Sewing: Black Lives Matter, Too Quilt and How to Make a Hanging Rod for Quilts

I had started this quilt during the summer of the start of the pandemic when all the protests over the killing of George Floyd and other black lives being subject to police brutality were happening. And then it sat incomplete when I returned to working on campus. But then while the whole nation was awaiting the verdict of Derek Chauvin, I pulled out the quilt, already pin-basted and ready to stitch. Instead of quilting or stitching it all together, I removed the pins because I knew I wanted to embroider text on it as my historical summary of what was happening and my response to it. I had thought to maybe embroider the names of all the black lives lost at the hands of the police, which is overwhelming in and of itself. Too many lives lost and the quilt would never have gotten done.

Protesters were chanting Black Lives Matter while conservatives were making knee jerk statements that blue lives matter or worse, all lives matter. And throughout this sturm and drang of trying to be a more inclusive society, we were seeing the horrifying video of Derek Chauvin, seemingly indifferent to the suffering and helplessness of George Floyd despite his victim's plea to an authority. 

Rightly so, most of us are horrified by a justice system that treats its black and brown people as throwaways. Despite all the reckoning of this one particular killing, George Floyd's death, sadly, did not occur in isolation, and when my colleague, Zan urged me to submit teacher art to our county office of education, I knew I needed to respond in this quilt. The words convey that unfortunately, we've still a long way to go on accountability and true reform of the criminal justice system when it comes to the "othering" of those who are not white.

The quilt also conveys the sad realization that black men, still, are subject to police violence.

If I could, I would’ve added a biblio- and webliography to this quilt. For sure, I would include this Fresh Air interview of what defunding the police might look like as well as present reading of Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019. However, there was still a quilt label to pen with my Micron pen and attach.

And a hanging rod to make for which you need a dowel rod, coping saw, sandpaper, screw eyes, and a drill.

Easy peasy, cut the dowel rod to length with the coping saw (you don't need no stinkin' chop saw)and then use a skinny drill bit to start a hole on each end of the dowel rod in which to twist the screw in by hand (use pliers if it’s a harder wood and not pine).

I used to hang my wall quilts with a dowel strung with twine through holes on each end, and once ordered an expensive hanging rod. But I didn't want to see the dowel or twine on the wall quilts. A cheaper and easier solution needed to be found. Hence, a trip to the hardware store for the tools described above is much less inexpensive.