Gee's Bend, Alabama, is a little place that has made a big impact on us and many, many other quilters and quilt lovers.   The celebrated quiltmakers of Gee's Bend have inspired thousands of people with their powerful community spirit, distinct patchwork style, and endless creativity.  At the Purl Bee we've mentioned these special quilters more than once or twice; their work touches everything, from postage stamps to knitted sweaters.  Although the first major exhibition of their work was a decade ago, there is much to discover by just looking through a book or catalogue, or visiting a museum or gallery.

If you've never had the pleasure of seeing these quilts in person, we encourage you to visit Gee's Bend: Architecture of the Quilt, a travelling exhibition that originated at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, in a museum near you.  The show explores the relationship between the extraordinary construction of Gee's Bend quilts and the idiosyncratic buildings that populate their isolated area of Alabama.  Images of Gee's Bend evoke the lived-in, tumble-down history of the place, and illustrate the environment that produced the quilters.  Both quilts and buildings bear the ingenuity and resourcefulness of their creative makers, from log cabin or "Housetop" quilts to the overlapping wood boards on a barn or the brightly painted cinderblocks of a shuttered grocery store.

Anyone who loves crafts will appreciate the strong bond between the homes these quilts adorned and the houses themselves.

The exhibit continues through 2008, so mark your calendar!  

The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, MD
June 17 — August 26, 2007

In addition to the Gee's Bend exhibit, the Walters Art Museum will also present Linda Day Clark:  The Gee's Bend Photographs, featuring Clark's portraits of the quilters and their surroundings. 

Tacoma Museum of Art, Tacoma, WA
September 22 — December 9, 2007

The Speed Art Museum,Louisville, KY
January 2 — March 23, 2008

Denver Museum of Art, Denver, CO
April 13 — July 6, 2008

Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadephia, PA
August 2 — October 2, 2008

The quilts featured here were made by Candis Pettway (top), and Lucy T. Pettway in the 1970s.