Gee's Bend

On the heels of getting back from retreat- I took a bus trip with fellow quilters last Sunday up to Tacoma ,WA to check out the Gee's Bend exhibit. No photos were allowed so I can only link to the museum where it is currently on display until December 9th- if you live anywhere close- go check it out! Seeing those quilts up close was amazing. I noted the freeform Baptist fan quilting on one piece by Lucy Mingo-blocks and strips work clothes. In fact, many, many of the quilts were hand quilted with that style-and often the "thread" looked like thin string..some knots on the top even. I bought the huge book, Gee's Bend The Architecture of the Quilt...it must weigh three pounds alone. It was great to see so many quilts in the book that I had just seen in person! I plan on going back up another time with my sweetie- plus, December 18 through February 17, 2008 there will be another worthwhile show called, Threads that Bind: Works by Pacific Northwest African American Quilters - won't that be a great follow up to Gee's Bend?
Sadly the tour guides that gave us a "special" talk were not quilters and could only repeat a bit of what one of the Gee's Bend quilters, Mary Lee Bendolph had said when she was visiting the museum to promote the exhibit.

*** life is over the top warp speed crazy right now, so though I have a few more posts in my mind, they will just have to wait a while****
Quilt when you can!