10-Year-Old Wins Community Quilt Drawing at North Avondale Library

(l-r) Juliette Watts, Kendall Glenn, and Saundra Ross

A 10-year-old girl from North Avondale won the drawing for a free community quilt held at the North Avondale Branch Library on Thursday, November 3, 2016.

The giveaway was organized by Juliette Watts of the Hands On Youth Activities Program, a Birmingham-based nonprofit. Thirty-four people ranging in age from 7 to 80 met 74 times over a six-month period to stitch the quilt.

Every time a participant helped, their name was placed in a drawing. Kendall Glenn had her name in the drawing three times, Watts said. Ironically, 10-year-old Myia Pressley, who won a contest to draw the name, had the best chance as her name was in the pot eight times since she helped stitch at eight meetings. The quilt was 66 by 65 squares. You can read more about the North Avondale Community Quilt Project on the Birmingham Public Library website at
http://bplolinenews.blogspot.com/2016/11/community-quilt-to-be-given-away-at.html.

Watts, a Community Scholar through the Alabama Folklife Association, specializes in the art of quilting, and was proud to see both young and older participants build new friendships while working on the North Avondale community quilt project. At the unveiling, she gave special thanks to the North Avondale Library and branch manager Saundra Ross for being the host site.

Watts founded Hands On Youth Activities Programs Inc. in 1996, a nonprofit that teaches traditional arts like quilting, crochet, sewing, and cooking to both the young and old. She began offering beginning quilting and other hands-on craft workshops at the North Avondale Library in 2015 and has led traditional arts workshops across the city of Birmingham over the past 20 years.

For more information on Hands On Youth Activities Program, contact Watts by phone at 205-244-1465, e-mail at handsonyouth@hotmail.com, or via mail at P.O. Box 611072, Birmingham, AL 35261. See photos of the North Avondale Community Quilt Project and other Hands On Youth Activities Programs on its Facebook page link below:
https://www.facebook.com/Hands-On-Youth-Activities-Program-Inc-452481561616971/.