While bedding may not be at the top of the list of concerns for incoming freshmen, it’s definitely on the mind of Zakiyah Pierce, Founder and CEO of Cozy Quilts for Scholars. The non-profit organization’s goal is to match a deserving college-bound student with a new, specially-made and comfy quilt to sleep under.

“I’ve always wanted to be involved in a non-profit. And this certainly fills an important need in the [community], especially for young people going to college,” Pierce says.

Pierce first got exposed to quilting when she and her children moved to Mansfield, Texas in 2007. She was in a JoAnn fabric store and “hadn’t given quilting any thought” until she saw a display of quilts there from the Viking Sewing Gallery and a machine “embroidering by itself.”

“I hadn’t seen anything like that before!” she says, and immediately purchased one—which then sat unopened in her living room for a full year. The purchase of a newer, second one really ignited her creative fire. And it was sold to her by an employee named Jocelynn.

When Pierce picked up a book of quilts and commented that she liked it but not the fabric used to create it, Jocelyn told her that she could use any fabric she wanted. “A lightbulb went on in my head, and I thought ‘Duh!’” Pierce laughs. Jocelynn then set out to initiate Pierce into the basics of the creative art form.

But it’s a big leap from just quilting to creating an entire organization—and then running it. Pierce is a devout believer in God and feels that there was a bit of Divine Inspiration involved.

She comes from a family of educators, and her sister was at the time an Assistant Principal and mentoring a high school senior named Teanna. When Pierce was told that Teanna was Texas-bound for college, she offered to make her a quilt and asked about her favorite colors and animal. The result was that Teanna was given a pink quilt featuring zebras.

The ball started rolling and Pierce took it forward, involving both herself and other quilters. She founded Cozy Quilts for Scholars and to date has matched nearly a dozen students with quilts. Her ultimate goal is to have an inventory of newly-made quilts already done to then match with students.

Unfortunately, COVID put a hard stop to her project, and she’s admittedly had some difficulty connecting with counselors and crisis counselors at schools where she now lives in Los Angeles.

She needs their involvement to locate students from “humble” backgrounds who could use a quilt the most and are committed to attending a university. Pierce says that her booth at the Long Beach Quilt Festival will mark the rebirth of Cozy Quilts for Scholars.

At the Long Beach Festival July 6-8, in addition to telling attendees about her plans (and hopefully getting some involved), she’ll be selling T-shirts to raise funds for the organization to purchase supplies. She also says they’ll accept monetary donations and sheet sets. 

Finally, asked as to what kind of quilt she would have liked to have when she was a student, Pierce is quick to answer.

“A green one!” she laughs. “But at that time, I didn’t really know what a quilt was. Now, I definitely do!”

For more information or to donate, visit www.CozyQuiltsforScholars.com

To subscribe to their YouTube channel, visit HERE.