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(From left) Valerie Parker and Martha Jones-Carter display a group breast cancer quilt, similar to one they auctioned off last year to benefit breast cancer research.
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Jones-Carter’s red, white and blue “Yes, We Can” round-robin quilt
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Bailey created this round-robin quilt with Loralie Designs’ church lady panels. “When we’re responsible for adding to someone else’s quilt, we push ourselves to do our best,” Naima Wares-Akers says.
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(From left) Georgette Bailey and Parker hold one of the group’s Underground Railroad quilts; each square adds to the story. “Quilting is a tradition that’s evolved from a utilitarian thing to an art form,” says Jones-Carter. “You can still see the traditions of African American quilters. … It’s almost like the rebirth of an art.”
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(From left) Roslyn Key-Tiller, Bailey, Tara Wilkerson and Greta Brayboy-Runnels at work on a new technique. “We all learn from each other. There’s so much creative energy here, it makes you want to create,” says Bailey.
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A work in progress, Wilkerson’s round-robin quilt honors breast cancer survivors and those who lost the fight. “We each bring something different to the table,” Wilkerson says. “I think sometimes we underestimate ourselves; with the group, we surprise ourselves and help each other to grow.”
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A brilliant pinwheel pattern round-robin quilt started by Wilkerson
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(From left) Gloria Lewis, Wares-Akers, Çam Jones and Key-Tiller admire Lewis’ round-robin quilt crafted with African fabrics and adorned with beadwork, shells and symbols on the border.
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“The Alignment of Kuumba Stars” quilt, a round-robin project by Jones and members of the Kuumba guild
Seven years ago, Martha Jones-Carter invited a group of women to an introductory meeting. All had learned to sew, knit or crochet from their mothers and grandmothers and shared the desire to find a creative outlet, but none of them were quilters. “We met at a beauty salon, which is also a place of sisterhood,” says Valerie Parker. “It was a magical meeting of like-minded women that opened my eyes to the possibilities of what I could create.”
That day, the Kuumba African American Quilt Guild of Richmond was formed. Kuumba (pronounced koo-OOM-bah) means creativity. It’s also the sixth of the seven principles of Kwanzaa, instructing all to leave the community more beautiful and beneficial than when they inherited it.
“We are inspired when we see other artists’ work.” —C.L. “Çam” Jones
Today, the group has 14 members who meet monthly to share and critique their personal projects, learn new techniques, and collaborate on group quilts — both planned and round-robin, where one person creates the first block and hands it off to another member to add to, and so on. We joined the group at a recent meeting, where they graciously shared recent projects.
“The first time we met a creative person, not a quilter, she wrote this poem about being in the group, about the energy and creativity,” says Çam Jones.
Kuumba Women
By Priyah Bhagat
Did you hear them — did you see them the other night?
The movement the vibration
A flash of light!
Kuumba women came to gather
The other night
There was talk of ancient art
Fabric art
They gather on that hollow spot
Of imagination and inspiration
Where creation starts
To gather they came
With their purpose the same
Quilting and Dolls
Will be their fame
Oh! I know it’s a lot
But they’ll give it all they got
Take up your pins and notions
Quilt and doll out your magic portions
Let the world feel our motion
From mountain tops to the deepest of oceans
Kuumba women Let creation be our
Solution — our next evolution
