Star of Bethlehem with Satellite Stars Quilt1991102 x 93 1/2 " (259.1 x 237.5 cm)Cotton and syntheticsMuseum purchase made possible in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, with matching funds from The Great American Quilt Festival 31991.13.40Backing (a commercially produced machine-quilted spread) turned over top, secured by a running stitch.152734743Leola PettwayTextiles© Artist Rights Society (ARS), New YorkBoykinBoykinUnited StatesAlabamaTextilesBoykinAfrican AmericanIn Leola Pettway’s hands, the traditional Star of Bethlehem becomes a pulsating nova anchored in the four corners by satellite stars. Pettway was born into a family of quiltmakers from the insular African American community of Gee’s Bend, a U-shaped peninsula encircled by the Alabama River. While Gee’s Bend has witnessed four generations of quiltmakers, the community’s traditions only came to widespread attention during the 1960s, when the Martin Luther King Freedom Quilting Bee was established. Pettway belonged to this quiltmaking collective for many years.TEXTILE19911991 1991 13 4 African AmericanIn Leola Pettway’s hands, the traditional Star of Bethlehem becomes a pulsating nova anchored in the four corners by satellite stars. Pettway was born into a family of quiltmakers from the insular African American community of Gee’s Bend, a U-shaped peninsula encircled by the Alabama River. While Gee’s Bend has witnessed four generations of quiltmakers, the community’s traditions only came to widespread attention during the 1960s, when the Martin Luther King Freedom Quilting Bee was established. Pettway belonged to this quiltmaking collective for many years.TEXTILE