Now that I have finished this quilt, it has occurred to me that I have been piecing scrappy pillow tops since I was 14, back in the 70's. If I had made my pillow tops bigger, they would have been quilt tops. I have made some scrappy flannel quilts, with just fabrics I had on hand, before I ever heard of Gees Bend. But I love this quilt I made based on Amelia Bennett's quilt. You can learn more about her in the 2002 book The Quilts of Gees Bend, by John Beardsley, William Arnet, et. al. I found it on Amazon books, and you could actually view the book, on-line. Since I did not want to infringe on copyright, I did not copy the page with the photo of the quilt. I made a sketch for me to follow in my quilt making endeavor.
I had no intention of making a replica, just something similar, so I used only fabrics I had on hand. I am no hand quilter, believe you me, so I quilted it on my home sewing machine.
I used just one print, as she did, and the rest are solids. I ran out of the dark blue, so I did not make the bottom and right-side edges (borders) as wide as hers. I had no green, so I used the sandy color from the top left corner, down where the green section on hers would be. Mine has more gradual curves, and is pretty straight, not wavy. I was not sure how the pale binding would look, but now that it is done, I love it. I used my grandmother's taylor's chalk to mark the lines for my quilting, so I washed the quilt right after I completed it, to get the remaining chalk off. It turned out so soft and inviting. Here is my creation:
