Sarah Bliss Wright will present The Mt. Ida Quilt Project: One Community, Two Quilts, Three Centuries at the Alabama Department of Archives and History (ADAH) on Thurs., March 16, at noon.

In 1851, 12 women of the Mt. Ida community in Talladega County, Ala., created a floral album quilt as a wedding gift to a young bride and groom. Each quilt maker signed her square with her name and the name of her plantation home.

In 2014, a quilt challenge by the American Quilt Study Group (AQSG) inspired Wright to recruit 13 women who live on or near the same land as the original quilt makers to re-create the 1851 quilt. The Mt. Ida quilt project led those 13 women on a fascinating journey through Alabama history as they pieced together the stories of the original quilt makers and their families along with a recreating the original quilt. During her presentation, Wright will share their experiences and the remarkable information they discovered.

The Mt. Ida Quilt Project was selected by the AQSG to be exhibited around the United States. The original 1851 Mt. Ida Quilt is part of the ADAH’s permanent collection and is currently on display through April 16, 2017, at the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts in a collaborative exhibition called Sewn Together: Two Centuries of Alabama Quilts. Visit www.sewntogetheralabama.org for more information.

Wright spent 30 years in the performing arts before she turned her talents to textile art. An Alabama native, Wright grew up surrounded by quilts, but it was a “crazy quilt” made from her late father’s silk neckties that ignited a desire to add quilting to her creative pursuits.

The Alabama Department of Archives and History is the state’s government records repository, special collections library and research facility, and is home to the Museum of Alabama, the state history museum. It is located in downtown Montgomery, directly across the street from the State Capitol.

The Archives and Museum are open Monday through Saturday, 8:30 to 4:30. To learn more, visit www.archives.alabama.gov or call (334) 242-4364.