The Quilt Visits Gee's Bend

Boykin, Alabama

After years of wondering about the area known as Gee's Bend, (and the quilting women who live there) I finally got to visit. ​​

​​Don and I knew we would be traveling through Alabama, so we planned a stop. Of course Gee's Bend (now named Boykin) is not on the way to anywhere. 

​​Mary Ann

This tiny community is surrounded on 3 sides by the winding Alabama River, far from any major highway. 

There are no motels or inns, but through the help of the internet, I reached resident, Mary Ann Pettway. She said we could stay with her, if we didn't mind her housekeeping! There was no official charge, but Mary Ann planned to provide lunch and dinner. We made sure to have a thank you payment ready.

The Quilters

​After an evening with Mary Ann, (which included a catfish dinner and a community softball game) we slept under one of Mary Ann's quilts. 

The next morning after a breakfast of eggs, sausage and grits, we headed to the Welcome Center at the ferry station, where quilters gather daily.

Observing
​

About 10 women were absorbed in their stitching when Don and I arrived. After observing their meticulous work, it was tempting to keep my own quilt (thrown together so sloppily years ago) hidden away. ​

But I had dragged my quilt all the way from Texas. I wanted the Gee's Bend quilters to know that the kids and seniors I work with in Texas, admire them from afar. We may not hold needles, when we gather around my quilt each week, but we share stories and songs and ideas. In the month before, we'd been learning all we could about these well known quilters.

Gifts Around the Table

The Gee's Bend Quilter's hardly had a chance to examine my (not so impressive) quilt, because I covered it fairly quickly with all the handmade gifts from Texas. ​

​The gang was most excited about the quilt cards, made by the kids who live at the Women's Shelter, where I volunteer. Each of the Gee's Bend folks picked a card from the pile. They seemed surprised when I assured them the cards were theirs to keep.

​Men Quilt Too

I'm eager to share this photo of Tyree, with the Texas kids. He studied the cards carefully, before making his choice.

I'll be happy to report to the kids that men do indeed quilt. Tyree was raised in Gee's Bend among quilting women, but had no interest in the craft when he was young. It wasn't until he went to college and began incorporating quilting techniques as an artist, that he made use of the design and stitching skills that had surrounded him growing up. He's now back living in Gee's Bend, working on an amazing piece which involves leather, denim... and some quilting that requires a bit of muscle!

​Mr. McCloud

Tyree wasn't the only man around on Wednesday.  I didn't see Mr. McCloud actually use a needle and thread, but he provided the biggest dose of enthusiasm and laughter in the room. ​​​

Those are pretty good things to have, surrounding a quilt!

​The Paper Quilt

The photos below, show the front and back of a paper quilt, made as a gift by the Texas Silverado Quilt Group. Most of the seniors at Silverado have Alzheimer's, but they had no trouble brainstorming words that have to do with quilts and quilting.  ​​

They debated as a group how to piece their "patches" of paper together. (A bit like a quilting bee!) I wish I had a video of the reaction of the Gee's Bend group as they read the words on the paper quilt. They seemed touched by some of the words like priceless and friendship. They chuckled at the word gossip... as if they weren't about to tell me what kind of gossip happened around their quilts!

​​A Quilt Square

It was almost lunchtime at the center, so I quickly pulled out a few fabric squares and markers. Paige, who was our youngest, decorated a fabric square for me. She seemed excited to know it would join other squares in making my new quilt. Eventually I'll have a new quilt connecting all the thoughts and drawings of so many who have gathered around my old quilt. ​

As I packed my things away, Tyree gathered the group for a blessing.  Then the quilters began to sway and hum. The small room filled with voices, singing and giving thanks, before hot lunch was served.

​​History
​

​There are so many things I want to know about this  isolated community.  ​

Gee's Bend has an amazing history that began when the relatives of current residents were enslaved, on Joseph Gee's plantation in 1861. In the 1930's photojournalist, Arthur Rothstein brought a spotlight to this hidden Alabama community. In the 1960's Gee's Bend became involved in the civil rights movement, when Martin Luther King spoke at the Baptist church to encourage voter registration. 
​
​Questions

But the questions that my Texas group had for the Alabama quilters, were about the women who quilt now. They wanted to know who taught them and what they thought about when they quilted and what other things they do when they sit around quilting.  

The Texas folks wrote out their questions on small cards and I presented them to Mary Ann. You could see Mary Ann pondering over the first question.  Obviously these questions don't have one word answers, so Mary Ann suggested they keep them a while and write us back with the answers.  I love that. Old fashioned quilting... old fashioned letter writing!

​What I Learned

I've used my quilt as a tool to gather people together in lots of places, but this traveling quilt adventure was different than all the others. 

I shared my quilt just enough to explain about my Texas groups and to hand over their gifts. But this quilt adventure wasn't about my quilt... it was about theirs!