Housetop--Qunnie Pettway

Qunnie Pettway, who passed away in 2010, was the mother of another famous quilter, Loretta Bennett. Ms. Qunnie Pettway was a member of the Freedom Quilting Bee, a group of women in Gee’s Bend who were active in the fight to gain civil rights for this impoverished Black community. To keep the Black voters away from the polls, the White community across the river stopped running the ferry, necessitating a two hour ride, instead of a short ferry trip.

This rug is based on a traditional Housetop pattern, but Ms. Pettway used some unusual colors in the border detailing. The combination of wool and silk gives this rug a special sheen. 100 knot hand-knotted in India. New Zealand wool and bamboo silk.

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.