ABSTRACT
Memories of old conversations coming back again and again, memories like reused fabric in a crazy quilt, contained and kept for the right moment. The work of black women quiltmakers needs special feminist critical commentary which considers the impact of race, sex, and class. The work of Mahulda Mize, a black woman slave, is discussed in Kentucky Quilts 1800-1900. It is a testament to the seriousness of Baba's quiltmaking that one of the first rooms she added was a workplace, a space for sewing and quiltmaking. As fabric became more accessible, as grown children began to tire of clothing before it was truly worn, she found herself with a wide variety of material to work with, making quilts with particular motifs. It has the possibility of being a part of someone forever. Art historians focusing on quiltmaking have just begun to document traditions of black female quiltmakers, to name names, to state particulars.
