The Quilts of Gee’s Bend

Quilt by Rita Mae Pettway

Quilt by Florine Smith

Gee’s Bend is a small poor rural town located near Selma, Alabama. In the past it was comprised of cotton plantations, owned by Joseph Gee and a relative of his, Mark Pettway. Pettway bought the Gee estate in 1850 and after the Civil War, his freed slaves took the name of Pettway. They continued to work for Pettway as tenant farmers and created an all-black community.

Quilt by Lucy Mingo

Quilts by Rita Mae Pettway

Quilt by Ruth Kennedy

This community was quite isolated, being surrounded by the Alabama River on three sides. The women of Gee’s bend bonded together through quilting and developed a very distinctive style to their quilts. The quilt designs were based on traditional African American patterns and resemble the simplistic geometric patterns found in Amish quilting and modern art. The quilting skills and style of the Gee’s Bend women have been passed down to at least generations.

Quilt by Mary Ann Pettway

Quilt by Rita Mae Pettway

In 2003, the women formed the Gee’s Bend Quilters’ Collective and it is through this that they display and sell their quilts. All of their quilts are handmade and unique. These women had virtually nothing and yet they were able to take old worn clothes and turn them into pieces of art.

Quilt by Stella Mae Pettway

Quilt by Janice Pettway

Since the collective was formed, the quilts have been on display at several major museums and the quilters have appeared on such shows as Martha Stewart Living and Oprah. There are now books, DVDs, and CDs (of the women singing) produced about the quilts of Gee’s Bend. The United States Postal Service even released a stamp in honour of the quilts of Gee’s Bend.

Quilt by Lu Ann Bennett

Quilt by Janice Pettway

Recently, I had the privilege of seeing an exhibit of the quilts of Gee’s Bend and to meet a couple of the quilters themselves. On their only Canadian stop, the largest ever exhibit of Gee’s Bend quilts took place here in my city of London, Ontario. The quilts were beautiful in a very simple, rustic way. I see so many quilts now that are machine made, with tiny even stitches…ones that in many ways, seem to have achieved “perfection”. But these quilts were perfect in a different way.

Quilt by Sarah Benning

Quilt by Annette Pettway

Quilt by Geraldine Westbrook

The stitches were often large, uneven, imperfect. The fabrics were sometimes a mish-mash of colours and patterns that, in some ways, didn’t even seem to go together. And yet, there was such beauty to them. There was such art within them. The perfect, machine made quilts are beautiful, no doubt, but there’s a richness in the Gee’s Bend quilts that you just don’t see every day. You look at them and it feels like they are more than something beautiful and functional – it’s as though you can hear the stories coming from them, as though you can feel the history they hold.

Quilt by Florine Smith

Quilt by Nazareth Major

I wish I had the opportunity to take one of the workshops these quilters were holding during this weekend exhibit. I was entranced by them just in the brief time I got to meet them and chat with them. You could feel the warmth and the love emanating from them. You could tell that these are not women who are wrapped up in the rat-race, who are held hostage by technology, who are consumed by material possessions. It was obvious that they have their priorities in order and that they enjoy the simple joys of life. The moment I met them I could picture myself sitting with them on the front porch, sipping a sweet tea, and watching the summer sun set.

Lucy Mingo, a Gee’s Bend quilter and one of the quilts she made