. The price was sixty-dollars. I hesitated. Why? Well, all the other Sun Bonnet Sue alterations have been on quilt tops, not actual quilts. I'd never before had to deal with the batting and backing. Plus, the condition of this quilt showed plenty of wear-and-tear and shipping was not included. I've never paid that much for one of my other "Sue" projects. Ordinarily, I would have continued scrolling but for some reason, I sent the seller a message asking if she would accept a lower price. She wrote back almost immediately with a question: What are you planning to do with it?
My response was easy! I linked Sue's Environmental To Do List 2020, Sue's Environmental To Do List 2025, The Feminist To Do List, Sue Goes to the Protest, and Sue's Thank You Notes. I told her that I intended to make more "thank you notes" because there were so many other female role models that I had to exclude when stitching the twenty-four vintage blocks. She wrote back with an amazing response! She sent me the quilt FOR FREE in support of my studio practice and the feminist messages. (Of course, I mailed back a box of goodies! Christmas ornaments, note cards, book marks and my very sincere thanks!)
It took me a day or two of looking at the quilt as it lay on my studio/sanctuary floor. Although I planned on "thank you notes", I realized that wasn't the best use for this group. First, the "hand" portion of each figure was machine stitched to resemble fingers. Plucking out these stitches would be difficult and potentially more damaging to the fragile fabric. I also knew that the threadbare surface would need to be covered with a layer of tulle/netting to protect the places where batting was exposed. The tulle/netting would actually make the idea of attaching tiny thank you note envelopes impossible. So I thought and thought ... about how else I could transform the group. Finally, I landed on an idea! Sue Studies Art History ... a group of forty-two female visual artists from across the centuries, artist who generally weren't included in the 20th century survey text books I knew from college.
While the idea seemed a brilliant one, I knew that I couldn't name forty-two female visual artists. Not without help! Although many people (especially in the art community!) are dead set against the use of AI (artificial intelligence), I am grateful for Chat GPT! It took less than two hours of back-and-forth communication to come up with a list that I liked. I asked for various historic eras, for an international group, for racial diversity, for emphasis on craft and a variety of media, for those with work in major museums, etc. I required artists who had work in existence (which eliminated any from the classical era despite several being named in Pliny the Elder's Natural History.) The final list is NOT exactly what Chat GPT suggested. When I thought I had a great group, Steve walked through the room and said, "You've got to include the Guerilla Girls and that woman whose piece we saw at the Guggenheim". (That woman was Eva Hesse.) I asked Chat GPT which two on the list needed to be cut in order to include these last two. With other eliminations, I now have a growing list of other female visual artists I'd like to stitch if I get another Sun Bonnet Sue quilt or quilt top! Regretfully, that list includes: Diane Arbus, Louise Nevelson, Sonya Clark, Bisa Butler, Elaine deKoonig, the Gee Bend quilters, Vivian Maier, Jenny Holzer, Mia Lin, Tamara de Lempicka, Cindy Sherman, Fede Galizia, Clara Peeters, Mary Moser, Giovanna Garzoni, Maria Sibylla Merian, Harriet Hosmer, Marie Bashkirtseff, Anna Mary Robertson Moses (popularly known as Grandma Moses), Gabriele Münter, Käthe Kollwitz, Maria Martinez, Helen Frankenthaler, Barbara Hepworth, Agnes Martin, Alice Neel, Ruth Asawa, Jenny Holzer, Kiki Smith, Tracey Emin, Amy Sherald, Joana Vasconcelos, Laurie Anderson, Elizabeth Siddall, Annie Albers, Magdalena Abakanowicz, Lenore Tawney, and Judith Scott. That's thirty eight waiting names! More could easily be added. Chat GPT clued me into a Focus article on the Aware Centre Pompidou website that lists nearly one hundred and ninety-seven nearly forgotten female visual artists. So ... if there's anyone who would like to donate another Sun Bonnet Sue quilt/quilt top, I'll start stitching! While I was doing this research and preparing the blocks for embroidery, Steve was busy building forty-two frames!
Part of my research involved collecting an image of artwork by each of my forty-two artists. Each image was resized to approximately 3" x 2". Twenty-one postcards were printed at Walgreen, each featuring two pictures. These were glued to 3/16th slats of wood and cut out using my new scroll saw. The sides were painted. Holes were drilled in the corners. Each one was stitched to the foamcore mounted quilt blocks. Finally, the works were fit into their frames and each one was photographed. It took hours to resize my images and create the composite image. Below are the "group" pictures ... three to an image. They are randomly arranged! Each one can be enlarged!
