<description>&lt;span style="font-weight: 400"&gt;Kena Tangi Dorsey lives her life the way she wants to live her life.  It’s taken her in different directions throughout the years, but each step has added knowledge that she is able to use now.&lt;/span&gt;

&lt;span style="font-weight: 400"&gt;While living in Harlem, New York, Kena had an abundance of access to African shops and boutiques along 125th Street, so she began infusing African wax prints, kente cloth and mud cloth textiles into her quilting projects -  by making wall hangings, table runners and quilted bags with them.  She also loves working with Indonesian Batiks and had fun purchasing a large collection of them on her trip to Indonesia a few years ago!  &lt;/span&gt;

This is one of Kena's favorite quilts! She calls it “Black Butterfly.”



“Oba!” was Kena's first Benartex Ambassador project for 2024. For her fabrics, she chose the “Transparency” collection by Modern Quilt Studio.

&lt;img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-3893" src="https://aquilterslife.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Kena-Tangi-Dorsey-Lion-with-Benartex-Fabric-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /&gt;

The purple quilt is a wall hanging quilt made of all African Ankara fabrics and a lavishly lavender organic cotton solid fabric for the background.

&lt;img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-3894" src="https://aquilterslife.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Kena-Tangi-Dorsey-Purple-225x300.jpg" alt="" width="225" height="300" /&gt;

Making portrait quilts is one of Kena's favorite things to do,  “Marvalous” was published in Art Quilting Studio Magazine!

&lt;img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-3895" src="https://aquilterslife.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Kena-Tangi-Dorsey-Self-Portrait-225x300.jpg" alt="" width="225" height="300" /&gt;

&lt;img class="alignnone wp-image-3892" src="https://aquilterslife.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Kena-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="223" height="167" /&gt;

Connect with Kena

Website: &lt;a href="https://kenaquiltstudio.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"&gt;Kena Quilt Studio&lt;/a&gt;

Facebook: &lt;a href="https://www.facebook.com/kenaquilts/#" target="_blank" rel="noopener"&gt;Kena Quilt Studio&lt;/a&gt;

Instagram: &lt;a href="https://www.instagram.com/kenaquilts" target="_blank" rel="noopener"&gt;kenaquilts&lt;/a&gt;

&amp;nbsp;

And Thanks to Shelly Martella for connecting us with Kena!

Connect with Shelly

Website: &lt;a href="https://www.threadsandewe.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"&gt;Threads &amp;amp; Ewe&lt;/a&gt;

Facebook: &lt;a href="https://www.facebook.com/threadsandewe" target="_blank" rel="noopener"&gt;Threads &amp;amp; Ewe&lt;/a&gt;

Instagram: &lt;a href="https://www.instagram.com/threadsandewe/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"&gt;threadsandewe&lt;/a&gt;

Pinterest: &lt;a href="https://www.pinterest.com/threadsewe/_created/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"&gt;Threads &amp;amp; Ewe&lt;/a&gt;

X: &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/ThreadsandEwe" target="_blank" rel="noopener"&gt;https://twitter.com/ThreadsandEwe&lt;/a&gt;

My interview with &lt;a href="https://aquilterslife.com/episodes/shelly-martella/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"&gt;Shelly Martella&lt;/a&gt;</description>

A Quilter's Life

Paula Chamberlain

Kena Tangi Dorsey

JUN 9, 202583 MIN
A Quilter's Life

Kena Tangi Dorsey

JUN 9, 202583 MIN

Description

Kena Tangi Dorsey lives her life the way she wants to live her life.  It’s taken her in different directions throughout the years, but each step has added knowledge that she is able to use now. While living in Harlem, New York, Kena had an abundance of access to African shops and boutiques along 125th Street, so she began infusing African wax prints, kente cloth and mud cloth textiles into her quilting projects -  by making wall hangings, table runners and quilted bags with them.  She also loves working with Indonesian Batiks and had fun purchasing a large collection of them on her trip to Indonesia a few years ago!   This is one of Kena's favorite quilts! She calls it “Black Butterfly.” “Oba!” was Kena's first Benartex Ambassador project for 2024. For her fabrics, she chose the “Transparency” collection by Modern Quilt Studio. The purple quilt is a wall hanging quilt made of all African Ankara fabrics and a lavishly lavender organic cotton solid fabric for the background. Making portrait quilts is one of Kena's favorite things to do,  “Marvalous” was published in Art Quilting Studio Magazine! Connect with Kena Website: Kena Quilt Studio Facebook: Kena Quilt Studio Instagram: kenaquilts   And Thanks to Shelly Martella for connecting us with Kena! Connect with Shelly Website: Threads & Ewe Facebook: Threads & Ewe Instagram: threadsandewe Pinterest: Threads & Ewe X: https://twitter.com/ThreadsandEwe My interview with Shelly Martella