Quilting may be associated with your grandmother, but the Flat Penny Folk Art Gallery could change that stigma with the opening of its new exhibit today.

Introducing Black History Month, the exhibit will feature five handmade quilts by Yvonne Wells, a self taught, internationally known quilt maker and artist.

Wells cuts fabric in free form, relying on her imagination to make the quilt come to life with her story.

Wells’ art reflects her culture, as the largest quilt on display is entitled “Tribute to a King, Number Three.”

This quilt incorporates her cultural history by positioning a picture of Martin Luther King, Jr. surrounded by civil rights imagery.

Bobbi Jo Imbrogno, co-owner of Flat Penny Art Gallery, said that one particular quilt is her favorite, calling it a “phenomenal piece.”

The complexity and artistic talent of the quilts make them more than just blankets but expressions of the individual.

The uniqueness of quilts is important, Imbrogno said.

“Many of these quilts were made in the depths of poverty from whatever materials were on hand,” Imbrogno said. “The ingenuity of the quilts is that they were never viewed by the maker as art, but despite that fact, the individuality and creativity of the maker is clearly seen in these pieces.”

An anonymous artists work is showcased alongside Wells’ pieces, a depression era cot quilt.

This quilt would be made for a working person, designed with improvisational methods using lots of scraps. Depression-era cot quilts refer to the size, which is made smaller than other quilts to the size of a double bed.

Also showing in the gallery are 40 posters handmade by Amos Kennedy, a printmaker who uses multilayered, woodblock technique to create vibrant images and text.

Each poster is different, some with a political message and others with inspirational phrases, like “Proverbs are the daughters of experience” and “Not to know is bad; not to wish to know is worse.”

The posters are on sale for $20 each at the exhibit.