Throughout the history of the United States, the artform of quilting has been a way of telling and preserving the stories of diverse communities, including immigrant laborers and enslaved people.
In Piecing the Past, Stitching the Future: Quilting as Storytelling, three generations from one family have used quilting as a form of self-expression and of bonding with each other and with the community. Their journey with quilting began with Mrs. Linda Edwards Dickerson Lee who began quilting at the age of 50. Inspired by her mother’s talent and passion, Dr. Tony Dickerson also picked up quilting later in life. She then passed quilting on to her great nieces Mira Jean Duncan, Adrianne Redd, and Emersyn Redd.
The combination of mature artistic voices paired with the creativity of young family members creates a thoughtful, warm collection.
Meet the Artists
Mrs. Linda Edwards Dickerson Lee
“The Blueprint”
Born and raised in Elkton, KY in either July or August of 1934, Linda was the youngest child of Charlie Edwards and Annie Carr Edwards. She had two older brothers, Frank and Earl. She grew up sewing but did not begin quilting until she was 50 years old and her 8 children were grown up and out of the house. She stated that she knew quilters when she was younger but had never thought to do it herself until she had extra time. Her favorite quilt was the 4 and 9 patch. While she knew how to use a sewing machine, she only quilted by hand from start to finish. Her greatest legacy is that she did all things creatively: cooking, sewing, DYI crafts at church.
She definitely passed this creative spirit to her children and grandchildren. Linda quilted until dementia, and later Alzheimer’s stole this gift from her. She succumbed to Alzheimer’s in 2019 just shy of her 85th birthday.
Dr. Tony Jean Dickerson
“The Consummate Teacher”
Born and raised in Indianapolis, IN, Dr. Dickerson is the 7th of 8 children raised by her mother Linda Edwards Dickerson Lee, her father Jeffie Lee, and her uncle Frank Edwards. She dedicated some 40 years of her professional life to education, ending her career as the Dean of the School of Education at Martin University.
While she began sewing at the tender age of 6 years, she began quilting on a regular basis at the age of 50 years old. She started quilting baby quilts for great nieces and nephews because Alzheimer’s had stolen her mother’s ability to do so. She later created her first art quilt in honor of Zora Neale Hurston and hasn’t looked back!
Dr. Dickerson has exhibited locally, nationally and internationally. She has served as a Racial Impact Speaker for Indiana Humanities since 2023. Through this platform she’s made more than 30 community presentations on the social, cultural, and historical significance of quilting in all communities. However, she believes that her greatest quilting accomplishment was getting family and friends to help her found the Akoma Ntoso Modern Quilt Guild of Central Indiana in April of 2018. She wishes for her legacy to be that she helped bring together a dynamic group of artists across generational lines to carry on the great gift that is quilting for years to come!
Mira Jean Duncan
“The Risk Taker”
Mira is a risk taker because even though the process of creating may at times seem difficult to her, she’s going to give it her best try! Every time! As she’s working on her pieces, she sometimes finds herself having to push past her doubts, because what she has found is that in the end, it all comes together quite beautifully. The confidence to keep going came from doing her first quilt of her grandmother. She never met her paternal grandmother, Bobby Jean Duncan, but when she made a portrait quilt of her for Women’s History Month in 2019, the joy of giving this beautiful rendition to her father sealed the deal: quilts can bring emotional satisfaction and comfort to those we love. Now, she goes into every project remembering how her grandmother’s portrait continues to bring her father joy. Mira has been a founding board member of Akoma Ntoso since the ripe age of 10 years old!
“The Creative Quilter”
Adrianne calls herself the creative quilter because her favorite part of quilting is the process. She loves how everything comes together piece by piece until you look up and you have this beautiful creation. Her favorite piece is the crayon batik, because of the content (her mom looking over her and her siblings) and the process of coloring with hot wax! She’s exhibited more than eight times. Her favorite part of exhibiting is sharing her hard work with everyone in the community. She has been a member of Akoma Ntoso since she was six years old.
Emerson Redd
“The Color Master”
Emersyn is a quilter who loves colors, colors, colors! As the youngest member of the guild she says what she likes most about quilting is that she gets to do it with her family. Besides the colors of her quilts she loves thinking about the patterns that she wants to complete. As a matter of fact, not giving up on a project makes her the happiest of all. Although she has exhibited at least eight times, she looks forward to even more exhibits of her work! She has been a member of Akoma Ntoso since she was four years old.