Haptic & Hue: "The Glorious Quilts of Gee's Bend"

Host: Jo Andrews
Guests: Loretta Pettway Bennett, Mary Margaret Pettway, Raina Lampkins Fielder
Date: February 5, 2026

Overview

This episode of Haptic & Hue explores the extraordinary textile tradition of the Gee’s Bend quilters in rural Alabama, a group of African American women who have transformed necessity, inherited skill, and creative tenacity into some of the most celebrated works in American modern art. Through the voices of quilters Loretta Pettway Bennett and Mary Margaret Pettway, and curator Raina Lampkins Fielder, the episode examines the roots, artistry, community bond, and ongoing legacy of Gee’s Bend quilting.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Historical and Cultural Roots

• For over 150 years, Gee's Bend has incubated a unique textile artistry, inherited from ancestors, many of whom were enslaved and trafficked from West Africa (00:20).
• The story of Dinah Miller, brought at age 13 on the last known slave ship to the U.S., is foundational; her artistic lineage persists five generations on (01:53).

2. Necessity and Invention

• The harshness of life in Gee's Bend forged a practical creativity: quilts were made out of whatever scraps were available to provide warmth and insulation.
  • "We took what we had and we made what we needed." – Mary Margaret Pettway [04:57]
• Feed sacks, old clothes, and any usable cloth were repurposed (08:26).

3. Community, Learning, and Traditions

• Quilting was intergenerational, communal, and deeply embedded in daily life:
  • Children, even as young as five, contributed by carrying water to field workers and threading needles (07:22, 09:36).
  • Quilting bees involved gatherings of women at different houses, sharing work and ideas:
    • "That's what you call a quilting bee... maybe four to five women in a group." – Loretta Pettway Bennett [10:30]
• Girls learned by trial, error, and observation, with critiques and ideas exchanged during outdoor quilt airings (11:09).

4. Artistry Born of Isolation and Resourcefulness

• Isolation fostered originality; exposure to external artistic trends was limited, so the community's creativity flourished within its own boundaries.
  • "We was isolated in this little bend of the river... we were not exposed to any type of artwork or a lot of television." – Loretta Pettway Bennett [14:29]
• Each quilt tells a personal and collective story, combining rich color sense rooted in African heritage with idiosyncratic patterns and improvisation (15:14).

5. The Quilts as Living Art

• The European art world, upon discovery, was astonished at the modernist resonance of the quilts—yet as Jo Andrews notes, modernist artists often drew from African influences that had long been present in Gee's Bend.
• The artistry lies in breaking “rules,” improvising within limits, and expressing biography, memory, and freedom through each quilt (16:50).
  • "Let's see what I can create within these borders that is transformative and bigger than the borders themselves." – Raina Lampkins Fielder [16:50]

6. From Local Need to National Acclaim

• The first outside attention came through 1937 photographs by Arthur Rothstein (18:43).
• Political activism: the Freedom Quilting Bee, founded during the 1960s Civil Rights Movement, sought economic justice and became a vehicle for broader social participation (19:55).
• Major art world recognition arrived after 2002 exhibitions, but for many quilters, museum displays initially seemed surreal, given the humble domestic uses of the objects:
  • "The quilts that we thought were so ugly ... now you see those very same quilts ... hanging in a museum ... it brought tears to our eyes." – Loretta Pettway Bennett [22:54]
  • "I used to sleep under that old thing! ... I didn’t intend to say it aloud, but it came out ..." – Mary Margaret Pettway [24:31]

7. Art Versus Utility – Recognition and Identity

• Despite acclaim, many quilters are reluctant to call themselves “artists,” reflecting barriers that women—especially women of color—face in claiming artistic identity (27:17).
  • “I don't see myself as being an artist. I still see myself as ... a quilt maker.” – Loretta Pettway Bennett [27:17]
• Financial independence from quilt sales has granted some new freedoms and opportunities:
  • “If you're lucky enough to sell a quilt... you can get your house fixed, you can get a car... It is meaning freedom, basically.” – Mary Margaret Pettway [27:38]

8. The Power and Peace of Quiltmaking

• Both Mary Margaret and Loretta describe profound peace and connection to ancestors through quilting:
  • "I am at what they call perfect peace... I can do it all day just sitting there." – Mary Margaret Pettway [29:38]
  • "I kind of feel like they are there with me, when I'm doing my sewing, making my quilts." – Loretta Pettway Bennett [30:10]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “We took what we had and we made what we needed.”
  – Mary Margaret Pettway [04:57]

• “That's what you call a quilting bee... maybe four to five women in a group.”
  – Loretta Pettway Bennett [10:30]

• “It was our way of expressing our own individual creativity, I guess.”
  – Loretta Pettway Bennett [14:29]

• “Let’s see what I can create within these borders that is transformative and bigger than the borders themselves.”
  – Raina Lampkins Fielder [16:50]

• “Those quilts looked like they were just the most prettiest things in the world … I used to sleep under that old thing!”
  – Mary Margaret Pettway [24:31]

• “I still see myself as making, being a quilt maker.”
  – Loretta Pettway Bennett [27:17]

• “It is meaning freedom, basically.”
  – Mary Margaret Pettway [27:38]

Key Timestamps

• 00:20 – Introduction to Gee’s Bend: history and artistry, roots in slavery
• 04:57 – Mary Margaret Pettway on daily life and necessity
• 07:22 – Loretta Pettway Bennett: family farm work and children's roles
• 09:36 – Quilting as communal, intergenerational learning
• 10:30 – The quilting bee tradition
• 13:03 – Mary Margaret Pettway on being “made to quilt”
• 14:29–15:14 – Origins of creative originality in isolation and resourcefulness
• 16:50 – Raina Lampkins Fielder: improvisation, art, and freedom
• 18:43 – Recognition via Arthur Rothstein’s photos
• 19:55 – Freedom Quilting Bee and political activism
• 22:54–24:31 – Quilters’ reactions to museum displays
• 27:17 – Struggles with the title “artist”
• 27:38 – Economic impact and personal empowerment
• 29:38–30:36 – The peace and ancestral connection found in quilting

Tone & Language

The episode is filled with warmth, pride-in-craft, and reflective honesty. The voices of Loretta and Mary Margaret bring both humor and gravity, while Jo Andrews' narration is reverent, accessible, and attentive to historical complexity. Raina Lampkins Fielder brings an insightful, scholarly lens.

Conclusion

The tale of Gee’s Bend quilts is one of transcending hardship through creativity, community, and unbroken traditions. The quilts—once practical objects, now works of art—speak to resilience, cultural legacy, and the artistry found in everyday life. For the women of Gee’s Bend, quilting remains both a livelihood and a profound form of self-expression, sustaining connections to ancestors and offering new freedoms to future generations.