Block, Strips, String

Mary Lee Bendolph is one of the world’s pre-eminent quilters. She has had numerous individual shows, and she has been honored for her achievements by the National Endowment for the Humanities. The ceremony photo shows Ms. Bendolph, along with Claudine Pettway (accepting the award for her mother Loretta Pettway) and Lucy Mingo.

We’re privileged to have a photo of Ms. Bendolph quilting the piece that our rug is based on. She’s shown with Loretta Pettway, another outstanding Gee’s Bend Quilter.

When Barbara Barran met the Gee’s Bend Quilters, she was designing and producing her own, quilt-patterned rugs. Ms. Bendolph purchased on of these rugs, and she is shown in her living room with Barbara and Barbara’s rug!

Barbara Barran has been working with the Gee’s Bend Quilters since 2003. She has shown and sold their work at over 25 US museums, paying the quilters a royalty for the use of their designs. She has visited Gee’s Bend, AL, several times and stayed at the home of Ruth Kennedy and Lucy Mingo. Working with the quilters has been the highlight of her design career.