FLORENCE –Saturday, April 23, 2016, the Alabama Folklife Association (AFA) will present the third session of Common Threads II: Empowering Communities through Education in the Arts. Directed by Wanda Robertson, the morning program will showcase several master artists from the region. Through their quilts, these women can tell stories about family, community, friendships, and the art of quilt making. That afternoon, Mrs. Robertson will lead a workshop in making string quilts. Taking place from 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. at the Royal Avenue Recreation Center in Florence, Ala. (421 N. Royal Ave.), the day is FREE and open to everyone but the afternoon workshop is limited to 20. Participants are encouraged to register in advance and bring a sack lunch in order to enjoy some fellowship with others. 
Presenters include Claudetta Henderson, who has been quilting for ten years, and Margaret Miller, a native of southern Mississippi, who began sewing as a young teenager and later ventured into knitting, crocheting, needlepoint, counted cross stitch, and finally quilting. Speaker Gail Morgan has a collection of quilts, including heirlooms from her mother that provide resources for storytelling. Her traveling trunk presentation will feature these family treasurers.
Wanda Robertson is a member of the AFA and a two-time Alabama Community Scholar. Since 2008, she has served as an instructor for the Alabama State Council on the Arts, Folk Arts Apprenticeship program. Inspired by her mother and grandmother, Mrs. Robertson started quilt making twenty years ago. She retained a passion for the early patchwork quilts made with scraps and love. Mrs. Robertson has taught quilting classes at guild meetings, quilt shops, and in her home. She has also instructed through the Continuing Education Department at the University of North Alabama. Her work has contributed to quilt shows at the Kennedy-Douglas Arts Center in Florence and at the Alabama Governor’s mansion in Montgomery.
Links to registration on Eventbrite (http://www.eventbrite.com/e/north-alabama-quilt-makers-gathering-tickets-21686564097?aff=es2) are also accessible from the top right corner of the AFA home page, www.alabamafolklife.org. For assistance, contact the AFA by email, alabamafolklife@att.net or phone 205.956.9888. For information on the workshop including what you will need for supplies, contact Wanda Robertson directly (email: missgeorgies@comcast.net).
Media Release/Mary Allison Haynie
Executive Director
Alabama Folklife Association
