THE QUILTS OF GEE'S BEND
Back in 2002, I got to see The Quilts of Gee’s Bend exhibit at the Whitney Museum in New York. Those historical quilts made quite a stir at the time. I remember walking through the exhibit marveling at the colour, the re-purposed fabrics and perfect simplicity of the composition. Little did I know that this show would help push me towards the creation of the workroom several years later.
A few days ago, I traveled down to London, Ontario to see an exhibit of more contemporary quilts from Gee’s Bend and to participate in a workshop with some of the women of Gee’s Bend. Jacqueline of Soak organized a small group of ladies for this road trip, all I had to do was get up at the crack of dawn.
We spent the morning walking through the show. Though the exhibit seemed small at first glance, it is huge on substance. These quilts were all made within the last four years by various women from the Gee’s Bend Quilters Collective and they are wonderful. I was so incredibly inspired by many of the pieces in the show.
After lunch at a local market, we joined a workshop led by four women from Gee’s Bend. Using scrap clothing, some solids and a couple prints, they led us through their techniques to create a couple blocks sewn by hand. The true highlight of the day was spending time with these lovely ladies from Alabama. Their sweet, enthusiastic and warm dispositions had us grinning and laughing, while we tried to soak up their teachings and their southern twang. The day ended with hugs and a class photo. Perfect.
I posted all my photos from the day here.
8 comments
Sounds amazing! Thanks for sharing!
Do you have another picture of the one with the yellow on the bottom, shown in the fourth picture down from the top?
(I am possibly de-lurking, but I come here a lot.)
wow! I love the work of Gee’s Bend and have just come across his work by reading (nth) american blogs… Its absolutely invigorating and seemingly addictive.. compelling.. colourist and full of energy and passion. …sure would of been a privilege working along side those lovely old ladies..what characters and such insight I’m sure.I think Mr Bend would have possibly mistaken yours as one of his own!
MRS Bend!!! so sorry.. of course. just did some homework!
beautiful exhibit!
thank you for taking so many photos and sharing them! i find gee’s bend quilts… and those inspired by them to be fascinating!
So great to see their newer work like this.
wish I’d known you were coming to my town – you could have come for a studio visit, and I could have planned my trip to the show to meet up with you all. I’ve seen the Gee;s Bend quilts in Halifax before, but was happy to see them here in London as well.
Such beautiful quilts! Lovely photos. Thanks for sharing with us!