Two-sided quilt: Blocks and ‘One Patch’ - stacked squares and rectangles variation, 1973

For generations, the artists of Gee’s Bend (officially known as Boykin), Alabama, have created striking patchwork quilts that stand apart within American quiltmaking. Born into this tradition, Pettway created Two-sided quilt at just seventeen. One side features brightly colored blocks of varying sizes, echoing the freeform yet geometric style associated with Gee’s Bend quilts. The reverse presents small white and blue squares and rectangles arranged in a skewed grid, producing a subtle optical ripple. Historically, many of Gee’s Bend quilts were largely made of worn-out work clothes. Pettway’s design riffs on that history, using a wider variety of fabrics to echo and expand upon the quilt styles she grew up with. By combining new and repurposed materials in bold geometric compositions, she honors the long-standing artistic legacy of Black craftswomen and challenges distinctions between vernacular craft and canonical fine art.