When Sallie Gray was “very young,” she started learning to make quilts from her great grandmother.

“They would hang them up from the ceiling and they would be quilting,” Gray said. “And I would have to be up under the quilt to thread the needle. And I caught on from there and I just started doing it and started doing it.”

Gray never lost her love of sewing. She said she kept making the quilts on her own, until she started working with a Sim Scott Park quilting club in the 1980s. Together, they made more quilts than she could count, though she said it had to be in the hundreds.

On Wednesday night, a few of those quilts found their way to the walls of the Columbus Arts Council, as friends and family threw a surprise 97th birthday party for Gray. The group shared memories of Gray over the years.

Greg Lewis, director of the Columbus Parks and Recreation department, shared a short biography about Gray at the party.

“Ms. Sallie Gray was an avid sewer,” he read. “Her specialties were doll clothing and quilts. Her quilting, although highly sought after, was never sold. She gave it away to those in the community and donated to fire victims. Today, her quilts can be found in Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Texas, Tennessee, Indiana and California.”

Lewis told The Dispatch Gray has always been known for her generosity, as she gave away both food and quilts to those in need throughout her life. She and her sisters, Dorris Merrall and Mattie Brown, have always sat on her front porch to keep an eye on the Northside neighborhood, he said.

“She was always kind and loving to people in the community,” Lewis said. “She would feed the children in the community. She would feed people in the community. … You could always call on her, and she would be there.”

Besides her quilting skills, Lewis also acknowledged her 45 years of service as a nurse’s aide at Columbus Hospital, which is now the location of Community Counseling. Lewis also acknowledged her role as a member of the Sim Scott Revitalization Committee, the Sim Scott Senior Citizens and in starting the first Night Out on Crime, now referred to as the National Night Out, for the city.

James Samuels, associate pastor at Gray’s church, Stephen Chapel Missionary Baptist, said Gray and her family have touched many lives, also referring to her presence on her front porch and her work on the Night Out on Crime.

“I can’t quantify in words what their existence has meant for Black Columbus, but it’s immeasurable,” Samuels said. “… The quilts represent their ability to work together and do things and put things together. But all the other things that they touched in their lives can’t be hung on a wall. You have to just walk in it.”

While the Columbus Arts Council has not always hosted birthday parties, Executive Director Salem Gibson said that it was natural to host Gray’s birthday, as “people like her inspire the next generation.” Gibson personally hung up Gray’s quilts earlier in the day, including a few of her favorite pieces.

“When we find out that there are local fighters for our community who are willing to stand up for what they think is right, and I think those are– especially with her being a quilter and being involved in the arts and music and cultivating an audience– I think this is a no brainer that she deserves the spotlight,” Gibson said.

Valerie Jackson, Gray’s granddaughter, said the members of her house have received at least 25 hand stitched quilts. Every child, grandchild and great grandchild has their own quilt, she said, if not two.

“They’re all personalized,” Jackson said. “Mine is pink and green. The boys (her sons) are of course blue, and they have whatever their thing was on it. So sports, for them.”

Gray said her favorite thing about quilting is to see people use them, but seeing them on the walls of the arts council for her birthday was “just fine” with her.

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