WINEDALE FEATURES “TRANSCENDING 9/11” QUILT EXHIBIT
AUSTIN, TEXAS — February 21, 2006 — “Transcending 9/11: Quilters’ Reflections” will be on display from February 24 through March 11, 2006, at Winedale, a historic site and conference center near Round Top, Texas. Project facilitator Barbara Gilstad will present a talk on Saturday, February 25 at 1:00 p.m. at the Meadows Foundation Education Center at Winedale in which she will describe how this collection of quilts came into existence as a collaboration between Japanese citizens and Texas quilters. The talk and the exhibit are free and open to the public.
Regular hours for viewing the “Transcending 9/11” quilt exhibit are Monday through Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., through March 11. The exhibit was previously on view at the Institute of Texan Cultures at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Winedale is located at 3738 FM 2714, Round Top, Texas.
In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, there was an outpouring of condolences from many throughout the world. In Japan, the response took the form of 139 quilt blocks from all over the country which were solicited for the construction of “Freedom Quilts.” These quilt blocks made their way to Texas, where Texas quilters fashioned them into thirty-nine quilts and wall hangings. The result is the acclaimed cross-cultural exhibit “Transcending 9/11: Quilters’ Reflections,” which has been described as “a cross-cultural collaboration in fabric.”
Winedale is a division of the Center for American History, a special collections library, archive and museum at The University of Texas at Austin. The 225-acre site features eight historic structures, the oldest two being original to the site and dating to the time of the Republic of Texas. Winedale is surrounded by some of the most important historic sites and areas in Texas, including Washington-on-the-Brazos, San Felipe de Austin, Independence, the Texas Independence Trail, and the old Camino Real, in the beautiful rolling hills of south-central Texas.
