COURTESY: TUTWILER COMMUNITY EDUCATION CENTER
Taking something old and unused and turning it into something beautiful is a specialty of a group known as the Tutwiler Quilters who will be exhibiting their wares to the Oxford community Saturday at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church.
The Tutwiler Quilters consist of a group of women who are associated with the Delta’s Tutwiler Community Education Center. The quilting program offered through the community center both keeps alive a wonderful African-American tradition and provides badly needed employment for older women living in Tutwiler and is dedicated to preserving Mississippi’s quilting traditions.
Sister Maureen Delaney, executive director of the Tutwiler Community Education Center, appreciates the benefits this program provides.
“Personally, I really love the quilting program because it helps bring some money to the quilters and helps pay their bills, and they make such beautiful things,” Delaney said. “They don’t realize what artists they are.”
The quilting program began approximately 25 years ago with one member of the Tutwiler community. Today, there are about 10 women in Tutwiler who take part in making things for sale using materials donated to the community center.
“The people piece and quilt in their homes and bring their products here for us to take to the different places we visit,” Delaney said.
The Quilters exhibit not only in Mississippi but also in locations ranging from California to New York. Special orders are accepted, but for the most part, the quilter’s work reflects traditional patterns and designs that are a part of African-American culture.
In a town where the median income is $19,000 and the unemployment rate is 16.1 percent, being able to receive 80 percent of the profit of every item sold helps provide crucial income for the women in the program.
Peter Frost, a senior research associate and visiting professor of international studies, first became interested in the Tutwiler Quilters when driving through the town with his wife. Since then, he and his wife have partnered with Elizabeth Payne, another Ole Miss professor, the university’s Sarah Isom Center and the Center for the Study of Southern Culture to host the Tutwiler Quilters here in Oxford.
Frost expressed his concern for the Tutwiler community’s well-being.
“I both love the African Quilting tradition and want to help our community see the skills of these people,” Frost said. “I really want to help and bring the skills of those people to this place.”
Items available for purchase range from relatively inexpensive potholders and bags to table runners and quilts.
Staff members from the Tutwiler Community Center will be showing and selling items made by the quilters at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. All are encouraged to attend.
Frost said no one who attends the show will leave disappointed.
“You kill two birds with one stone because you help a community that needs help, and you get some great Christmas gifts as well,” Frost said.
