Nothing beats the comfort that comes from a handmade quilt, especially on these chilly winter days. However, for members of the Great Lakes African American Quilters’ Network, quilts are more than a practical household item. They are an outlet to express their identity, culture, and artistry. Every stitch on these quilts weave together stories and experiences that bring these quilters together and the generations before them.
“Every quilt has a story. Every block that you make go,” said Frances Jackson, the quilt guild's president. “It doesn't matter if you make the same block every week, that next week when you make it, something's different is going to speak to you. And that's why I enjoy it.”
GLAAQN meets every other month during the year. They share their latest creations and trade tips and techniques. Many of the quilts feature bold colors. Some are geometric in form, others feature photos of family or historical figures on fabric. The group also shares their talents at quilting classes at local schools and community centers.
The members of GLAAQN wear their love of quilting on their sleeve—some, literally. Toya Booker Thomas, who has been with the guild for more than 15 years, has a shirt that reads "Quilt Queen" and even her shoes are an homage to her favorite hobby—with quilted fabric uppers.
"So there's a kit. The kit has the sole, the insole and the pattern. And then it's up to you to create your fabrics that you want to incorporate," she explained.
Booker Thomas is one of the around 100 quilters from around Southeast Michigan who belong to GLAAQN. The group has grown quite a bit since it was founded in 2003.
"There were, I think, four or five quilters, they were African-American quilters, who went to a show in Chicago and they traveled together. They were from the metropolitan Detroit area," said guild vice president and founding member Cassandra Harris. "They went to this show in Chicago and were so inspired that they said, you know what? We need to have something here. We need to have something with African-American quilters."
Harris, like many of the quilters here, has been sewing since she was a young girl. She said her mom sewed clothes for her and all her siblings when they were young.
"And I, you know, started sewing a little bit when I was six and then graduated to learning how to use the machine. And my first garment was when I was ten and then started making all of my clothes after that."
Harris said she’d always thought quilts were beautiful. But it wasn’t until later in life, after taking a quilting class, that she started quilting herself. She loved it—and hasn’t stopped since.
There is a rich history of African American quilters. Some, like Bisa Butler and Faith Ringold, became famous for their fiber arts. But for many Black families in America, quilting was both creative and practical. It was a way to repurpose worn clothes, flour sacks, or offcuts of fabric into something both beautiful and useful. Preserving and sharing the history of African American quilters, both past and present, is part of the guild’s mission.
To that end, the group hosts quilt documentation days, in which quilters can have their work photographed and write down the details of its creation and the story behind it. Liv Furman, a post doctoral scholar in African American and Africa studies at Michigan State University, helped to organize a recent documentation day for GLAAQN.
“Quilt documentation days are kind of rooted in grassroots documentation, archival praxis,” Furman said to the quilters gathered to document their quilts. “Where communities are starting to see like, you know, you have all these art museums out here with all this quote unquote 'fine art,' but we are making art that is meaningful, important and, you know, rigorous and beautiful.”
Quilting is not a quick or easy craft. It involves hours of cutting, stitching, pressing seams, and layering fabric. Yet, for many of the quilters, the process is meditative—a way to slow down and reflect.
“I don't think I had a lot of patience before. And with quilting, you learn patience. And that's what I really like about quilting,” said GLAAQN guild member Linda Thomas. “Because you can just sit down and relax and just think about what you're doing and just visualize it and put it together.”
For other guild members, it's a way to reflect on the memories of the quilters in their family and the parents, grandparents, and mentors who taught them. And most of all, it’s a way to connect with each other over a love of creating beautiful things.
Hear the full story on the Stateside podcast.
[Get Stateside on your phone: subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or YouTube Music today.]
