I decided to take a trip to Alabama to visit my 90 year old aunt. My daughter Claire had just graduated from college, wasn't yet settled into the next chapter in her life, was itching to travel, and so we decided to road trip it!
Here we are after a big breakfast at the Waffle House, which is like Starbucks of the south - there's one on every corner!
After making the decision to do this trip, I also decided to visit Gees Bend, home of the Gees Bend Collective, which is just 3 hours north of Fairhope, where Aunt Sue lives.
Claire & I set our alarm and started the trip early in the morning. I had called the week before and spoke to Mary Ann Pettway, who knew we were coming.
We spent a magical hour and a half there, chatting with Mary Ann and wandering around the small building where the sewing and quilting takes place - taking in the quilts in progress (Mary Ann does a number of commissioned quilts and makes others ready to sell), reading about the history, looking at the photo gallery on the wall. She was working on a quilt that was similar in colors/style to one that was made for President Obama. She talked about her upbringing, her daughter and grandchildren, her love of singing, her travels with other quilters, the retreats where she teaches, and we agreed that there's too much hate in the world and things would be so much better if more folks would just love each other.
I bought a small piece she made and a framed block by another quilter in the collective. They'll be housed at Hip Stitch if you come by!
Goodbye, Gees Bend - thanks for the wonderful memory!
2 comments:
I love this so much. Thank you.
WOW! What a wonderful experience for you and Claire.
I can not believe Claire has graduated college. In my mind, she is still a young teen.
Congrats to you and to her!
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