Mourning Quilt for H. Lawrence Hall (2024)

Artist:

Vera P. Hall

Machine appliquéd and pieced

Cotton with jewelry embellishment

21.5 x 25

Quilt Story:

Kim F. Hall: In 2023, textile artist Sandra Ealy did a workshop for the African American Quilters of Baltimore (AAQB) on making silhouette quilts. Mom made one of Sidney Poitier and I found making digital silhouettes in preparation for appliqué strangely calming. In the months between my father passing away during a family trip and his memorial, Mom, my brother and I found it a little therapeutic to help her make this quilt of my Dad in his younger days. I still had some funeral fabric from Ghana and coincidentally, a friend of mine bought the same fabric on a trip to West Africa, not realizing it was funeral fabric. When Mom was stymied for a border, I suggested that we use it and include the uncannily appropriate selvage for an inner border. It says “OWUO BIAA YƐ OWUO NA WP WUO YI DƐƐ, YƐM ANI NNDASO” which is Twi and roughly translates to “Everyone will die, but your death was unexpected.” The watch is Mom’s.