Pearlie Kennedy Pettway (1920–1982) was an American quilter. She was among the quilters of Gee's Bend. Her works are in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Pearlie Kennedy Pettway | |
---|---|
Born | 1920 |
Died | 1982 |
Nationality | American |
Known for | Quilting |
Notable work | "Bars" Work-Clothes Quilt (ca. 1950), Triangles Creating Squares-Within-Squares Motif (ca. 1960) |
Movement | Gee's Bend Collecive |
Pearlie Kennedy was born in Boykin, Alabama (Gee's Bend) in 1920.[1] She had a brother, Herman Kennedy.[2] She married Horace Pettway, who was the brother of her brother's wife, Mary Elizabeth Pettway.[2]
Pettway created her Triangles quilt around 1960.[3] The quilt, also known as Triangles Creating Squares-within-Squares (Housetop) Motif, is made from cotton sacking material.[4] It is included in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art,[1] a gift of the Souls Grown Deep Foundation in 2014.[5] Once clothing was no longer able to be mended, Pettway would use the material from coverall pants, dresses, and skirts to create quilts.[2] Her quilt Bars, made c. 1950, was crafted using cotton and denim work-clothes.[6] According to her daughter Florida Irby, Pettway also sewed clothing using 25 lb. flour sacks and cloth that she acquired in Camden, using the leftover fabric to make quilts.[2]
Pettway died in 1982 in Boykin.[2]
References
edit- ^ a b "Triangles quilt, ca. 1960, Pearlie Kennedy Pettway". Met Museum. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
- ^ a b c d e Beardsley, John; Arnett, William; Livingston, Jane; Arnett, Paul, eds. (2002). Gee's Bend: The Women and Their Quilts. Tinwood Books. p. 162. ISBN 978-0-9719104-0-9.
- ^ Finley, Cheryl; Griffey, Randall R.; Peck, Amelia; Pinckney, Darryl (2018). My Soul Has Grown Deep: Black Art from the American South. New York: Metropolitcan Museum of Art. pp. 83, 87. ISBN 978-1-58839-609-9.
- ^ The Quilts of Gee's Bend. Tinwood Books. 2002. p. 145. ISBN 978-0-9653766-4-8.
- ^ "Departmental Accessions". Annual Report of the Trustees of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (145): 45. 2014. JSTOR 48567297.
- ^ "Quilts of Gee's Bend". Auburn University. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
External links
edit- Pearlie Kennedy Pettway, Souls Grown Deep Foundation.