Originally Posted by sandybeach
This is what I found on line:
http://www.quiltsofgeesbend.com/quil...ibitions.shtml
The one on the bottom left is called "Bricklayer" That looks like a very easy quilt to make. Just use some graph paper and draw it out, decide what size you want the quilt to be, then remember to add 1/4 inch all around for the seams.
sandybeach and boomswooshblahh .......i saw the gee's bend quilt exhibit years ago before they became popular, and i know they were made from whatever was not worn out on old work clothes. so i'm not putting them down as utility quilts. but i have to say they were ugly IMHO. and put together badly.
the ones pictured are not nearly as old as the originals that were thought to be wonderful. the originals were made mostly in the 40's, 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's. after that money came into the community by way of the. quilts and they started to change. fabric became available and color sense was sharpened.
i couldn't help thinking that if artsy-fartsy people hadn't "discovered" these quilts, they would not be of any significance.
other extremely poor people have made quilts from worn out clothes that were well thought out and with attention to detail. some of those quilts are quite beautiful. but i don't believe that just because something is made by poor people it is automatically lovely or artful or shows any degree of skiil.
the ones that gee's benders are making now are being made for sale and bear no resemblance to the originals. the originals had very few colors and they were simply large pieces put together any which way the fabric would allow. so a pants leg might be attached to a shirt back. etc. on the original gee's bend quilts small (the size of a child's long sleeve) pieces were hardly used. only garment-sized pieces. nor were they the first to do this.
some quilters did try to make the best color and design use of what they had, but they did not have enough of any one color to work with and as much as they might wish otherwise beauty was not big on their 'to-do' list. they had enough on their plates. they simply put together the biggest pieces they could find as well as they knew how, and slept under them.
other than being a statement of poverty, i honestly never understood the fascination with these quilts.
yakkety, yakkety, yak. sorry about that.