Smithsonian

Fabric of Their Lives

LORETTA PETTWAY: "I thank God that people want me to make quilts. I feel proud and happy. The Lord give me strength to make this quilt with love and peace and happiness so somebody would enjoy it. I'm doing something with my life." For many years, says Loretta Pettway, who is Arlonzia's first cousin, "I just had scraps of what I could find. Now I see my quilts hanging in a museum." Her 2003 variation on the "Housetop" pattern is in the most recent Gee's Bend exhibit.

John F. Ficara; Collection of the Tinwood Alliance

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Photos from: "Fabric of Their Lives" »