Skip to content

WELCOME TO OUR STORE

SUPPORT OUR WORK

  • HOME
  • MAGAZINE
    • CURRENT ISSUE
    • BACK ISSUES
    • FIND SELVEDGE
    • ORDER FAQS
    • CONTACT US
  • SUBSCRIBE
    • FOR YOURSELF
    • FOR SOMEONE ELSE
    • FOR AN INSTITUTION
    • FOR STUDENTS
    • SUBSCRIBER ACCESS
    • SUBSCRIBER FAQS
    • CONTACT US
  • SHOP
    • SELVEDGE GOODS
    • ARTISAN GOODS
    • MAGAZINES
    • WORKSHOPS
    • TALKS
    • MEET THE MAKER
    • BOOKS
    • ORDER FAQs
    • CONTACT US
  • LEARN
    • BOOK A WORKSHOP
    • BOOK A TALK
    • LISTEN TO A TALK
    • MEET THE MAKER
    • TRAVEL WITH US
    • EVENT FAQS
    • CONTACT US
  • ARTISANS
    • SHOP
      • ALL
      • CLOTHING
      • INTERIORS
      • ACCESSORIES
      • TOYS
    • EXPLORE
    • ACCESS TALKS
    • WATCH SLOW TV
    • LISTEN TO PLAYLIST
    • CONTACT US
  • COMMUNITY
    • READ OUR BLOG
    • JOIN OUR COMMUNITY
    • SLOW TV
    • LISTEN TO A PODCAST
    • VISIT A TEXTILE COLLECTION
    • SEE AN EXHIBITION
    • ENTER A PRIZE DRAW
    • MAKE A PROJECT
    • CONTACT US
  • COLLABORATE
    • ADVERTISE WITH US
    • WORK WITH US
    • WRITE FOR US
    • WRITE FOR THE BLOG
    • BECOME A STOCKIST
    • CONTACT US
    • SEE ARTISAN INFO
  • STORY
    • READ OUR STORY
    • GET TO KNOW US
    • READ ABOUT US
    • CONTACT US
Log in
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • Vimeo
Selvedge Magazine
  • HOME
  • MAGAZINE
    • CURRENT ISSUE
    • BACK ISSUES
    • FIND SELVEDGE
    • ORDER FAQS
    • CONTACT US
  • SUBSCRIBE
    • FOR YOURSELF
    • FOR SOMEONE ELSE
    • FOR AN INSTITUTION
    • FOR STUDENTS
    • SUBSCRIBER ACCESS
    • SUBSCRIBER FAQS
    • CONTACT US
  • SHOP
    • SELVEDGE GOODS
    • ARTISAN GOODS
    • MAGAZINES
    • WORKSHOPS
    • TALKS
    • MEET THE MAKER
    • BOOKS
    • ORDER FAQs
    • CONTACT US
  • LEARN
    • BOOK A WORKSHOP
    • BOOK A TALK
    • LISTEN TO A TALK
    • MEET THE MAKER
    • TRAVEL WITH US
    • EVENT FAQS
    • CONTACT US
  • ARTISANS
    • SHOP
      • ALL
      • CLOTHING
      • INTERIORS
      • ACCESSORIES
      • TOYS
    • EXPLORE
    • ACCESS TALKS
    • WATCH SLOW TV
    • LISTEN TO PLAYLIST
    • CONTACT US
  • COMMUNITY
    • READ OUR BLOG
    • JOIN OUR COMMUNITY
    • SLOW TV
    • LISTEN TO A PODCAST
    • VISIT A TEXTILE COLLECTION
    • SEE AN EXHIBITION
    • ENTER A PRIZE DRAW
    • MAKE A PROJECT
    • CONTACT US
  • COLLABORATE
    • ADVERTISE WITH US
    • WORK WITH US
    • WRITE FOR US
    • WRITE FOR THE BLOG
    • BECOME A STOCKIST
    • CONTACT US
    • SEE ARTISAN INFO
  • STORY
    • READ OUR STORY
    • GET TO KNOW US
    • READ ABOUT US
    • CONTACT US
Log in Cart

Item added to your cart

Access Denied
IMPORTANT! If you’re a store owner, please make sure you have Customer accounts enabled in your Store Admin, as you have customer based locks set up with EasyLockdown app. Enable Customer Accounts
Gee's Bend Quilters

Gee's Bend Quilters

March 3, 2021
Share

Image: Sadie Bell Nelson, Center medallion—"Monkey Wrench" single-block variation, c. 1965. Synthetic knits, 78 x 64 inches. Photo: Stephen Pitkin/Pitkin Studio. Collection of Souls Grown Deep Foundation

Style evolves in many ways; as a hybrid, a mix of sensibilities and experiences and under the influence of teachers and books. In isolated communities, however, traditions can breeze along for generations undisturbed by the cross-pollination of modern life. Resembling an inland island, surrounded on three sides by the Alabama River, Gee’s Bend, Alabama, is one such pocket of purity. The Gee’s Bend tradition of quilting stands out due to the staggering number of talented quilters and their prodigious output—over 10,000 quilts in a century, from a community of 700—and the creations of the Gee’s Bend women constitute a crucial chapter in the history of American art.

Image: Leola Pettway, Texas Star, 1984. Cotton and polyester, 98 x 83 inches. Collection of Souls Grown Deep Foundation. Photo: Stephen Pitkin/Pitkin Studio

Most of the quilts can be called improvisational or "my way" quilts. This philosophy of improvisation permeates African American life, not only in quilting, but also in music, dance, speech, dress, and every type of personal artistic expression - there is a justified pride in self-reliance. When Gee’s Bend quilters followed patterns, they were simple ones. ‘String quilts’ involved creating strips by adding on pieces at will and then sewing the strips together – somewhat like the African fabric tradition of sewing together colourful narrow woven strips. ‘Log Cabin’ is a popular pattern which emerged during or just after the civil war and is said to evoke the warmth of hearth and home. Created around a central block called the ‘chimney’, squares were built by overlapping ‘logs’ or strips of fabric. ‘Housetop’, a relative of Log Cabin, was the name given to any quilt dominated by concentric squares.

Image: Ruth Pettway Mosely, Nine Patch, c. 1955. Cotton and corduroy, 93 x 77 inches. This is one of ten Gee's Bend quilts to appear on a U.S. postage stamp in 2006. Photo: Stephen Pitkin/Pitkin Studio. Collection of Souls Grown Deep Foundation.

But patterns provided only a general idea on which a quilter improvised freely. Ideas were borrowed and personalised. Preconceived notions of design, neat edges, colour combinations and patterns did not hamper young girls learning the rudiments of quilting. Instead, they might simply be given a pile of cloth and told to ‘make a quilt.’ Mensie Lee Pettway remembers being taught that there were endless ways to do this. ‘Ought not two quilts ever be the same’, was the only restriction. Quilters in Gee’s Bend didn’t hesitate to deviate from the expected.

We featured Gee's Bend in our very first issue, 00 Launch, which is available in both digital & print.

Souls Grown Deep Foundation & Community Partnership are dedicated to promoting the work of African American artists from the South. Read more about the quilters of Gee’s Bend on their website.

Back to blog

Leave a comment

Please note, comments need to be approved before they are published.

Invalid password
Enter

Quick links

  • SEARCH
  • ABOUT US
  • T&Cs
  • FAQs

Subscribe to our newsletter by entering your email address below. "I just wanted to say how much I admire your informative and inspirational newsletters - I always look forward to them!" Tricia, San Rafael, USA

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • Vimeo
Payment methods
  • American Express
  • Diners Club
  • Discover
  • Maestro
  • Mastercard
  • Visa
© 2023, Selvedge Magazine Powered by Shopify
  • Choosing a selection results in a full page refresh.