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Alabama Cotton and Bemis Bags: Pieced into Quilt History

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From Uncoverings 2013, Volume 34 of the Research Papers of the American Quilt Study Group

2013

By: Wright,Sarah Bliss

Alabama native Sarah Bliss Wright spent thirty years in performing arts before quilts captured her attention. The soprano has sung in more than forty operas and musical theater productions, and her passion for the arts has been put to good use in advocacy for music education. Sarah and her husband, baritone Scott Wright, were presented the 2012 Artists Award by the Mobile Arts Council in recognition of their significant artistic contributions to the community. Though she grew up surrounded by quilts, it was not until 2006 that the idea of turning her talents to textile art was born. Serious study of quilt history began after a serendipitous meeting of fellow Alabamian Mary Elizabeth Johnson, well-known author of numerous quilt books. Sarah holds a B.A. in psychology from Samford University, and studied at the University of Exeter, England, as a Rotary International Fellow. In 2012, she was curator for Our Quilted Past, an exhibition of Alabama feedsack quilts and the Bemis Bro. Bag Company in Talladega, Alabama.