Submitted by San Juan Islands Museum of Art

A fun improvisational quilting workshop will be held on the island, this summer, with noted author and instructor Katie Pedersen. The event is sure to extend the design and quilting skills of any quilter and designer.

The class will be held from 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m., June 24 at the Mullis Center, located at 589 Mullis St. in Friday Harbor.

This class is part of the many activities around the exhibition “Conversations With Gee’s Bend,” which opens on Memorial Day weekend at the San Juan Islands Museum of Art.

The workshop has limited seating, so tickets are on a first come, first served basis. The fee is $75 or $65 for SJIMA members. Sign up at www.sjima.org or at the art museum when open.

Considered to be the most important African-American cultural contribution to the history of art in the United States, the quilts of Gee’s Bend are moving, powerful and abstract masterpieces. Several artists across many mediums have been invited to express their own dialogue with the women and work of Gee’s Bend. Work of some of the Gee’s Bend quilters will be included in the exhibition.

“Conversations With Gee’s Bend” opens 11 a.m.-5 p.m., May 25. Admission is $10 and free for SJIMA members and those 18 and under. Mondays are “pay-as-you-can” days. For info, call the museum Thursday-Monday, or contact Annie Howell-Adams at 360-378-2638, 360-378-5720 or anniehowelladams@gmail.com.