Improvised Quilts of Gees Bend
by Kathreen Ricketson, Canberra, Australia on 05.19.07
Gees Bend is a small African American community in Alabama. The town’s women developed a distinctive, improvised geometric designs from salvaged work clothes, faded jeans, worn dresses, mattress ticking and cotton feed sacks, nothing is wasted.
These skills and aesthetic were passed down through at least six generations to the present. In 2002, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, in partnership with the nonprofit Tinwood Alliance, of Atlanta, presented an exhibition of seventy quilts from Gees Bend.
The quilts of Gees Bend, are more than just quilts, they hold the spirit of the materials that are used, the history of the people, the story of their lives are contained within these quilts.
::Quilts of Gees Bend ::a history of the co-operative selling the quilts ::images here from catalogue
Image: Rachey Carey George (born 1908). Work-clothes strips, c. 1938. Denim (wool trousers, mattress ticking, cotton). 82 x 72 inches. The Collection of the Tinwood Alliance.
Image: Annie Mae Young, born 1928. Work-clothes quilt with center medallion of corduroy strips, 1976. Denim, corduroy, synthetic blend, 108 x 77 inches. The Collection of the Tinwood Alliance
Image: Lillie Mae Pettway, 1927-1990. "Housetop"--twelve-block "Half-Log cabin" variation, ca. 1965, cotton, wool corduroy, 77 x 65 inches.
Top Image: Rachel Carey George, born 1908. "Housetop"--sixteen-block "Half-Logcabin" variation sashed with feed sacks. ca. 1935, cotton sacking material and dress fabric, 86 x 86 inches. The Collection of the Tinwood Alliance
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i am so going to see that exhibition any day now!
stumbled upon the book in the library and was in awe!
Hi, my name is DeLon Charley, son-in-law to one of the distinguished quilters from Gee's Bend, Ms. Tinnie Pettway. And after "Googling" to your site,I just had to inform you of another great happening from Gee's Bend. Tinnie Pettway, one of the founding and present quilters of the Gee's Bend Quilting Collective along with her sister Minnie, has started their own private line, appropriately called,"That's SEW Gee's Bend" with their collection aptly titled, "Tinnie Pieces with Minnie Designs" YOu can visit our website at www.geesbend.net and take a look at all the wonderful quilts, patterns and other items that represent Gee's Bend. There will also be a clothing line forthcoming in the near future. For more information or for an interview please call the following;
Tinnie Pettway - 334-573-2513
Claudia Charley - 205-994-1979
DeLon Charley - 205-473-1516
God Bless You and we look forward to hearing from you
DeLon Charley