A Quilt is a Poem That We Say Again: Panel Discussion

About this event

Adults: 18 and up, Seniors: 55 and up, Teens: 13 to 19 years. Join four artists from the exhibition to talk about process and decision making in quilting practices. Alejandro McGhee, Amy Basque, Claire Prucher and Laura Mariela Aranda all approach the craft in different ways, and their processes have been shaped by the community input at queer quilting workshops. We will look at in-progress documentation of the quilts in the show and hear about the series of small decisions they made to get to the finished artwork. Moderated by curator and teacher Eliza Fernand with an audience Q&A. A Quilt Is a Poem That We Say Again: queer quilting Chicago queer quilting is a workshop series and a growing community collective. Organized by teaching artist Eliza Fernand, and generated by the few hundred quilt-curious queers who have attended workshops over the past four years, it is a ritual and a point of entry into creative practice, release, and connection. The quilts in this exhibition demonstrate the range of techniques and ideas that each quilter brings to the conversation. Improvising, following patterns, incorporating text and politics and pleasure and play; attempting a composition that, bound in stitches, becomes a measure of achievement. Repetition and rhyme, and maybe reason or maybe not, are the ingredients we cast our spells with as we make our quilts into something we can stand behind, something we can rest on in repose. A Quilt Is a Poem That We Say Again: queer quilting Chicago opens at Harold Washington Library Center on October 23, 2026 and will be on view through January 11, 2027 in the Ida B. Wells Corridor. Accessibility Need sign language interpretation or other accessibility assistance for this event? Please call (312) 747-8184 or email [email protected] to request accommodations. Requests must be made at least 14 business days before the event.