![]() ![]() The earliest existing quilts from this period are crafted from used and found materials. “And then after the harvest time, they would quilt them.” In this way, the women of the community would ensure the blankets were finished and ready in time, before the colder months of winter truly set in. “In the summer months, when everything had started to grow and didn’t need as much attention, the women would have more time to piece their quilt tops,” Loretta explains. Originally, the practice was inextricably connected to the seasons and the farming calendar. It was against this backdrop that the tradition of quilt-making flourished. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, many of the residents were provided loans by the Federal Government to buy the land that their ancestors had worked. The residents of this community are direct descendants of generations of slaves, who worked on a nearby cotton plantation. ![]() Gee’s Bend, also known as Boykin, is a small rural community in Alabama, just southwest of Selma, where quilts have been part of the fabric of life for over a century. “Our eyes were beginning to open, to see that these are really art.” “I got to see all these people from different backgrounds and different ages and nationalities and races, all coming and admiring the quilts,” Loretta says. ![]() Until we got to Houston and saw them on the walls.” The exhibition was a huge success and marked a shift in how the quilts were perceived – not just by the art community but by the actual artists themselves. I saw them in pictures before they were displayed in Houston and the photos really didn’t do them justice. “It took a little while for us to see what they were seeing in these quilts. “It was mind-blowing for me,” she says, recalling the day nearly two decades ago when she visited the show in Texas. For Loretta, it was the first time she had seen these quilts – which she’d been surrounded by her entire life and which had been crafted by her own mother and grandmother, among others – displayed high on the walls of a gallery. That was the year the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston and The Whitney Museum of American Art in New York put on the country’s first major exhibitions dedicated to the Quilts of Gee’s Bend. Tip: These Clover clips are great for holding the binding in place while you are hand stitching the back.Looking back, 2002 was a major turning point for Loretta Pettway Bennett. I quilted lines about a quarter inch from each seam to emphasise the rectangles.Īttach binding – I have a tutorial for my method here: Quilt Binding. Layer the backing piece, right side down, then the batting or pellon, then the quilt top, right side up. Join the top section to the green strip, then join the lower section. Join the sets of three together as shown in the pictures. Lay out the pieces as they will join for the quilt top. ![]() Then join the purple, blue and light blue pieces together in that order.Ĭut the 9″ sets in half to create to sets that are 4.5″ wide. Join the red, orange and yellow pieces together in that order for both the 9″ pieces and the 5.5″ pieces, pressing the seams to the side as you go. Divide the pieces into groups: red, orange and yellow together purple, blue and light blue together. Note: all seams are quarter inch seams Step 1Ĭut all your pieces. Purple, Blue, Light Blue, Yellow, Orange & Red – 1 piece in each colour: 9″ x 2.5″ 1 piece in each colour: 5.5″ x 2.5″Ģ″ x at least 65″ strip for binding – mine was made by piecing scraps of my rainbow fabric, this includes extra length for joining I’d love to see your finished mini quilts so tag me on Instagram or Facebook, or even Google+ if you’re over there. I hope you enjoy making this one as much as I did. My design has a green stripe across the middle of the set because the practical side of me didn’t want to chop it in rectangles only to stitch them together again! But the quilting really emphasises the rectangles I think. I’ve named this quilt the Rainbow Coins Mini Quilt because it reminds of a traditional quilt design sometimes called Chinese coins which stacks rectangles of fabric on top of each other in columns. You can see the other rainbow mini quilts and more on this page. This is the fourth mini quilt in the set and it is based on Block 3 of the cross stitch designs. When I stitched all my rainbow blocks cross stitch last year, I had this secret plan to make each of them into mini quilts as well and I’m gradually adding to the collection. It is no secret that I love rainbows and mini quilts are so quick to make that this is the perfect match for me. ![]()
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