Turner has a Bachelor of Science from the State University of New York, Oneonta; and a master's degree and doctorate in rhetoric from UC Berkeley.

She also conducted research for and appeared on camera in the 1992 Peabody Award-winning film Color Adjustment.

She has been interviewed on the radio for features on such programs as Fresh Air, Talk of the Nation, and All Things Considered.

[5] Turner was greatly influenced in 1986 when she saw photographs of Alabama Black Belt quilters taken by Roland L. Freeman, shown in that year's catalog for the Festival of American Folklife in Washington, D.C.

[6] Turner wrote Crafted Lives, an in-depth profile of nine African American quilters (young to old, male and female) from Alaska to the Southern states.