Name/Title
Stitching love and loss : a Gee's Bend quiltEntry/Object ID
NK9198.5.U6.C6 2023Description
"In 1942 Missouri Pettway, newly suffering the loss of her husband, pieced together a quilt out of his old, worn work clothes. Nearly six decades later her daughter Arlonzia Pettway, approaching eighty at the time and a seasoned quiltmaker herself, readily recalled the cover made by her grieving mother within the small African American farming community of Gee's Bend, Alabama. At once a story of grief, a quilt, and a community, 'Stitching Love and Loss' connects Missouri Pettway's cotton covering to the history of a place, its residents, and the work of mourning. Interpreting varied sources of history and memory, Lisa Gail Collins engages crucial and enduring questions, simultaneously singular and shared: What are the languages, practices, and processes of mourning? How is loss expressed and remembered? What are the roles for creativity in grief? And how might a closely crafted material object, in its conception, construction, use, and memory, serve the work of grieving a loved one? Placing this singular quilt within its historical and cultural context, Collins illuminates the perseverance and creativity of the African American women quilters in this rural Black Belt community."Lexicon
Search Terms
african american quiltmakers, commemorative quilts, gee's bend (alabama)--social conditions, mourning customs, quilting--psychological aspectsBook Details
Author
Lisa Gail CollinsPublisher
University of Washington PressDate Published
2023ISBN
9780295751603Notes
Length: 172General Notes
Note Type
ContentsNote
Introduction: Missouri Pettway's Quilt Made in Mourning -- Woven within the Land -- Carrying History and Memory -- Seeking Sanctuary -- Lined with Labor -- Shared Care and Prayer -- Conclusion: Sacred Utility -- Coda: Pulled to This Place.