WILLA BRIGHAM

MEMBER, AFRICAN AMERICAN QUILT CIRCLE OF DURHAM

Willa Brigham’s quilting saga has spanned over 40 years. She cut out one hundred two inch squares at age 16, put 10 of them together by age 17, and never picked them up again. Years later while living in southern California, she took her first quilting class from Eleanor Burns, author of Quilt in a Day Series. She was introduced to the self-healing mat and the rotary cutter and fell in love with quilting all over again.

She enjoys recycled, up-cycled, and reusing fabrics from scraps of drapery, jeans, shirts, aprons, and upholstery fabrics, all purchased at her favorite place, The Scrap Exchange in Durham, NC. She loves bold, striking patterns and a mixture of strong solids. Her up-cycled quilts have become a powerful means of passing on the values and traditions of a people. In them, they share deeply personal stories commemorating births, marriages, friendships, and family ties.

If you want to sing, snap your fingers, and get in touch with the inner quilter in you, check out her CD, Midnight Quilter.

Quilting makes her happy. It gives her peace of mind. Quilting gave her an opportunity to tour with the Gee’s Bend Quilters on their college tour. She declares quilting is better than a shrink and produces a finished product!