My Clearwater Library
From Stitch to Quilt: Creating a Community Quilt at the
North Greenwood Library
Quilting has a rich, multidimensional history
Fall 13
and is considered a beloved American folk
art, particularly in the African American
community. Quilts can represent the unity of
a community, individuals whose personal experiences are
stitched together to create a representation of the strength
and bonds that connect us. It is storytelling, an expression of
artistry and emotion, brought together by needle and thread.
In February 2019, the North Greenwood Library hosted a
Black History Month event,
"African American Quilts:
Telling Our Stories in
Cloth," presented
by award-winning
quilter and author,
Carole Lyles Shaw.
She shared the rich
tradition of African
American quilting
by displaying a
vast array of quilts
for attendees to see
and touch. Shaw
also discussed the
historical significance of
patterns and symbols in African American
quilting from the slavery period to today
and introduced exciting new directions that
African American quilters are taking in the
future.
The North Greenwood Library then hosted
a series of six classes titled "From Stitch
to Quilt: Creating a Community Quilt" to
inspire members of the community to learn how
to sew and quilt or share their expertise. Patrons of
all ages from the community met to create their own block
pattern square.
Using equipment from the Clearwater Main Library Maker
Studios, attendees were provided with an assortment of
fabric choices and materials for creating their own unique
square. The Quilting Sisters of Color Too members, Diane
Stephens, Lois Bell, Jennifer Alexander, Merrian Burney
and Annie Burney-Miller, showed the group how to use the
equipment to sew and stitch together blocks of cloth to later
be showcased together in one quilt.
Layered within the quilts
are images of historical
buildings located in
the North Greenwood
Community. These
include the St. John
Primitive Baptist
Church, the Bethany
Christian Methodist
Church, the Curtis
Museum of Pinellas
County and Pinellas
High School. Centered
in the middle of the
quilt is the North Greenwood Library. Peering from the
window of the library are two women with curly hair
and bright smiles, representing Christine Wigfall-Morris,
Clearwater’s first African American librarian,
and Christa Smith, Branch Manager of the
North Greenwood Library since 2015.
After gathering all of the squares,
members of the Quilting Sisters of
Color Too stitched them together
into one unified quilt. The group
presented the finished quilt at
the library’s annual Black History
Month event, "A Night at the
Library: African American Legacy,"
on Feb. 28, 2020.
The finished quilt
now is displayed at the
North Greenwood Library for
everyone to see.
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