Georgia Yuan
Let Women Vote
When the Patriotic theme was suggested I knew almost immediately that it was important to me to do something connected to the history of Asian Americans. Anti-Asian violence became more prevalent and more widely discussed over the course of the last year. During that time I have found myself deepening my own commitment to not being invisible and to speaking up about the micro-aggressions and lived experience of Asian Americans, particularly women.
I grew up knowing the importance of voting in elections and have never missed an election since I was 18 and first eligible to vote. I wanted my quilt to blend my passion for women’s rights and the fight for the right to vote and my desire to highlight the role of women who were not white in that struggle.
My quilt is a riff on the American flag. It includes a large scale print featuring the image of a woman holding a baby and the statement “Women bring all voters into the world - Let Women Vote.” The flag design is disrupted with an inset about Mabel Ping Hua Lee, the first Chinese woman to earn a PhD in the United States and a voting rights activist. The construction of the quilt was inspired by Faith Ringgold’s story quilts. The fabric in the stripes alternates between a ‘chinoiserie’ print in classic blue and white, which features gazebos that say Votes for Women and a red fabric with the Chinese character for long life on it in gold. The quilt measures 40” X 25.”
The photo of Ping Hua Lee is from the National Archives. The quote along the side of the photo is from Ms. Lee’s own writings: “…the feministic movement is not one for privileges to women, but one for the requirement of women to be worthy citizens and contribute their share to the steady progress of our country towards prosperity and national greatness.” “The Meaning of Woman Suffrage,” The Chinese Student Monthly, May 1914. “Mabel Ping Hua Lee led a parade in NYC as a teenager for women’s suffrage. She graduated from Barnard College in 1916. As a Chinese immigrant she could not become a citizen or vote until 1943 when the Chinese Exclusion Act was repealed. It is not known if she ever exercised the right to vote.”
Though she wanted to return to China to liberate women there, she never did and died in NYC in 1966. In 2018, NYC’s Chinatown post office was named the Mabel Lee Memorial Post Office.
I come to quilting from garment sewing. I learned to sew on my mother’s Singer featherweight when I was in elementary school and started with doll clothes. I remember that the first “shift dress” I wore to school was in the 6th grade! I grew up making most of my clothes at a time when making clothes was less expensive than buying them and every department store had a fabric section. I always loved quilts but did not really start quilting until 2004 when I took my first block of the month class.
I moved to DC in 2010 and joined the DCMQG as soon as I discovered it through an internet search. I have really appreciated the energy, community, and sense of giving back, that the Guild encourages. The Guild has been a huge source of support and inspiration through the pandemic. In the future I hope to buy less fabric and do more to repurpose thrift shop finds and fabrics that others no longer want to use.
