Susan Rogers is the youngest member of the Tutwiler Quilters. Born in 1977, she first learned to sew at the age of sixteen, when she enrolled in a class at the Tutwiler Community Education Center. After a little bit of trial and error, she was soon able to gain confidence in her craft and was welcomed as a member of the quilting group.

To begin a quilt, Rogers looks for inspiration in the books found in the Community Center’s library. From there, the design comes, and she arranges pieces of materials on a board to organize the pattern and colors. She’s quick to admit that she makes pretty quilts but confesses that sometimes the colors are difficult to put together so that they look good. But she soon remembers that there are no mistakes in quilting, the quilter just has to be patient to find the right spot for the colors for them to work.

Rogers is the only member of her family who sews. Her mother thinks that she must have gotten her talent from her grandmother. Wherever her talent came from, Rogers certainly appreciates it. To her, quilting is a relaxing and gratifying outlet for this mother of two. She hopes that one day her children will develop an interest in quilting so she can teach them this traditional art that incorporates theories of mathematics and design—skills that they can take with them wherever they go.

In the meantime, Rogers is keeping an album to document her work. She photographs each completed project and files it in a scrapbook, writing down the date, time, and how long it to her to finish the piece. Ten years after she made her first quilt, her scrapbook is getting pretty full. But Rogers plans on quilting until her fingers won’t work anymore, so there are hundreds to quilts yet to come from her patient and talented hands.

–Amy Evans