Founders

O.V. Brantley is a self-taught quilter who began quilting in 1999 as a way to reduce stress. Since then she has made over 300 quilts which have been given to friends, family, co-workers and charitable causes and sold to collectors.

O.V. is a founding member of the Brown Sugar Stitchers Quilt Guild. Her quilts have won awards at various quilt shows and been featured in several quilt publications. Two of her quilts are featured in the historical volume that documents Georgia quilts entitled Georgia Quilts, Piecing Together a History.

Her quilts Choose to Bloom, Finally Home, Finally Found Freedom and Rain, Resilience and Rainbows were exhibited at the International Quilt Festival in Houston, TX. O.V. is proud to have been commissioned by the Charlotte Chapter of the United Negro College Fund to make a quilt for Oprah Winfrey entitled Living My Best Life at College. Her quilt Flight Toward Freedom is in the Netflix series Raising Dion.

Professionally, O.V. is the former Fulton County and DeKalb County Attorney. For more information, visit ovspeaksquilts.com or via email at ov.brantley@atlantaquiltfestival.com.

Aleathia Chisolm has been a quilter and crafter for 25+ years. She is a self–taught quilter from a long lineage of family quilters. Her participation in exhibits include: “Africa and its Gullah-Geechee Connections” at The Beach Institute Museum Savannah, GA, The Fernbank Science Museum, Art Station Stone Mountain, East Cobb Quilt Show, Lucy Craft Laney Museum, Augusta, GA and The Atlanta Quilt Festival.

She is a current member & past officer of Brown Sugar Stitcher Quilt Guild, Decatur, GA. Aleathia holds a BBA in Finance from Georgia State University with 30 years of experience in Corporate & Institutional Capital Markets.

Contact Aleathia at aleathia.chisolm@atlantaquiltfestival.com

Marva M. Swanson has been sewing for 40 years and was initially inspired and challenged by a patchwork quilted jacket. After realizing she needed to know more about the process of quilting, she enrolled in a class to learn quilting techniques. All of this became a reality more than 30+ years ago. Marva is inspired by the fabric itself. She appreciates the visual dynamic of the beautiful colors, as well as the deep, rich, bold tones that are widely available today.

Her quilts are neither traditional nor contemporary, they kind of fall in between. She tries to use very strong, vibrant colors that evoke joy or happiness because her quilts represent her personality. Two of her quilts were published in National Magazines and in November 2014 her quilt was displayed in Houston International Quilt Show. Her quilt “Tumbling in Space” was selected to be published in the 500 Traditional Quilts, Lark Publishing. The quilt travelled in the “500 Traditional Quilts” exhibit throughout the USA for 1 year. Several of her quilts have won ribbons in local quilt exhibits and the Georgia Fair GA. She has displayed her quilts in several National Shows.

Marva has curated more than 15 quilt exhibits and have used her Program Management skills for several organizations. Marva passed away February 3, 2024 and is now quilting with the angels.