The African American Quilt Circle of San Antonio was created in 2017 as a non-profit founded by four women.
SAN ANTONIO — Quilts of family, black leaders, and names of those no longer with us line the walls at Central Library and Our Lady of the Lake University.
“Black women have been quilting forever,” said Deborah Harrison.
Deborah Harrison is a founding member of the African American Quilt Circle of San Antonio.
“I’ve been sewing since my grandmother gave me a needle and a piece of fabric to keep me busy, so we don’t even know how long ago that was,” said Harrison.
The African American Quilt Circle of San Antonio was created in 2017. It works as a non-profit founded by four women.
Harrison says the history of Black Women quilting started as a means for survival.
“Keeping you warm at night, blocking out the wind as it did during slavery. They would use quilts to cover the walls to keep the cold air from coming in. They used old fabric, they’d use straw newspaper inside the quilts,” said Harrison.
Now, you can see quilts in different shapes, colors, sizes and messages.
The African American Quilt Circle of San Antonio holds free workshops teaching others how to share their story in a unique way.
“We had everyone write their stories down and put it inside a piece of luggage, because stories come from all over the place, and those that had attended the first session pulled their stories out of that small piece of luggage, and they created art,” said Harrison.
Pieces from the African American Quilt Circle of San Antonio have been shared across the city and world in different exhibits.
From art to literal comfort made with love, every quilt holds a special meaning.
They will tell you the story of my grandmother gave me this quilt, or my great grandmother gave this to her mother, to my mom or my dad, and it carries forward so that piece has both the history of the giving, but the love in giving something like that and carrying it forward.
The women behind these works of art and family heirlooms continue to weave the stories of tomorrow.
The African-American Quilt Circle of San Antonio plans to meet Wednesday so returning visitors can share their stories and art work they’ve been working on for the past month.
It’ll be at 5:30 P.M. at Our Lady of the Lake University.
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