Quilting Culture & Practice With Aaron Sanders Head
In this six-part workshop, learn how to craft a quilt from start to finish and explore the art of quilt-making through a historical and cultural lens.
Course Description
Join Southern textile artist Aaron Sanders Head for an interdisciplinary exploration of quilting, stitching together history, culture, community, and practicum. You’ll learn to create a quilt from start to finish—exploring fabric selection, traditional blocks, improvisation, making a quilt sandwich, and binding and quilting. With the help of guest speakers, including artists and historians, we’ll discuss the history of various quilting practices and methods, and explore how quilts can become more than the mere sum of their parts. By the end of our time together, we’ll understand how quilting can serve as a medium for creating beautiful objects, as well as transforming and uniting communities.
This class is open to all levels; no prior quilting experience is necessary.
Syllabus at a Glance
There are six total sessions included in this purchase, each lasting for 1.5 hours on six Sundays, beginning March 7.
Session 1 (Sunday, 3/7/2021, 2–3:30 PM ET): What can quilts be? + quilt anatomy
Session 2 (Sunday, 3/14/2021, 2–3:30 PM ET): Quilts as community-builders + quilt blocks
Session 3 (Sunday, 3/21/2021, 2–3:30 PM ET): Quilts as unconventional artwork + how to make a quilt sandwich
Session 4 (Sunday, 3/28/2021, 2–3:30 PM ET): Quilting intensive
Session 5 (Sunday, 4/4/2021, 2–3:30 PM ET): A modern quilting bee + finishing your quilt
Session 6 (Sunday, 4/11/2021, 2–3:30 PM ET): Show and tell
Between Sessions
Students will be given weekly homework assignments related to what was covered in class, including creating quilt blocks, practicing quilting techniques, and researching regional quilters and quilt traditions.
Course Materials
Students can expect to purchase quilting materials prior to the second session. We'll send out a list of recommended materials before the first class, which Aaron will speak to in greater detail during class.
A portion of this course will cover machine quilting; access to a sewing machine is encouraged but not required.
Atlas Obscura Online Courses
Our online courses offer opportunities for participants to emerge with new skills, knowledge, connections, and perspectives through multi-session classes designed and taught by expert instructors. Courses can take one of two forms: Seminars are intimate, interactive classes—capped at nine to 25 students—exploring topics and crafts through discussion, workshops, assignments, and in-class activities. We also offer lecture series that can be attended live, or viewed via a recording that will be shared within 72 hours after each session airs. Class recordings for lecture series will be available with a temporary password for up to two weeks following the final session of the course.
To learn more about our current course offerings, please visit www.atlasobscura.com/online-courses.
For answers to commonly asked questions, check out our FAQ page here.
Once registered, you’ll receive a confirmation email from Eventbrite that will provide access to each class meeting. Please save the confirmation email as you’ll use it to access your course via Zoom on each scheduled date and time.
Aaron Sanders Head is a Southern textile artist focused on natural dyes and hand-stitching. Aaron explores the intersections of practices of the past with contemporary craft, and the ways that sewing and textile arts can aid in increasing diversity and representation in the creative class. He is based in Greensboro, Alabama where he lives in an 1830s home with his partner, musician Tim Higgins, and two cats, Splenda and Turnip. He maintains an active studio practice and extensive dye garden used in his work.
This is an interactive, small-group, seminar-style course that meets over Zoom. Students may be invited to participate in discussions, workshop their projects, and receive feedback from the course instructor.
In most cases, instructors will use Google Classroom to communicate with students outside of class. While students aren’t required to use Google Classroom, instructors will be using this platform to post resources, discussion questions, and assignments, when applicable.
There are 14 spots available on this experience.
