Black History Month - 2008

It's hard to believe that a year has gone by since my first artist postcard. The online quilt group decided to make them for black history month in 2007. Most of us, including me, had never made one before but we quickly found out that they are habit-forming. Next was the card commemorating african-american music. Then we made cards for Christmas. And now we're back to Black History Month. The picture to the left is of a young Marian Anderson. She was a mezzo-soprano who blazed the way for performers like Leontyne Price and Kathleen Battle with a quiet, non-confrontational dignity. With a mother who was an opera singer, hers is a name and a voice I grew up with.

My card was made with a coppery silk background to which an image of sheet music was fused. Two pictures of Marian Anderson were added and outlined with copper metalic satin stitch. The quote from Toscaniniwas from the time she spent touring Europe in the 1930's where racism had less of an impact on her career than it did in the United States.

The back of the card gives a brief history of her life and career.

Although Marian Anderson always claimed to have been born in 1902, it seems her birth certificate is reported to give her year of birth as 1897.

The cards from my fellow quilters have been coming in all month with more still to come. I found these great little display stands that work great for my postcard collection.

I'm off to Virginia on Friday and I'm taking two of my UFOs that are finished tops and ready for quilting. I can't wait to sit on the porch and quilt.