Cover Image: Deeds Not Words

Deeds Not Words

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Member Reviews

Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

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I loved this collection of 29 quilts made to honour the women who fought for women's suffrage. I also really appreciated that the authors recognised that while white women were given the vote in the US in 1919, many women of colour did not get the vote until the 1960s.
These quilts are truly creations of art and it would be amazing to see them in person one day, but if that isn't an option this book is a great chance to get a look at them anyway. I also really enjoyed reading about the individual crafters and their thoughts behind their quilts.

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This is a novel premise for a book -- a compilation of modern quilts that women created in order to honor women who were instrumental in the suffragist movement. The quilts are diverse and wonderful, and each ones is followed by text from the artist about what/who inspired it. The stories are interesting and give a lot of background and history about the women's rights movement and women you may not have known about. That said, it felt rather dry for me and I don't know how many people will read all of these essays rather than just flipping through the quilts.

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A captivating collection of commemorative works of art: there is a fantastic, creative use of mediums here and I loved the history and commentary that accompanied each piece.

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It was really inspiring going through this book. I'm not a quilter, but I am into crafting and it's amazing what some can do with their hands. I loved that the works were diverse and also dealing with the inherent racism of the white suffragist movement and similar issues.

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I am not a quilter, nor have I ever had any particular interest in quilts outside of random encounters with the works of textile artists at museums or in classes. I am, however, a feminist and I am moved by this, the centennial of the ratification of the 19th amendment to the United States Constitution. When I saw this book, I was intrigued by the premise and immediately picked it up.

I am delighted to say that it was captivating. The works are diverse, recognize people of color and the inherent racism of the white suffragist movement, and acknowledged the legislation impacting African American people and Indigenous people as integral to the success of the legislation supporting women's right to vote. I also appreciated the irony of using textile and needlework to illustrate the suffragist and the abolitionist movement simply because it is considered a feminine task, particularly suited for the stay at home wife and mother. I appreciated, even more, the knowing nod at that irony--it was done with intention and humor.

Overall, this was a delightful foray into something that I normally would not explore, and for that I am grateful!

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Deeds Not Words is a well curated exhibition catalogue and collection of quilt art pieces celebrating the centenary of the 19th amendment in the USA. Due out 28th March 2020 from Schiffer, it's 96 pages and will be available in hardcover format.

The actual exhibition is scheduled to travel to different locales from 2020-2022 and includes shows and dates to be announced. Despite a careful read-through, I've been unable to find a complete listing of dates and venues, but it seems to be in association with equilter.com.

The exhibit contains a short history of the women's suffrage movement, some rare antique pieces which reference women's suffrage, along with the contemporary pieces by 28 modern day quilt artists. Each of the entries contains an artist's statement and vision as well as a little bit of background and one or more color photos of each exhibition piece. The artists' pieces are as varied as they are and represent a full spectrum of points of view. It's amazing to me how far we've come in a scant century and how far we still need to go to approach equality.

This would make a nice coffee table book of inspiration for a fiber artist or quilter's home library.

Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes

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This quick read is a collection of quilts created by artists commemorating the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment which gave women the right to vote in America. The title comes from the militant suffragist, Emmeline Pankhurst. The quilts were very beautiful and as result this book is best read on a color e-reader, if you choose not to read a hard copy of it. I learned about other women suffragists who I was initially unfamiliar with outside of Elizabeth Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Sojourner Truth, and Ida B. Wells. I especially enjoyed reading the appendix that provided a list of notable women who were the "first" at doing something important and were featured in one of the quilts.

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With the anniversary of the 19th amendment coming, there are a lot of books being published about women's suffrage and the struggle for equal rights. I enjoyed this book as a mix of activism and art, based in history, very much. Part of the reason is that there were multiple forms of art that were included. Not all the pieces were quilts, but had a basis in that form. I also enjoyed how the art pieces went beyond just Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton (Shout out to Lucy Stone and Ida B. Wells!). This is more of a coffee table book, in my opinion...nice as a conversation starter or something to look at for inspiration.

I received a free copy of this book for review, but all opinions are my own.

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This book is interesting. You can read through it in one sitting or take as much time as you would like on each quilt. There's a bit of introductory information about Women's Suffrage, but I really would have enjoyed a timeline to emphasize the 80 years of effort it took to achieve that goal. I loved the section on the artists actually creating the quilts. I would have loved for it to be longer! The appendices were very helpful as well. It's a good commemorative book that will get lots of perusal if left on a coffee table or in a waiting room.

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This is an unusual book that features quilts made by artists to celebrate/commemorate various women who fought for the right to vote in the USA. I have little knowledge of either quilting or American suffragists, being based in the UK. I found to interesting to look at the different skills involved and the stories that had inspired the artists. However for me there was little real or contextual background information on the historical women which I found disappointing.

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My second non-fiction read of January was a very quick and unusual book that will be released at the end of March 2020. It was created to honour the anniversary of the 19th amendment (the date American women won the right to vote) as numerous artists used their quilting abilities to make quilts depicting various scenes or individuals associated with the votes for women fight in the US. I personally didn't know anything about the events or individuals involved as my education focused on the suffragettes in the UK so it gave an interesting but very brief insight into the battle American women fought as well as the thoughts of the artists and a little background on each artist too. My negatives mainly focus on the structure of the book although I think that is only due to the ARC copy I have. Also it didn't give much background information which is something I needed, especially with my limited knowledge of American history.

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Deeds Not Words: Celebrating 100 Years of Women's Suffrage is the book i'm reviewing, but know first that it's a catalogue for a traveling exhibit of quilts created by contemporary textile artists in celebration of the centennial of the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution. The exhibit kicks off at the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, KY on April 3 where it will be on view through June 9th, 2020. I couldn't find a schedule for where it'll go from there, but the notes in the book say that it'll travel through 2012, and since several contributing artists are involved with other quilt museums around the country and the whole thing is sponsored in part by equilter.com, keep your eyes open for dates near you.

The book is a comprehensive catalogue of the exhibit which includes full-color photographs of all 28 quilts which comprise it as well as other supplementary images (photographs, source documents, etc). Two essays on the history of suffrage and how racism impacted the movement start off the book, followed by an image of each quilt, an artist's statement about their work, and a detailed biography of the quilter.

There are also a couple of appendices of note that apply to quilts in the exhibition. One quilt addresses the concept of "first ladies"--the first woman to achieve various honors/positions/awards.The quilt includes portraits of dozens of women (like Sally Ride, the first female astronaut) and Appendix A names them all and offers brief biographical facts about each. Another quilt celebrates the unsung heroes of African American suffrage, and Appendix B cites names/bios of all of these women.

This is a beautifully produced "coffee table"-style art book in and of itself and though I have not yet had the pleasure to attend the exhibition, I enjoyed seeing and reading about the featured quilts. Highly recommended!

I was given an advance copy of this title by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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