Gee's Bend Quilting Retreat 2025
Reflections on being in community with other quilt makers
It’s been a couple of weeks since I returned from Jackson, Mississippi. In the span of a handful of days, I was transported to a place and state of mind so unlike my day-to-day that time stood still. After two airplanes and a shuttle ride to a rural suburb of Jackson, I arrived at a fairly nondescript conference center and hotel to embark on a quilting weekend. Surrounded by 50 other quilt makers who were there to be with two of the women last in the line of the Gee’s Bend quilters, we arrived from all over North America to be present and to quilt together.
I had a loose plan for a quilt project going into the weekend. I would say all of the other participants, and they were all women, aimed to make quilts in the spirit of Gee’s Bend, with an approach and aesthetic centered around improvisation. Some worked with thrifted and found fabrics, cutting and sewing denims and corduroys. Others used quilting fabrics in a riot of color and pattern. There were 6 giant bins of donated fabric to sort through (which yielded treasures over and over in an uncanny way). While I kept improvisation in mind, the patchwork I was attempting was distinctly NOT in the Gee’s Bend style. I had a tiny floral cross stitch pattern I wanted to blow up and solidify into a floral silhouette… more on that later.
The arrival day of the retreat consisted of a late afternoon check in, setting up our work tables and a welcome dinner. We were introduced to Mary Ann Pettway and China Pettway, the central figures of this gathering, who are part of the Gee’s Bend Quilting Collective and still live and work in Gee’s Bend in Boykin, Alabama (a 3 hr drive from where we gathered in Mississippi).
Nothing was planned for after dinner, but the sewing room was open to us 24hrs a day and nearly everyone “got to work” and started sewing that first night. The sewing machines buzzed along as folks met their workstation neighbors and pawed through the scrap bins. I was surprised at the energy and how quickly people became absorbed in making. I had a handful of precut squares in greens and blues I bought at the thrift shop and mindlessly sewed them together into something approximating a doll-sized quilt. I wasn’t ready to tackle my main project just yet.
The next morning started early with breakfast at 8am. While we queued for a meal of grits, eggs, meats and biscuits, Mary Ann and China entered the room singing.
I was stunned. This was wholly unexpected and incredibly moving and powerful. As the days unfolded, Mary Ann and China would break into song mostly around gathering for meals and on the two evenings we met in the auditorium across from the sewing room. It became clear that Mary Ann and China see all of their work and success with quilting as gifts and grace from God and singing is a huge part of sharing this blessing and message. What an amazing gift to hear them sing as part of their creative process and way of living. Snatches of these sung phrases echo in my mind even now that I am home, and probably will continue to do so for a very long time.
Mary Ann and China singing “On the Battlefield” in the workroom while everyone sews.
Back in the sewing room, women were at work cutting and sewing away. By lunch, quilt tops were already taking shape and emerging. Blocks were taped to the wall, conversations sparked around the room like little fires, people discussing colors, compositions and block placement. I had started the task of tearing 1.5” strips of terracotta colored cotton and sewing them along with cream cotton into a blocky and pixelated looking floral motif (inspired by the cross stitch flower). Hours whipped by and around 4pm people took breaks, dazed from hours of cutting and sewing, to come up for air.
Everyone meandered around room seeing what folks were up to and taking it all in. By the end of the first full day, I had managed to strip piece together a large floral silhouette and a few small motifs. While others had improv takes on traditional blocks like the log cabin, housetop, pigs in a pen, I was off in my corner doing my thing… I was feeling good about the progress, although it wasn’t near to my final vision just yet, but I think it perplexed most people who happened to wander by. Little did I know, my quilt would take a major turn the next morning!
The quilt gets the chop…
In starting to add more small elements to my quilt, I took a portion of the pieced white background and cut it up and resewed it together. Upon entering the sewing room the next morning, I decided this was the element I like best about my quilt. Without hesitation, I took a rotary cutter to the my larger two panels and cut them into strips, rearranged them and resewed them… again and again and again. I loved this direction and wound up taking all of the terracotta fabric (the main floral motif!) out of the design.
To finish up my design, I added small additional plaid pieces and a warm peachy fabric here and there until I got something I could sew all together into this small quilt top; roughly 30” square.
I love it and I had no idea I would make this.
By day three I was ready to make my quilt sandwich, pop it into a Q Snap frame and sit next to Mary Ann to see if some of her hand quilting magic would rub off on me…
With expert deftness, Mary Ann stitched almost invisible lines of dashes across my quilt. I aimed to mimic her in a clumsy, beginner fashion. Between the two of us, we accomplished 4 lines of stitching! I was happy.
We also gathered as a group and did a show and tell on the 3rd afternoon. Everyone had something incredible to show, a story to share, a problem posed and an answer in whatever they made over the previous 48 hours. It was amazing to see the breadth of style, approach, scale, fabric choice etc. A room full of vastly accomplished and talented sewists gathered and dedicated, without interruption, focused on a single pursuit… to make quilts. Seeing their work was powerful.
China and Mary Ann in the sewing room.
I sewed for 12 hours for three days straight. The time opened up and felt vast while my focus was singular. It was a welcome flow state I hadn’t had in many years. In addition to being surrounded by equally dedicated women, I was amazed at how this experience was shared among us all. I had deep, meaningful conversations with a handful of women, and light, topic-focused conversations with many more. All were enjoyable. I was impressed by the stories and glimpses of life I gathered in each of the women I encountered… what a wide range of life we have all lived. And in that range, we all shared this common interest in working with our hands, in designing, experimenting and playing with fabric that yielded quilts. We shared a respect and love of Mary Ann and China’s craft and indeed all the work of the Gee’s Bend Quilt Collective, their story, their perseverance, and their talents. I am so grateful to Mary Ann and China for being so generous with their gifts and themselves. I am grateful to Penny for taking up the mantel of organizing the workshops and bringing this community together after the sudden passing of the previous coordinator, Anne. And I am grateful to all the women who came together in Mississippi to quilt together for a handful of days; it was deeply impactful.
Your quilt is amazing! What a journey.
I love what you made! And looks perfectly Courtney.