‘Necessity Quilts’ Tell Story Of Family Matriarch
David Buford’s collection of his grandmother’s quilts and her 1800s treadle sewing machine are featured in Friday’s opening at Yalo Studio and Art Gallery. The opening for Ethel Lea Benson: Textiles runs from 6 to 8:30. p.m.
‘Necessity Quilts’ Tell Story Of Family Matriarch
By David Howell
Editor
WATER VALLEY – Friday’s opening at Yalo Studio and Yalorun Textiles will offer a unique glimpse into the life of a local artist, the late Ethel Lea Benson, through her collection of quilts made from her husband’s well-worn clothes.
The show stems from a chance meeting when Benson’s grandson, David Buford, a Water Vallian and owner of Diamond Concrete, visited Coulter Fussell at Yalorun Textiles to see if his favorite quilt from his grandmother’s collection could be repaired.
For Fussell the impact was immediate when Buford showed her the collection of quilts his grandmother left him.
“What I find great about these quilts is what a lot of people find great about quilts made in this style, they were made out of necessity. Because of the history behind them, they are beautiful,” Fussell explains.
Buford has 14 quilts his grandmother made over the course of her lifetime that spanned almost nine decades when she passed away in 2013 at 89. Among the most striking ones are five quilts made from Buford’s grandfather, Leroy Benson’s work clothes – denims that were sun bleached and marked with worn patches secured through tiny hand-stitches. Benson’s quilt work transitioned to polyester clothing material, which was common in the 1960s and 70s.
“Work clothes or leisure clothes, she needed them to make the quilts and as a gifted piecer, she used the materials to great effect,” Fussell said about the work. All of the quilts are double sided.
Buford was raised at Hawkin’s Crossing by his grandparents and fondly remembers his grandmother working at the sewing machine.
“She was a good lady, she raised me from three months old,” Buford recalls. “She taught me everything, I was cooking Christmas dinners at 10 years-old.”
He remembers at around 11 or 12 years old, he started on a quilt with the help of her grandmother.
“I never finished the quilt,” he admits.
While Fussell undertook the repair on Buford’s favorite, a unique quilt made from corduroy, she doesn’t typically repair quilts, citing the work is difficult and costly.
Instead her advice is to use and enjoy your quilt.
“Women make quilts knowing they will be lovingly used and ultimately discarded,” Fussell added.
Friday’s opening is from 6 to 8:30 at Yalo Studio (denim work) and YaloRUN Textiles (polyester work) on Main Street and marks the first where art from a Vallian is featured at Fussell’s studio. Also on display is Benson’s late 1800s treadle sewing machine that she sewed on until she couldn’t sew any more… well into the 2000s. The show also includes photographs of David and his grandparents and other memorabilia from the family’s life that included share cropping, working on the farm and at the chicken plant.
Friday also marks the opening reception for Bozarts Alliance’s F Files and there will be music in the pocket park on Main Street by Tear Drop City. Willie “Butch” Foxx will be selling assorted barbecued meats and sandwiches in front of Yalo Studio.
