Jean Wakely Talks Stories and Quilting in Special Event Co-Sponsored by Genealogy Society

Jean Wakely is what one might call an "unconventional" storyteller. Instead of using words or pictures, she tells tales through her mother's quilts. She shows stories with her quilts about her family, Montana, and the history of both. Many of the tales are focused on women's struggles and triumphs. Wakely speaks at the Great Falls Public Library in the Cordingley Room on Saturday, Oct. 26 from 1 to 4 pm in an event co-organized with the Great Falls Genealogy Society. Light snacks and beverages provided. Wakely helped create the Betty "Jewell" Walk Story Quilt Project in 2011 with her mother. She has been giving talks and presentations around Montana and other places in the country, since then also. When Jewell passed, Jean received her quilts and has created booklets of the stories of each quilt. The booklets will be for sale at the event.On the Story Quilt website, she describes what the project is about, stating, "The vocation of storytelling is one of the oldest in the world. Stories, both fiction and nonfiction, help us think differently about ourselves, other people, and the world beyond our imagination. They who tell the story defines the world. Stories carry tremendous power to form images and change lives. The purpose of a storyteller is not to tell you how to think but to give you questions to think upon. A well-told story changes people. The Story Quilt Projects’ quilts bring history's stories alive, inflame creativity, and motivate audience members to find their own stories."She also states that it was a project that got put into motion with a great deal of contribution from her mother."My mother Jewell and I embarked on this project many years before she passed away," Wakely writes. "She and I had discussed how important it is to have these quilt stories written down. Many quilters may think the same thing….’I should write that down’. Thank goodness my mother kept all her notes, almost. There are several quilts that sprang from her memory about our personal family. She did not have to do research or write anything down – it was, of course, all part of her wonderful memory of our family."Wakely was the oldest child of seven siblings growing up in Cut Bank. She now lives in Northfield, Minn. For more information, contact Jake Sorich at jsorich@greatfallslibrary.org or 406-453-0349 ex. 220.