The Shroud Series: Quilt Shroud

This quilt features a solid cream fabric and red and blue cotton fabrics printed with stars and stripes. The quilt’s pieces—square, rectangle, and triangle in shape—are arranged symmetrically in five horizonal rows on the quilt top. The backing is made of red calico spangled with small cream stars. The layers are string quilted with red knots tied in select corners.

Fay Pullen Fairbrother (1947-1997) created this quilt in the early 1990s as part of an art installation called The Shroud Series, which explored racial violence in the United States. The patriotic colors and calm symmetry of this quilt offer a vivid contrast to the violence depicted on others in the series. “The Shroud Series” was on display in the 1994 exhibition “Imagining Families: Images and Voices” at the Anacostia Community Museum.