Georgia Magazine - January 2018 - 18

Alexander began quilting
about 10 years ago and likes to
make art quilts that are abstracts
or landscapes.
"I just love the satisfaction of
creating something," she says.

plates. Quilters can buy fabric
online and get instruction from
YouTube. Still, quilters enjoy the
creative atmosphere and camaraderie of a quilting shop.
"People want to be
around other people who sew
so they can ask questions and
get ideas," says Sarah Phillips,
owner of Intown Quilters
Quilters say that walking into a
Fabric & Yarn in Decatur.
quilt shop is like walking into an art
The modern quilt movegallery. Pat Yearwood, who has
ment favors bold solids,
quilted since the 1970s, opened
high-contrast designs, negative
Stitch'n Quilt in Mableton in 2009.
Flowers and More, a quilt made by Barbara Albright,
space and appliqué, so Phillips
"Buying fabric-seeing all the
won Best of Show at the 2017 Pieceful Hearts Quilopened her shop in 2002 when
new patterns and colors-is one of
ters Guild Show in November.
she couldn't find the brightthe best things about owning the
colored fabrics she wanted to
shop," Yearwood says.
use. Several guilds, including
Her shop is a hive of activity and a great resource for the Greater Atlanta Modern Quilt Guild, meet at the shop.
fabric, patterns, new tools and inspiration.
"I've never been able to draw or paint, but I love the
"When guilds meet here or we have workshops, I
creative design of quilting. I love to put colors together
love seeing the variety of ideas and techniques. The
and play," Phillips says. "Quilting fulfills that creative
sharing is always enjoyable," she says.
outlet for a lot of people."
The craft has evolved over the years; rotary cutters
Laura Raines is a Mableton-based freelance writer
have replaced scissors, and rulers improved the temand a member of GreyStone Power Corp.
SAMANTHA ATKINSON /
@ARTSTUDIOCOLLECTIVE

Specialty shops provide
resources

Southeastern Quilt and Textile Museum celebrates textile arts

COURTESY SOUTHEASTERN QUILT AND TEXTILE MUSEUM

Thanks to strong support from the Georgia Quilt
Council and the Georgia Quilt Project, the Southeastern Quilt and Textile Museum opened its doors in 2012
in Carrollton. Fittingly, the building previously had
been a cotton warehouse.
"It is the Southeast's first museum dedicated to the
preservation, education and celebration of quilting and

Norma West, seated in center, a quilter from Carrollton, teaches
one of the many classes offered at the Southeastern Quilt and
Textile Museum.
18

the textile arts in the region," says Heather Rodriguez,
daily operations manager.
The museum houses 54 quilts in its permanent
collection. They represent most periods and styles of
quilting.
"Our oldest quilt, the Broderie Perse, is a French
quilt from 1780," Rodriguez says. "We put it on display
last year. It is so fragile that it can only be shown flat."
The museum has sponsored 16 quilt exhibits,
featuring quilting traditions and textile artists from
throughout the Southeast. In January through March, it
is partnering with the Carrollton Cultural Arts Center to
present the Apron Chronicles.
"People from all over the state are loaning us
aprons for that exhibit," Rodriguez says.
"Quilters and visitors come in to see how people
quilted in the past. They may not know how old some
of these patterns are or the stories behind them. It
enriches their knowledge," she says.
The museum also has an extensive research library
of 2,500 volumes and periodicals on quilting or textile
manufacturing and regularly offers beginning and intermediate quilting classes for all ages.
To learn more, visit southeasternquiltandtextile
museum.org.

More online at www.georgiamagazine.org

GEORGIA MAGAZINE

http://www.southeasternquiltandtextilemuseum.org http://www.southeasternquiltandtextilemuseum.org http://www.georgiamagazine.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Georgia Magazine - January 2018