Quilts
Linda Diane Bennett (1955–1988), "Housetop" with cross, c. 1970
Cotton, synthetic blends, wool, 78 x 75 in.; Souls Grown Deep Foundation
Linda Diane Bennett was the daughter of Ella Mae Irby and the granddaughter of Delia Bennett. This quilt, similar in construction to one of her grandmother's quilts, was constructed from four large, single blocks joined together with strips of cloth. The strips form a cross that unites the four blocks, creating the Housetop.
During her brief life, Linda Diane Bennett (1955 - 1988) created some of Gee's Bend's most elegant quilts. She descends from a line of accomplished quilters, including her grandmother, Delia Bennett, and her mother, Ella Mae Bendolph. Ella Mae describes her daughter.
Linda Diane Bennett was my second child. She was a deputy sheriff working at Camden Courthouse. Come home and piece her quilts, lay them across her lap and quilt them. I don't know how she did that. Wasn't a wrinkle in it. Didn't use no horse, that's the way she did it—right across her knee. Come home, you don't even know she there, just back there piecing them quilts. Mama taught her how to do it. That's who taught me, too: Mama. We'd piece us into the night and then go to quilting. Learned to do it without a frame.
Linda Diane Bennett’s work is in the permanent collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.
Learn more about Linda Diane Bennett here.
Quality
Souls Grown Deep Custom Prints offers custom reproductions of artworks by Souls Grown Deep artists. Hand-made in the USA using gallery-quality materials, we create prints as true to the original work as possible, using strict color management protocols and state-of-the-art printing technology.Selection
Many of the works offered through this store are exclusive and not available anywhere else. We are continually adding new artworks to our offering, so be sure to check back regularly as you build your own gallery.