Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship

Open reception to recognize and honor the quilters Sunday, April 13 from 4 pm to 6 pm Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship 450 East Thach Avenue Auburn, Alabama 36830

The Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship has been hosting a quilt show of African American quilts since 1995. This year, our 13th year, we are honored to show the following quilters.

• Mozell Benson—National Heritage Fellow 2001
• Sylvia Stephens
• Ruth Lockhart
• Mamie Saxton
• Essie Tolbert
• Gracie Scott 

The invited quilters work with a variety of techniques handed down through the generations ranging from tacking “prayer knots” to quilting entirely by hand.

Mrs. Mozell Benson began quilting at age 8; however, her experience with sewing began at an earlier age, when she and her cousin became knee threaders. She would create things like shirts and dish towels through the guidance of her mother. It was later that she began to quilt, specifically using a technique known as tacking. Through this technique, Mozell is able to create as many as one hundred quilts in a year. These quilts are made from any combination of scrap cloth, and held together by Mozell’s prayer knots. It is because of Mozell’s usage of primarily donated materials that she is able to give away many quilts and obtain that special feeling one can only experience when giving something like a quilt to someone in true need. If there is one thing the world could learn from Mrs. Mozell, then it is the realization that there are no mistakes in art.

Mrs. Ruth Lockhart has been quilting since age 16, when she was forced to quit school after sixth grade in order to help support her family. She began quilting with her mother in Waverly, Alabama and has since created over 50 quilts. Each quilt is unique and varies from patterns such as the flying eagle, the pinwheel, and the star. Mrs. Lockhart’s favorite place to quilt is her bed. She says that she would often sit for hours totally immersed in her art. Due to health-related reasons, Mrs. Lockhart is unable to quilt for more than 15 minutes at a time; however, her passion and talent is still evident in all of her work, old and new. She is a living example of the true spirit and meaning of art.

Quilts will be on exhibit and for sale. For directions and more information, please go online www.auuf.net or call 501.8621. Photographs and interviews available on request. An video preview is also online.