Originally Posted by JJs
Being here in South Alabama I have actually met some of the Gees Bend Quilters. What they had was a great promoter who saw a chance to make some money - and he (and his group did). They have actually profited very little.
On the other hand, there have been family members who never made a stitch in their lives before all the fame who have jumped on the bandwagon.
While I'm not all that impressed with the quilts, I am impressed with the promotion these ladies have gotten!
And the ones I have met have all been very nice and gracious...
We had a "Gees Bend Quilt Show" at our little museum a couple of years ago. None of the traditional quilts were shown, all were for sale. They were made with new fabrics and patterns (not period). The quilting was by hand but very poorly done, not primitive, but poorly. The (mostly) women of Gees Bend were paid (little) to produce a lot of quilts for the company that did the shows. The prices were outrageous, several hundred dollars for simple lap size quilts and wall hangings with little charm. There were some nicely done quilts, but most were obviously quickly and poorly done.
I think the original quilts are fabulous pieces of history and certainly need to be maintained. I would be willing to pay the prices for quilts made with period fabrics and the same artistic quality of the original quilts for which they are known. I find it offensive that companies would take advantage of groups of people just because they have a recognizable name.