In Honor of Harriet Powers: Mother of African-American Story Quilts (Part 2)

Today we continue our feature on 19^th century quiltmaker Harriet Powers and the re-creations of her work by the PSSMQG as seen in a special exhibit curated by Juandamarie Gikandi at the Houston International Quilt Festival. Also see Part 1 of our tribute for more on Harriet Powers and the significance of her work.

The Bible Quilt, 88” by 73 ¾", by Harriet Powers (1837-1910)

Finished in 1886, Harriet’s  Bible Quilt is made from cotton cloth and and arranged in three rows, with a total of 11 panels, done by hand and machine applique. It portrays stories and scenes from the Bible, which were re-created in modern day fabrics by members of the PSSMQG as shown below.

 Jacob’s Dream by Vera Hall

This beautiful block is a rendition of Jacob’s dream of a ladder to heaven, as shown in the original Bible Quilt above (second row, third block from the left.)

Vera writes, “Harriet Powers was born one hundred years before me – I feel like the next generation. Inspired by her brilliance, I hand-appliqued the piece, blending family collaboration, Biblical study, and vibrant fabrics. Like Powers, I honor tradition through community, research, and storytelling- infusing each stitch with history, faith, and personal meaning.”   

Vera’s design source was a drawing done by Juandamarie Gikandi of the original Bible Quilt pattern. Vera used hand and machine applique, hand and machine embroidery, paper piecing, and embellishment to complete her meaningful block.

The Baptism of Christ by Juandamarie Gikandi

Juandamarie drew her pattern from a photograph of the original block of the Bible Quilt (second row, far right.) For this lovely and evocative block, Juandamarie used hand applique, dyeing, and quilting, plus machine and paper piecing.

Juandamarie explains, “Inspired by Harriet Powers’ vision of the Holy Spirit at Christ’s baptism, I used South African Shweshwe fabric to suggest winged motion as the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, is shown descending and resting upon Jesus’ shoulder. Dutch wax fabric, rich with butterflies, fish, and lush foliage, evokes faith, beauty, and ancestral memory, its symbolism grounding the work in both spiritual transcendence and the story’s historical resonance."   

Judas Iscariot and the Thirty Pieces of Silver by Victoria Meisel

Victoria Meisel’s block is based on the original Bible Quilt block on the bottom row, second from left. Victoria’s design inspiration was the pattern drawn by Juandamarie Gikandi. 

Victoria remarks, “I chose bold, metallic fabric to reflect Mrs. Powers’ vibrant style. The 30 silver pieces symbolize Judas’ betrayal and the corrupting power of money. I used brown to express his loneliness, isolation, and sorrow. Quilting such a historically significant subject and re-imagining it in a modern context is truly exciting.” We admire Victoria’s beautiful work in hand applique and quilting!

The Holy Family by Mada Coles Galloway

“The Holy Family” refers to the bottom row, far right block of The Bible Quilt, symbolizing the infant Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Mada Cole Galloway’s design source is a pattern drawn by Juandamarie Gikandi, based on the photograph of the original block. Mada notes, “The birth of Jesus reveals God’s glory as the only human born without sin. Colors symbolize divinity (gold), spiritual darkness (black), and purity (white). African batiks frame the Holy Family and star, while the Nsoromma symbol, used for the Christ child, means ‘child of the heavens’, symbolizing God’s guardianship." 

 

To create this vibrant, strikingly attractive block, Mada used hand applique, dyeing, and quilting; plus machine applique, embroidery, piecing, and quilting; plus paper piecing. 

NOTE: We truly enjoyed this wonderful special exhibit at the 2025 Houston International Quilt Festival. We are pleased to learn that the United States Postal Service will be issuing a commemorative postage stamp on February 26, 2023, in honor of Mrs. Harriet Powers and her contribution to the quilting arts and to African-American history. 

 

 

Image credits: The photo of the Bible Quilt is from Wikipedia. Photos of the quilts by Vera Hall, Victoria Meisel, Mada Coles Galloway, and Juandamarie Gikandi were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2025 Houston International Quilt Festival. 

 

In Honor of Harriet Powers: Mother of African-American Story Quilts (Part 1)

Harriet Powers was an important quilting foremother! Do you know about her contributions to the quilting arts? In honor of Harriet Powers and Black History Month, we are introducing a two part series on Harriet Powers and the quilters of today who are keeping her memory alive. 

With thanks and appreciation to the PSSMQG - Home Princeton Sankofa Stitchers, curated by Juandamarie Gikandi and the Houston International Quilt Festival. 

Harriet Powers created folk art quilts using appliqued images in cloth to convey the stories of the Bible and other legends. Two of Harriet’s quilts have survived to the present day, including the “Pictorial Quilt” of 1898, shown above. Its fifteen panels contain vignettes drawn from Bible stories and historical events.

Born enslaved near Athens, Georgia in 1837, Harriet Powers learned to sew as a child. She married at the age of eighteen, and after emancipation, she and her husband saved enough to buy a small farm in Clarke County. She became known as a quilter when she exhibited her first quilt at the Athens Cotton Fair in 1886.  

Photograph of Harriet Powers, c. 1901, via Wikipedia. 

At the recent International Quilt Show in Houston, TX, our attention was drawn to the Special Exhibit of renditions and re-creations of Harriet Powers’ quilt blocks, curated by Juandamarie Gikandi for the Princeton Sankofa Stitchers Modern Quilt Guild (PSSMQG).   

The word “Sankofa” means reaching back to the past in order to move forward, to create, educate, and to engage in philanthropic projects.  The guild members have done an outstanding job of re-creating Harriet Powers’ blocks. Here is one of the quilts from the Houston exhibit:

Adam and Eve in the Garden, by Rose Mary Briggs, quilted by Susan Ezzo 

 

This block shows Adam and Eve, the sun, the rib from which Eve was made, God’s merciful hand and all seeing eye, plus the serpent which tempted Eve. The quilt was inspired by “Adam and Eve” in Harriet Powers’ Pictorial Quilt (top row, 4^th block from the left.) 

Rose Mary Briggs writes, “Inspired by Harriet Powers’ vision, I reinterpreted Adam and Eve in the Garden through a contemporary lens rooted in my church upbringing. Hand stitching and applique techniques, drawn from Powers’ work, honor her West African roots while emphasizing the enduring relevance of the creation story through modern fabric and symbolism.”   

Briggs' design source was “A Pattern Book from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; based on an applique quilt by Mrs. Harriet Powers."

Image credits: Photos of Adam & Eve in the Garden were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2025 Houston International Quilt Festival.  Photos of Harriet Powers and her Pictorial Quilt are from Wikipedia.