Author Visit with Cozbi A. Cabrera Community Quilt Project: Finished Quilt Reveal
On October 24, 2021, Lincolnwood Public Library, in collaboration with Evanston Public Library, co-hosted an incredibly powerful community virtual author visit with award-winning author/illustrator Cozbi A. Cabrera, creator of books such as My Hair Is a Garden, Me & Mama and Exquisite: The Poetry and Life of Gwendolyn Brooks (written by Suzanne Slade). Cozbi talked about her journey as an artist, lead a writing activity, and shared her love for quilting and crafts. We were joined by friends, grandparents, grandchildren, & neighbors at this accessible, intergenerational program. We were also supported by Booked, Evanston’s very own independent bookstore, to purchase books by Cozbi A. Cabrera, which we should all own in our homes and libraries.
During our virtual visit, Cozbi guided us how to reconstruct a meaningful personal memory onto the quilt square. Before the author visit, we had met with Brian and Sally at Evanston Public Library to learn how to make the Program Kits and ensure we ordered the necessary materials for our patrons. We also received fabric that Cozbi had donated, which was so generous! We distributed the squares both before the visit and afterwards, encouraging people to return them to add to our community quilt. We also shared the recording of the visit. You can also read more about this project/visit in my previous blog post here.
Memory Writing/Quilt Square Directions
During our visit, Cozbi offered these prompts to get us thinking about our memories to use for our quilt squares:
Your earliest childhood memory
the memory that tickles your funny bone
the memory that stings or aches
the dream memory
that awkward moment you tried to fit in
the memory that’s travelled a generation or two
People could also create a paper quilt square using their own drawing supplies. People were instructed to think about a memory that’s important to them and using these materials, reconstruct it on the quilt square.
You can view the recording below. People sharing their stories has been omitted for the recording to protect their privacy.
Finished Quilts Reveal
Sally at Evanston Public Library created a magnificent digital version of the quilt squares from patrons that included the stories they included with their quilt squares. You can view it here or by clicking the image below.
We actually had the opportunity to talk about our special author visit collaboration at the recent Reaching Forward conference, which you can view here. It was really powerful to hear more from Sally and Brian about the work that they did for the author visit and community quilt project, including how their colleagues Linda and Bridget reached out to the community, especially the Foster Senior Club, to encourage and facilitate participation in this project. The impact of creating a platform for people to share their stories and memories is immeasurable - and also aligns with our core values as libraries as spaces for community engagement and memory keeping.
Our Lincolnwood Library quilt was made by Carey Petersen, a local resident and library worker, who is an incredibly talented quilter. (I hope one day we get to exhibit Carey’s art - it’s marvelous!) We worked with our Marketing & Facilities departments to create a short-term display of our quilt for patrons to see and enjoy - and hopefully spark some memory sharing of their own. I wrote up all the information about this project, which our Marketing department used to create a digital display. This display is planned to stay up until around June 6. Isn’t the quilt absolutely beautiful!? Carey did such a phenomenal job and I’m so grateful for her hard work!
A huge thank you to Brian, Sally, Linda, and Bridget at Evanston Public Library for all of their support and guidance to join them in this special visit and project. Special thanks to St. Mary’s Quilters for their assistance. Thank you to Ann and Lisa at Lincolnwood Library, and our community partner, Carey Petersen, who made our quilt. And of course, to Cozbi A. Cabrera, for bringing us all together to share in this wonderful experience!
You don’t have to wait for a community quilt to tell your story. You can use the prompts above to inspire your own creativity in whatever medium you’re interested in. And you can always share what you create - or keep it for yourself or your family. You can even check out Cozbi’s books and use them as mentor texts for your stories. This experience truly shows the beautiful things we can make - the community that we grow - when we come together.