RICHMOND, CA.- African-American quiltmaker Rosie Lee Tompkins, 70, died. Her real name was Effie Mae Howard and used the pseudonym to present her quilts at exhibitions. She Born in 1936 in Southeast Arkansas. One of fifteen children, Rosie Lee grew up helping her mother piece together quilts for family use. Wasting nothing, outgrown clothing, weary linens, and worn rags were all given new lives as utilitarian quilts. This recycling technique has stayed with Tompkins through the present day. The same fabrics can be seen in numerous quilts, with new pieces supplied by Rosie Lee's own home and wardrobe as well as friends' cast-offs and Salvation Army dollar sales.

Tompkins created a push and pull of color and shape, a surface tension. This energy in the quilts has led some critics to draw comparisons to 20th century painters Paul Klee and Hans Hoffman. The imprecise, angled borders of her works contain dense aggregates of triangles and quilts within quilts. Tompkins emphasizes experimentation and references traditional African textile patterns, many that are derived from a tribal belief that evil advances in straight lines and that broken lines thwart its progress. In fact, much of the inspiration for Rosie Lee's work comes from a deep religious faith that her quilt making is a gift from God and a form of spiritual worship. Many quilts are pieced together as protectors for specific family members.