Creative crafters pool talent

By Lindsey Turnbull

When talented artists come together great things are produced. In the case of multi-talented artist Nasaria Suckoo Chollette and her family and friends, it comes in the form of intricate quilting. Following last week’s article on Nasaria’s participation in the Island Soul Festival where she employed quilting as a holistic process for others to enjoy, we hear more about this fascinating craft.

Nasaria has enjoyed being part of a quilting group called Friends and Needles which allows participants the chance to pool their skills, discuss ideas and create joint projects that are artwork pieces in themselves. The group started four years ago, although Nasaria was not a founding member.

“Friends and Needles started in 2022, and I was not a part of it at that time,” she advised. “It was started by Rhonda Edie, my aunt, and involved primarily her church sisters. I decided to start attending shortly after and since then we have been adding members with varying skills.”

The participants meet every two weeks and share with each other the traditional skills that they most often practice so that they can all expand their practices, she said.

“For the most part, I share contemporary art aesthetics, encouraging them to break out of the literal interpretations and to express themselves freely,” Nasaria explained.

The group undertakes one charitable project per year, where part of the proceeds of sales go to a charity, or they make special Christmas gifts and give to people whom they have encountered during the year who have provided excellent customer service.

“Our aim is to gather as women, to dissect the world around us and to interpret it through our work, as well as to preserve heritage,” she said.

Nasaria’s Aunt Rhonda has been her guiding force when it came to the craft.   

“My aunt has always worked with textiles and fabrics, but it was after her retirement from Edie’s Decor five years ago that she began making art using fabric and collage and began to make quilts. Some of her first quilts were made to honour her siblings who had passed away, by using pieces of their clothing in the quilt,” Nasaria stated.

Nasaria is often motivated to create a quilt from a story that she wishes to tell, which she shares with the group. They then enjoy choosing materials, planning techniques and critiquing work.    

One such piece which is on loan to the Cayman Islands National Museum is entitles Sea Spray and Sailcloth II. This is an evocative piece created by Nasaria, her aunt Rhonda, Celia Hydes, Ina Augustine, Raejani Lopez, Kerry Nixon, Carol A Terry, Dorothea “Cindy” Shaw, and Lorna Reid. It tells the tales of seafaring of days gone by. Interwoven within the quilting are stories of how fishermen used to “sett” their nets for turtles on the Cays, brave rescues at sea, and the passing on of seafaring skills to youngsters. 

Another example of Nasaria’s work is a magnificent quilt dedicated to midwifery.

“I received a grant from the Cayman National Cultural Foundation to collect oral history on midwifery in cayman and because the stories were so visual, it was a natural process to turn it into a quilt,” she explained. “As the quilts are our comforters, so are the midwives.”

A quilt is a great way to teach history and preserve heritage stories, Nasaria said.

Currently Nasaria is working on a quilt honouring Elizabeth Jane Trusty, an ex-enslaved African woman in Cayman’s slavery past, who freed herself and bought freedom for others, and became a homeowner and a businesswoman.

“This is how I do my part to teach our people about their African heritage,” she adds.