Gee's Bend performances during QuiltWeek Chattanooga

"Gee's Bend, A Story of the Alabama Quilters"
performance at the Chattanooga Theatre Center.

Another special quilting event during QuiltWeek Chattanooga is the performance of the play, "Gee's Bend, A Story of the Alabama Quilters," by Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder at the Chattanooga Theatre Center. Nine performances will be given from September 10 through 21, including weekend matinees.

The play was originally performed at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival. The story is about the women of a remote rural community in southern Alabama—their growing up and taking care of their families, their remarkable experiences during the Civil Rights era, and their time in the spotlight as their quilts were shown in art museums across the country.

My friend, Janet, and twice fellow guild member (we both belong to the Choo Choo Quilters and the Chattanooga Modern Quilt Guild), is curating an exhibit for the Theater Center in conjunction with the Gee's Bend performances. This exhibit will feature quilts inspired by the Gee's Bend style of quilts—bold, graphic compositions with a free-form, improvisational piecing style.

Janet brought a quilt she is working on to a recent guild meeting. Here is a detail of her quilt… that she is quilting by hand! Notice the piece of denim from an old pair of blue jeans in the patchwork.

Detail of a quilt in the style of the Gee's Bend quilters.

I am honored that Janet has chosen my piece from a past Choo Choo Quilters Guild Challenge to include in the Theater Center's quilt exhibit. The name of the Challenge was "A Novel Idea," and my inspiration reference was the book, "Steve Jobs," by Walter Isaacson. You can read about the Challenge in this post.

"They had grown up among movie stars,
but to them Jobs was a true celebrity."

A group of my friends have our tickets for the play and we can't wait. I hope you will consider seeing one of the performances as well as the quilt exhibit at the Center. At one of the matinee performances, the playwright, Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder, will be on hand for a Q&A session. What a treat!

Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder and a few of the Gee's Bend actresses.

If you would like to volunteer as an usher for a performance, your admission is complimentary. Leave me a comment and I can put you in touch with Janet.

Info about other Chattanooga area activities during QuiltWeek can be found here.