5/14/2005

Filed under: General by site admin

Yesterday I drove downtown Chicago (I live about 30 miles from Chicago in the far west surburbs) to the Field Museum to see the women of Gee’s Bend. They were finishing up the project with Do Your P’Art, a nonprofit organization that brings schools and artists together in the Chicagoland area. The quilts that the school children made were pretty incredible. It was good to visit and the Field Museum has always been one of my favorites. I especially enjoyed hanging out with Mary McCarthy. Mary is just fun. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Mary, I’ll tell you a little about her. When Mary completed her art degree at the University of Georgia in 1966 she answered an ad to become the quality control manager for the newly formed Freedom Quilting Bee. She moved to Gee’s Bend and married a social worker there. For the next 18 years, she and her family werre the only white residents in the Bend. She lived next to Ruth Mosely and took up quilting. I like her quilts and while her quilts to reflect the style of Gee’s Bend, they are her own. Anyway, it was fun to share with everyone my trip to Georgia, Armenia and Kazakhstan. I blew them kisses as I left. My heart was a little sad because I have no idea when or if our paths will cross again. The grey Chicago sky certainly reflected my mood. Karen