Maryland quiltmaker Susan Walen says she was moved to make this quilt because she was so impressed by Obama's speech at the 2004 Democratic Convention. Later, when MoveOn.org asked for Obama supporters to contribute art for a show, she conceived of this concept. She started by writing a nine-page letter to Obama and that became the centerpiece of her quilt. Her quilt didn't get picked by MoveOn, but it did hang for a time in the Obama campaign headquarters in Bethesda. After the election, Susan Walen got so excited about the outpouring of Obama quilts she heard about that she put together an exhibition. It was hung at a college in Silver Spring, Maryland, for a month after the inauguration. An instant book was compiled featuring all the quilts in that show. Go to Blurb.com to buy or preview the book, President Obama: A Celebration in Art Quilts.
Houston-based quilter Carolyn Crump plans to make a total of 44 quilts depicting Obama's life from childhood to the present. She was moved to make this first quilt, she says in her QSOS interview, because she wanted to leave a quilt behind that would say "this man touched my life."
The art quilter from Louisville, Kentucky, is a retired middle school guidance counselor. The quilt was made expressly for the Obama quilt exhibit currently at the Historical Society of Washington, D.C.
Alaskan quiltmaker Maria Shell used many stars and stripes in her quilt to convey different aspects about the country.
This New Jersey quiltmaker says in her QSOS interview that she was inspired to make this black, white, and gray quilt after hearing Barack Obama's speech about race. It's one of seven Obama quilts she had made when the interview took place in January, and she said she planned to make more.
The seated figure is based on the statue atop the Capitol building, which is named Freedom, says the quiltmaker. Eileen Doughty says in her QSOS interview she believes that George W. Bush had good intentions of creating more freedom in the world but couldn't control what he unleashed. Her quilt is a reminder that in the Pandora story, the thing that remains in the bottom of the box is hope.
This quilt honors the marchers who participated in the 1965 Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights March. Carolyn Mazloomi is a former Lockheed Martin aerospace engineer and founder of the Women of Color Quilters Network. Also a curator, Mazloomi helped choose quilts for the current Obama quilt exhibit at the Historical Society of Washington, D.C.
New Jersey quiltmaker Lisa Shepard Stewart founded the Fiber Artists group on the Obama campaign Web site and it attracted about 200 members. Only some participated in making this quilt in the spring of 2008, but the members collectively raised over $120,000 for the campaign.
"Living the Dream" was made by this Las Vegas-based quiltmaker after she attended an event honoring Martin Luther King Jr. and shook Obama's hand, who was a surprise guest at the event. She used a mosaic fabric style that is her trademark. Organizers of the Patchwork Politics show in October at the International Quilt Festival in Houston asked if they could include this quilt, and she happily agreed. She says her most fervent hope is to give the quilt to the president.
In this quilt by a Portland, Oregon-based quiltmaker, NBA stands for "National Balancing Act" and recognizes Obama's love for basketball.
Ohio quiltmaker Susan Shie calls her quilts "outsider art." Combining both personal and political themes, they're typically covered with words and certain repeating images. This quilt was made during the primary and features both Obama and Hillary Clinton. Shie has made several very large Obama quilts and dozens of small ones since that time, and she has begun making quilts about Michelle Obama.
In this quilt, Obama's face is made from snippets of election news stories that have been transferred to fabric. The black background is covered in words and phrases from his speech on race.
Oregon art quilter Adriene Cruz calls her piece a quilted talisman and it's similar to other heavily embellished, boldly colored quilts she has made. This one is covered with mirrors, beads, cowrie shells, carved bone, and more. The quiltmaker was among those contacted by curator Roland Freeman and asked to contribute to an exhibit of Obama quilts on display at the Historical Society of Washington, D.C.
This 20 inch by 20 inch quilt is what Jackie Campbell was inspired to make after being invited to contribute to Susan Walen's Obama quilt show. It was part of the "President Obama: A Celebration in Art Quilts" show in Maryland.
This quilt was inspired by a song lyric written by George Clinton that goes "They still call it the White House, but that is a temporary condition, you dig?" The Maryland quiltmaker went to considerable lengths to get George Clinton's permission to use it in her quilt, eventually becoming his MySpace friend while tracking him down.
