It’s About Justice: Alice Paul
Janice Paine-Dawes
Mountain Home, Arkansas, USA
Artist Statement
The design inspiration for my quilt representing Alice Paul came from a visit to the Lincoln Museum in Springfield, IL. A textile on display there is a white muslin child’s pinafore with appliqued stars that was worn for Lincoln’s inauguration. I sketched the pinafore and my sketch has been on my design wall waiting for the right project. Because I could envision a child wearing that pinafore with lavender or gold stars in the color of the American suffragist movement, I originally planned that as my quilt. But as happens, the design morphed into the tattered, aged campaign poster you see now. The bottom stripe is pieced in the colors Alice Paul used for the suffragettes flag. The arch of 19 fused applique lavender stars represents the 19th amendment.
Woman’s Groundbreaking Accomplishment
Alice Paul was a suffragist and strategist of the 19th Amendment which ended sex discrimination in voting. She dedicated her life to equal rights for women.
Techniques
Alice’s portrait is a free hand wash of textile paints that was then fused and applied to the base. I sandwiched the top with batting and a backing, forming 3 layers in the style of a traditional quilt. It was stitched on a midarm quilting machine using a free motion quilting technique. Multiple layers of paint were finally added to the stitched work. I painted some edges to appear as a torn poster and other areas were dry brushed to appear like aged paper.
Materials
Commercial cotton fabric, poly cotton batting, thread, textile paint.