Written by and photos by L. M. Land
Featured photo: FAAQG member Loretha Roberts makes a quilt of orange every year for gun violence awareness in June. The quilts are made in memory of her son Jacari Roberts, who died at the age of 21 by gunshot. The pattern of this quilt is called ‘chains’, and was chosen for the theme breaking the chains of gun violence.
Back in 1987, Gloria Coles saw a beautiful quilt and said “Good Lord, this is too beautiful!”
Coles was then director of the library which now bears her name, the Gloria Coles Flint Public Library (GCFPL). The quilt was made by a member of the new Flint African American Quilters Guild (FAAQG). Coles invited the Guild to show the quilts at the library so others could experience the beauty.
The FAAQG was founded in 1987 by Derenda Collins and Jeffalone Rumph to retain the skills and stories of their primarily Southern families, and to share those skills with the Flint community.
Fast forward to October 11, 2025: the FAAQG celebrated their 36th Quilt Show at the GCFPL and were presented with the Michigan Heritage Award by the Michigan Traditional Arts Program. The program is affiliated with Michigan State University (MSU).
You may have only thought about a quilt as a blanket to keep you warm. Some quilts are just that.
Quilts can also speak of social justice, speak of love, skill, culture and history. They speak of the individual who created the quilt, their loves, passions and talents. Quilts speak of fellowship – as many hands work on a quilt, or communities come together to view them or are taught to make them.
The past and the future meet when a quilt is made, or quilting is taught.
FAAQG members make quilts for themselves and as a group. Quilting is also their tool for social action via education. They teach children to quilt and about their African-American culture. They teach elders at senior centers, at churches and wherever they are called to be.
It is this social action beyond the art of making a quilt that stands out and qualified the nomination to the Michigan Heritage Award. Marsha MacDowell, Ph.D., director of the Michigan Traditional Arts Program, met Mrs. Collins 40 years ago and kept in touch as this community of makers grew. MacDowell remembers them as “activists.”
And also as great quilt artists!
To learn more, please see the links below.
The Flint African American Quilters Guild does not discriminate against gender or race. Yes, there men who quilt!
The Guild meets at Queen Bee Creations quilt store, 719 E. Mt. Morris St., Mt. Morris MI. 810-686-4600. Call for information or stop by. Enter through the back door. Queen Bee offers African and Australian fabrics, sewing machine repair and much more.
https://traditionalarts.msu.edu/programs/michigan-heritage-awards/
The Michigan Traditional Arts Program has a database of 98,371 quilts from many makers, historic and contemporary. You may also add your quilt to the database. https://quiltindex.org/about/welcome/
They also have a Michigan Stained Glass Census, and Michigan Barn and Farmstead Survey, based in MSU’s MATRIX: The Center for Digital Humanities and Social Sciences. MTAP’s research collections and archives are housed in the Michigan State University Museum.
