13. Quiltmakers of Gee’s Bend”
Won the 2005
Southeast
Regional Emmy
Award for
Outstanding
Achievement in a
Documentary
Program
13
14. US Postage Stamps
Stamps of ten quilts
created between
circa 1940 and 2001
by African-American
women in Gee's
Bend, Alabama.
Released August 24th, 2006
14
15. National Tour
Jule Collins Smith
Museum of Fine Art
at Auburn University:
September 11 ~
November 4, 2005
15
30. The Chestnut Bud
Lucy Marie Mingo calls
this quilt "The
Chestnut Bud." "It’s a
tree branching," she
describes. "Just like
the bud which comes
on the tree."
30
36. Passing on the Tradition
Allie Pettway and her
daughter Lola Pettway.
36
37. Gee’s Bend Quilters Collective
In 2003, with assistance from the Tinwood
organizations, all the living quilters of Gee’s Bend —
more than fifty women — founded the Gee’s Bend
Quilters Collective to serve as the exclusive means of
selling and marketing the quilts being produced by
the women of the Bend. The Collective is owned and
operated by the women of Gee’s Bend. Every quilt
sold by the Gee’s Bend Quilt Collective is unique,
individually produced, and authentic — each quilt is
signed by the quilter and labeled with a serial
number.
37
38. Reflection:
How did the geographic location of Gees
Bend influence the uniqueness of the quilts
produced there?
How did fabrics of the Gees Bend quilts differ
form quilts that are characteristic of the
American South?
How did the design of the Gees Bend quilts
differ from typical quilts of the American
South?
38
39. How can Gee’s Bend
Quilting techniques
be applied to creating a
photographic quilt?
Alien Nature
39 39
Editor's Notes
Note the geometric shapes in Anglo-American quilts Double wedding ring pattern Log cabin
Star log cabin ---Combination or two popular patterns ----marble, dyed fabrics
Quilled Buckskin Robe ca. 1750 – Museum of the American Indian, New York Navajo blanket
Mola is the Kuna Indian word for blouse, but the term mola has come to mean the elaborate embroidered panels that make up the front and back of a Kuna woman's blouse. The Kuna Indians are the native people who live on small coral islands in the San Blas Archipelago along the Atlantic coast of Panama and Colombia. Molas are collected as folk art and can be viewed at some of the finest museums in the world like the Smithsonian in Washington, DC. Construction and Design: A mola panel can have two to seven layers of cloth. The layers of fabric, cut in rectangles, are basted together and a design is sketched with pencil on the top layer of cloth. Some of the more experienced Kuna women can work without sketches. The fabric most often selected for use in making a Mola is cotton. Red, black and orange are the dominant colors used, however, every color imaginable can be found in the accent fabrics used. (Click on the photo for a closer look at the pencil sketch.) The Indian artists are inspired by everything when determining a theme for their Molas. The dominance of realistic objects in Mola motifs stems from an observance of nature in everyday jungle and village life; to the other extreme, images conjured from dreams, fantasies and pure imagination, including abstracts of monsters and devils Nature unquestionably dominates the Mola theme: birds, animals, sea-life, plants and flowers are the subject of many pieces. Tribal teachings, superstitions and village life are also recorded in the fabric panels. The influx of North Americans after the construction of the Panama Canal gave the Kuna women even more subjects to sew into their blouses. The wealth of graphic images from magazines, comic books, trademarks, labels and advertisements offer endless ideas for Mola design. Of course, traditional geometric cut-outs remain popular. Cutting and Sewing : Fabric is snipped away, closely following the design, to reveal the lower layers of fabric. The cut is made through one or more layers to reveal the selected accent color. The raw edges of the cut section are notched to avoid bunching, turned under and stitched, permanently exposing the lower layer of fabric and creating the intended pattern. The artist of the mola on the left used three full layers of fabric in traditional reds and black with several smaller sections of fabric in primary colors for accent to create her design. (Click on the photo for a closer look at how the cloth is layered!) Stitches: The more traditional Mola is pure applique, however, some artists of late are using embroidery stitches (#1 in photo) to enhance their work. Most of the Mola is sewn with a blind stitch or hem stitch
Note the animal theme :What animals do you see? monkey, fish, bird and tapier?
The town’s women developed a distinctive, bold and sophisticated quilting style based on traditional American (and African-American) quilts, but with a geometric simplicity reminiscent of modern art. For more than 150 years, the women of Gee's Bend, Alabama have made quilts reflecting their history and daily lives. Over generations they worked in isolation, continuing to inhabit the remote plantation land their parents once slaved. Today, art critics worldwide compare them to the great creative enclaves of the Italian Renaissance.
Gee’s Bend is a small rural community nestled into a curve in the Alabama River southwest of Selma, Alabama. Founded in antebellum times, it was the site of cotton plantations, primarily the lands of Joseph Gee and his relative Mark Pettway, who bought the Gee estate in 1850. After the Civil War, the freed slaves took the name Pettway, became tenant farmers for the Pettway family, and founded an all-black community nearly isolated from the surrounding world. During the Great Depression, the federal government stepped in to purchase land and homes for the community, bringing strange renown — as an "Alabama Africa" — to this sleepy hamlet.
Nestled in a bend in the Alabama River The unique community of Gee's Bend has a single road leading in and out of town. Due to limited access to the outside world, the lineage of the inhabitants can be directly traced to slaves existing in the Bend hundreds of years ago. The majority of the 700 people living there have the surname "Pettway," the name of the plantation owner who once owned their grandparents and great-grandparents. A distinct heritage has been preserved in the small community; the rich vernacular quilting styles of earlier generations have been preserved and passed down.
Governor Bob Riley and members of the world-famous Gee’s Bend quilters celebrate aboard the ferry reopened Monday after a 44-year absence. The ferry links residents of the Gee’s Bend community to Camden, the Wilcox county seat. Service between the two communities was discontinued in 1962. The Gees Bend Ferry Daily Service From Camden To Gees Bend
THE QUILTMAKERS OF GEE’S BEND tells the story of the critically acclaimed African-American quiltmakers from Gee's Bend, Alabama. The New York Times hailed their work as "some of the most miraculous works of modern art America has produced." The documentary explores the extraordinary lives, inspirations, and history of these women, and also follows them on a poignant and sometimes comical bus journey to see their quilts exhibited at a major museum.
The Tinwood Alliance. of Atlanta sponsored a national tour. This organization seeks to , a non profit organization dedicated to the illumination of previously unknown and underrepresented aspects of American Art and culture Organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the Tinwood Alliance, Atlanta, this exhibition presents 70 quilts created by four generations of artists from the isolated community of Gee's Bend, Alabama. After its debut in Houston in 2002, The Quilts of Gee's Bend embarked on a nationwide, twelve-city tour that has garnered unprecedented acclaim. Created from the 1920s to the 1990s, these quilts of exceptional artistry pass on remarkable stories of survival and independence. The quilts are from the collection of the Tinwood Alliance, a nonprofit foundation supporting African-American vernacular art.
1937 Artelia Bendolph looks out a window in one of the most famous historical photographs of Gee's Bend. Father Francis X. Walter, who spoke in Chapel on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, was an important founding force in the formation of the Freedom Quilting Bee, with which many of the women whose quilts were exhibited Walter said, "I immediately thought that these quilts looked like pop art and that somehow we could sell them." Later that day, Walter stopped by the house of another quilting woman and spoke with Saulsbury about selling these quilts outside of Gee's Bend. Walter continued to visit the homes of quilting women in the community. At this time, the women of Gee's Bend mainly stored and used the quilts for practical purposes. Walter began collecting quilts to be sold. Because of the quilters' mistrust of Walter, a Caucasian stranger, his wife advised Walter to pay each woman $10 in advance for each quilt, twice the price a local white would pay. He promised the sellers that they would also receive the profit from a New York city auction. Walter also began contacting various people to learn about forming an organization to sell quilts. Through contacts in New York, Walter got some publicity for the quilts. Walter was put in touch with Stanley Selengut, an importer of folk art and crafts, who offered to become the cooperative's agent at no cost. Estelle Witherspoon became the manager of the cooperative. The cooperative became known as the Freedom Quilting Bee. It began its operation out of abandoned shacks and on members' porches. The Freedom Quilting Bee held another auction on June 21, 1966. Eighty quilts were sold, and a profit of $2,200 was made. "The Bee was soon off and running," Walter said.
Noted for their unexpected color combinations, bold patterns, and improvised designs, the quilts of Gee's Bend are also remarkable for the humble materials with which they are made and the humbler circumstances in which they are born. Until recently, necessity limited the quilters to fabric from everyday items such as flour sacks, old dresses, and worn-out denim and flannel work clothes. Stains, mended holes and tears, faded patches, and seams all became integral parts of a quilt's design and ensured that the materials, as well as the quilts, told the story of Gee's Bend.
. "We never thought that our quilts was artwork; we never heard about a quilt hanging on a wall in a museum," she says. "Everybody went to talking about our quilts and everybody wanted to meet us and see us and that’s what happened."
Treadle sewing machine
Quilt 1 – Linda Pettway – Housetop eight block variation Quilt 2 “Ma Willie” Abrams – Roman stripes Corduroy given to women by Sears Roebuck
Quilt 1 – Bocks and stripes Quilt 2 by Jessie Pettway ) Bars and string-pieced columns , 1950s, cotton, 95 x 76 inches
Quilt 1 – On cover of book –Quilters of Gees bend- In memory of husband Quilt 2
Quilt 1 – worn out workclothes Note the corners are not symetrical which adds to the uniqueness of the quilt
Quilt 1 “H Variation” by Nettie Young 77x88 inches $4,199.00 Hand tufted New Zealand wool – Quilt 2 Loretta Pettway, born 1942. Medallion, ca. 1960, synthetic knit and cotton sacking material, 87 x 70 inches.
