I reached Roberta Horton via email. Here’s what she had to say about the Hurricane Hugo quilt:
The quilt was the result of an African-American Quilt workshop I taught for the Anchorage quilt guild. Participants were to work with free hand cutting and no drafted formal patterns with templates. Rotary cutters could be used. Then there was the fun of arranging and assembling it. Goal was a feeling of movement as evidenced by the off grain bottom plaid border on the bottom. Whole quilt was make-do. Looks like she followed the “rules” I set out.
There are lots of beautiful quilts on Roberta’s website in a variety of genres – she still offers the African-American quilt workshop.
Meanwhile, my sister Darien, whose experience during Hurricane Hugo was the inspiration for the quilt, is working on some updates about that quilt and others. Look for those soon.