Gee’s Bend Quilts
What is a quilt? Where do we find quilts? We are going to learn about the quilters of Gee’s Bend today. Gee’s Bend is a very small, poor town in Alabama. The women in Gee’s Bend are known for their beautiful, colorful quilts that look like paintings you would see in a museum. The quilts were made to keep their families warm. Because the women didn’t have a lot of money to buy new fabric or materials, they used things they had—old clothes, towels, rags—nothing was wasted.
Let’s take a closer look at the quilt made by Mary Lee Bendolph.
IMAGE: Grandma Strips, 2009, a quilt by Mary Lee Bendolph (American, b. 1935). Cotton, 75 x 77 inches. Collection of Mary Lee Bendolph, courtesy of Rubin Bendolph Jr. Image via https://news.uga.edu/mary-lee-bendolph-quilts-exhibition/
What is something that you notice about this quilt?
Do you think it would be warm to sleep under?
What kind of tools do you think you would need to make a quilt?
What is the main color in this quilt? How does that make the other colors look?
Let’s make our own!
Quilts are usually made of three layers of fabric and sewn together. Our quilt will be a paper quilt collage. Collage is an art form where you take pieces of paper and combine them to make a new piece of art.
Supplies:
Construction paper, magazine paper, yarn, fabric scraps
glue
piece of paper
Steps:
Gather your paper scraps–Look through to see what kind of sizes, colors, and patterns you have. Will your quilt have warm colors like red, yellow, or orange? Or will it be black and white, with lots of words on it?
Your challenge is to make your paper quilt with what you have–some quilts from Gee's Bend were made without scissors! Use the scraps to collage in patterns and shapes to make up your quilt. Most quilts use squares of different colors, but use your imagination.
Make sure you glue down the paper carefully. Most quilts are rectangular–will yours be that shape?