Round Valley native, Georgina Wright, at 5, learned to stitch by hand alongside her mother and her aunts. She embroidered doilies, dresser scarves and pillowcases, while the women sewed quilts. Georgina attended the old Reservation school where Mrs. Mooey and Mrs. Eunice Jamison kept the girls busy with sewing projects for gifts to mothers while the boys worked on carving projects.

In the 30’s and 40’s, the Round Valley Methodist Church held a weekly sewing circle that worked on quilts for those in need. If someone’s house burned down, the ladies sewed them a quilt. Georgina accompanied her mother, aunts and sisters to these sewing get-togethers as a very young child. She played amidst the quilts in progress, hearing the happy chatter of the women visiting and sewing. These were important gatherings for the women of Round Valley. Ladies planned their week around the sewing circle schedule. The Methodist Church continued this into the ’60’s. Georgina learned by watching these ladies and being a part of the social exchange that happened at the sewing circle.

The quilts pictured below are hand-stitched from scraps of old or new sewing projects by Georgina or friends. Each piece has a memory.