Nellie Mae Abrams (1946–2005), "Housetop," c. 1970
Denim and cotton, 84 x 72 in.; Minneapolis Institute of Art, Museum purchase and gift of the Souls Grown Deep Foundation
In Gee’s Bend, a quilt dominated by concentric squares is called a "Housetop." Its all-around simplicity allows for experiments in formal reduction and, at the same time, offers compositional flexibility unchallenged by other multi-piece patterns. It begins with a medallion of solid cloth, or one of an endless number of pieced motifs, to anchor the quilt. After that, "Housetops" share the technique of joining rectangular strips of cloth so that the end of a strip's long side connects to one short side of a neighboring strip, eventually forming a kind of frame surrounding the central patch; increasingly larger frames or borders are added until a block is declared complete.
These images show the entirety of the quilts, including their handmade edges, against a white background.
