Charleston fiber artist Torreah “Cookie” Washington will reveal tips on how to create an heirloom quilt during two sold-out sessions March 15 in the Oprah Winfrey Auditorium at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.
The secret to creating a quilt that will last through the ages is to use natural fabrics such as cotton, wool, silk and bamboo, she said. Avoid synthetic materials, such as polyester, said Washington, who admitted that early in her quilting career she even violated that rule.
Washington, a fourth-generation needle worker, is an award-winning master art quilter and curator. She is the first in a long line of needle workers in her family to take up and master art quilting.
Although this is her first appearance at the D.C. museum, her sessions are sold out, she told the Charleston City Paper. About 100 people have signed up for each of her sessions.
“I am so excited, she said. “This is very exciting.” Washington’s talk at the museum is being held during National Quilting Month.
She will also demonstrate how to make fabric ornaments from African fabrics such as Kinte cloth and wax print fabric.
Quilt-making provided African American families, in particular, the ability to pass a family treasure to the next generation in the form of a quilt, Washington said. The Harriet Powers Bible Quilt, made in Georgia in about 1886, is one of the nation’s most celebrated quilts, she said. This quilt, which depicts chapters in the Bible, is on display at the National Museum of American History in Washington.
“This is one of the first pictorial quilts that was made by a formerly enslaved woman,” Washington said. “Harriet Powers is sometimes referred to as America’s most famous quilter. She had a brilliant use of appliques and, like many African American women even unto today, we quilt about our faith.”
Washington teaches people how to make folded fabric ornaments that can serve as small heirloom items for people who can’t quilt or don’t have time.
“I am making one for each of my three beautiful granddaughters for occasions throughout the year,” she said. “I will give them to the girls every year at holiday time.
“So, by the time they graduate from college, they will have a box full of small mementos of their Nana Cookie,” Washington said. “I teach this fabric art, because I believe no matter how humble our circumstances are, we can leave even a small legacy for future generations.”
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