“I quilt to disrupt the stereotype of sewing and quilting as utilitarian and old fashioned, just something grandma did.”
Karen Womack learned to sew at an early age from her mother who was a seamstress. In high school she created her first business making prom gowns for classmates. After college she picked up quilting when she met a woman who was a member of an African American quilt guild and started to teach and sell her creations.
Womack’s business grew from the desire to find sources for African themed fabric to use in her quilts. As a garment maker and quilter, she found herself limited to what the local fabric stores offered and wanted the unique fabrics she saw in the black fashion magazines-bold, bright colors, mudcloth inspired prints, and profiles of black women. She strives to pass down the tradition of sewing and small batch sewn goods to the next generation.