Mary L. Bennett (b. 1942), Lazy Gal variation, 2003.
Corduroy, 80 x 78 inches; National Gallery of Art, Museum purchase and gift of the Souls Grown Deep Foundation.
In this variation on a “Lazy Gal” quilt, a solitary green stripe contrasts with the alternating brown and gold ones, while a small blue block tethers the warmer earth tones in a surprising and dramatic way.
Mary L. Bennett (b. 1942) learned to quilt by observing her grandmother, Delia Bennett (1892–1976), the matriarch of one of Gee’s Bend’s largest families of quilters. 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 most imaginative variations of “Housetop” quilts recall those of her grandmother, demonstrating the design continuity frequently seen across generations of the same family in Gee’s Bend.
Mary L. Bennett’s work is in the permanent collections of the National Gallery of Art and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Learn more about Mary L. Bennett here.
