Statement

I was born in 1954 so I came of age during the CIvil Rights Movement. I attended segregated schools in Crossett Arkansas, a small town of 6000 people at the time, until I was in the seventh grade. I spent a lot of time in the library, and I love books to this day. I graduated valedictorian of my high school class and went on to graduate from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and Vanderbilt Law School. That is why the power of dreams is so important to me. I try to capture that power in many of my quilts.

My legal career was spent in the public sector. Service is important to me, but quilts were ever present. Wherever I worked, I made sure there were quilts on the walls. I often gifted quilts to my staff members.

I am also the co-founder of the Atlanta Quilt Festival and a founding member of the Brown Sugar Stitchers Quilt Guild. The Atlanta Quilt Festival celebrates African American quilting each August with an exhibit, lectures and classes each August at the Southwest Arts Center, 915 New Hope Road, Atlanta, GA.

The center of my life is daughter India. She has inspired many quilts, is now my joyful traveling companion and has blessed me with my first grandchild Addison LaDon. We are determined to see the world.

Notable accomplishments include being commissioned by the United Negro College Fund to create a quilt for Oprah Winfrey and having four of my quilts acquired by the High Museum of Art.

I approach each day with joy and gratitude as I strive to live a life of simple abundance.