Mary L. Bennett (b. 1942), "Housetop"—Four-Block Variation (detail), c. 1965
Cotton and cotton/polyester blend, 77 x 82 in.; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Museum purchase and gift of the Souls Grown Deep Foundation
Mary L. Bennett learned to quilt by observing her grandmother, Delia Bennett (1892–1976). The child of one of Delia's younger daughters, Lucille, she was raised by her grandmother. "Didn't nobody teach me to make quilts. I just learned it by myself, about twelve or thirteen. I was seeing my grandmama piecing it up, and then I start. I just taken me some pieces and put it together, piece them up till they look like I want them to look. That's all." Several of her compositions recall those of her grandmother, particularly this strip quilt in bold colors divided into four differently sized quadrants.
Here the focus is on the inherent design elements and abstract imagery in the quilts rather than as finished objects.
