Arizona Quilt Documentation Project

Welcome to the Arizona Quilt Documentation Project blog! We are glad you found us. We are passionate about documenting quilts in Arizona. Every quilt is important. Please contact us at azquiltdoc@yahoo.com if you are interested in having your quilts documented. We are happy to help you in any way we can.

Tuesday, January 2, 2018

Sue's News - December

Below is the information for the Gee’s Bend presentation that Bea Kabler did in December for the doc team.

Bea Kabler offered the continuing education segment.  Her topic: The Quilts of Gee’s Bend.  Bea grew up in Alabama and traveled in the area of the Gee’s Bend quilters many times over the years.  She noted that most of the makers were descendents of slaves from the Mark Pettway’s plantation in Alabama.  There is an area in Alabama known as the “black belt” where the preponderance of people is black.  While called Gee’s Bend in the past, the Post Office renamed it to Boykin in 1949; however, it remains Gee’s Bend to the locals.

The area is U shaped, 5 miles across and 7 miles long and on three sides, has the Alabama River.  In the early years, there was a ferry, but gone since the mid 1960s, making a very long trip on a bad road to get to town to register (to vote).  Bea noted Gee’s Bend inhabitants didn’t lose privileges because they were black, but because “they forgot they were black.”

Before 1932, a kind merchant extended credit to the folks of Gee’s Bend.  That changed dramatically when he died and his shrewish wife took over the store.  She collected with a vengeance!  In 1962, a dam to generate electricity was built and the outcome meant the most fertile acres were flooded.  Gee’s bend women began to have an interest in quilting and also to have some involvement with a bee in nearby Alberta.

Gee’s Bend quilters, from remote Gee’s Bend, ultimately became Cinderellas. They were stars on the contemporary art scene with vivid patterns made with fabrics from their every day clothes.  Shy, elegant, prolific, they delighted in the respect and appreciation that greeted their efforts.  Their goal:  to break the pattern: to see what others do and then change it, to make it their own.  Gee’s Bend quilters offered bold new approaches to a distinctive American art form. The quilts of Gee’s Bend introduced bright contrasting color and a dramatic contrast to traditional American and European quilting.


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