As a keeper of tradition, Cookie preserves the African American quilting tradition through innovation and service.  She teaches "quilt as you go" classes to women in underserved communities, gives educational lectures for students in public schools, and donates quilts to charities serving the homeless. For 16 years, Cookie has served as guest curator for the African American Fiber Arts Exhibit that is part of the North Charleston Cultural Arts Festival.

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By honoring our ancestral mothers we are re-“membered “ to our past.

And we can then acknowledge that they are our road map to a better future.

We venerate them because they are: A source and a symbol of lineage

Models of ethical life, service, and social achievement 

Because they are our spiritual intercessors between humans and our Creator.   

      ~ Torreah “Cookie” Washington

 

Paraphrasing the Egyptian Book of the Dead:

Pour out libation for your mothers who rest in the valley of the departed,

Do not forget this even when you are away from home.

For as you do for your mothers, your daughters will do for you likewise.