Blocks and Strips work-clothes quilt

Emma Lee Pettway Campbell

ca. 1950 · Top: cotton and cotton-polyester blend; back: cotton and polyester · Modern and Contemporary Art

The overall composition of this quilt speaks of the type of improvisation that typifies Gee’s Bend quilts. Did the maker initially plan for it to be completely formed from the narrow strips of dark and light work clothes in the lower two-thirds? Could it be that she added the two plain blocks to the top after finding the lower portion was not long enough to cover a bed? Or was it always her intention to create the dynamic counterpoint between strips and blocks? Unlike some of the other Gee’s Bend quilters, little is known about Campbell. This is one of only two quilts that can be attributed to her.

Artist

Emma Lee Pettway Campbell

Date

ca. 1950

Medium

Top: cotton and cotton-polyester blend; back: cotton and polyester

Department

Modern and Contemporary Art

Credit line

Gift of Souls Grown Deep Foundation from the William S. Arnett Collection, 2014