DANVILLE, Va. (WDBJ) – Although February is Black History Month, one woman honors Black history all year round.
At 99-years-old, Edith Edmunds is still making quilts by hand.
The Halifax native hosted an exhibit at Ballou Park on Wednesday called ‘Life in Stitches.’
Her quilts are made with patterns that resemble codes slaves would use to navigate the Underground Railroad during the 1800s.
The different codes helped lead them to freedom, especially in Virginia where around 1,000 slaves successfully escaped per year.
“I don’t remember any of my family being enslaved, but I think about my foreparents and I think about what they went through,” said Edith Edmunds, local seamstress. “By reading these codes, I think about it.”
Edmunds is an award winning seamstress and has presented her work across the country.
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