Gees Bend Quilts

Last week we went to the Denver Art Museum to see the Gees Bend Quilts. I wasn't able to take pictures so I took some from the newspaper article about them. These are quilts that were made from 1940 to 2002 by four generations of African American women who lived in rural Alabama . The quilts were made by hand using whatever they had on hand, and many were made from used clothing. I loved the denim quilts that showed where they had removed the pockets. It was really amazing to see what they did. This quilt was my favorite! It was made in the 70's with left over corduroy. The women had entered a contract with Sears to make pillow shams. They then took the leftover pieces and made quilts from them. Of course the colors popular then were the olive green, gold, brown & red. They hand quilted through all that thick material. I feel so guilty I just send my quilts off to the long arm quilter and presto they are done. These women put me to shame. .