STITCHING STORIES

Cross-Cultural Healing through Quilting and Textile Arts

spring & summer 2025 series

Quilting and Textile Arts are powerful mediums for storytelling and cultural connection across diverse communities and histories. This series with its collaborations promotes cultural exchange through quilting, textile arts, and storytelling. The Heritage Museum of Asian Art has a long commitment to the Asian American community, collaborating with artists and cultural practitioners to preserve and promote the richness of Asian art, culture, and history. As a way to truly show our commitment, we knew we needed to cross cultural boundaries and create relationships to foster solidarity between the Asian American and Black American community.

This workshop series is a space for racial healing, bringing two communities together to share cultural histories, personal narratives, and artistic expressions. With this shared creativity, we hope to foster empathy, understanding, and respect for the intersectionality between our cultures. Throughout this series we will be collaborating with the Needles and Threads Quilters Guild, the Herart Foundation, and the Abrahamic Center for Cultural Education.

The Stitching Stories project works to bridge the Black and Asian communities through the art of textile works and was made possible by Healing Illinois. Healing Illinois is funded by the Illinois Department of Human Services in partnership with The Field Foundation of Illinois.

events

PIECING TOGETHER FRIENDSHIPS

zakiya williams, ruth raickett-roberts, & susan trice

27 april 2025 | 2-4 PM

Join us for a quilting workshop focused on creating beautiful quilt blocks inspired by friendship. Participants will learn essential quilting techniques while designing meaningful blocks that celebrate connection and community. Perfect for all skill levels, this hands-on session fosters creativity and camaraderie through the art of quilting.

MOTHER'S DAY FABRIC CARD-MAKING

sona kim from the herart foundation

11 may 2025 | 2-4 PM

Join us for a heartfelt Mother’s Day celebration through a hands-on card-making workshop. Using repurposed fabric, we’ll craft one-of-a-kind cards for your loved ones—infused with warmth, memory, and care. Think of it as a tribute to the memory bear your grandmother may have lovingly stitched for you—each piece carrying a story, each card a keepsake.

TATREEZ WORKSHOP

tatreez jenin

24 may 2025 | 2-4 PM

Tatreez is the Arabic word for embroidery—and for Palestinians, it represents more than stitches on fabric. It is a centuries-old indigenous art form that weaves together memory, identity, and resistance. Passed down through generations for thousands of years, tatreez continues to be practiced today, preserving the cultural legacy of Palestine through needle and thread.

MOBILE MAKING WORKSHOP

sona kim from the herart foundation

4 may 2025 | 2-4 PM

Join us for a hands-on workshop where we’ll craft artful mobiles inspired by the peaceful nostalgia of childhood. Guided by the spirit of sustainability, we’ll repurpose fabric scraps into vibrant, hanging sculptures—breathing new life into once-forgotten materials and celebrating creativity that cares for our planet.

TRUNK SHOW! QUILTING TRUNK TREASURES

margo haynes, ruth raickett-roberts,

sheila white, & kimberly mosley

18 may 2025 | 2-4 PM

A trunk show is a special presentation of quilts that honors the rich traditions, cultural significance, and artistic practices of quilting. In this intimate gathering, quilt artists will showcase their creations and share the stories, inspirations, and techniques behind each piece. The term “trunk show” comes from the way quilts were historically transported—from one community to another—in trunks.

THREADS OF IDENTITY

joyce weathington, dorothy burge, & doris barnes

1 june 2025 | 2-4 PM

In this unique presentation, artists will share their deeply personal approaches to transforming photographic images into expressive textile art. Through storytelling and visual examples, they will discuss their inspirations, creative processes, techniques, fabric selection and sourcing, as well as the technical challenges they’ve encountered—and the innovative solutions they’ve discovered along the way.