Qunnie Pettway

Qunnie Pettway working at the Freedom Quilting Bee, 1972 (photo by Mary McCarthy)

Qunnie Pettway  (1943 - 2010) was born in Gee’s Bend, Alabama. Her mother, Candis Pettway, taught her to quilt, and she passed the skill on to her daughter, Loretta Pettway Bennett. Recognized for her innovation, Pettway's style is marked by her improvisational versions of traditional patterns. Her favorite design was the "Crazy Z" quilt, composed of corduroy remnants from the Freedom Quilting Bee.

Qunnie’s work work was included in the first major museum exhibition introducing Gee’s Bend to the art world in 2002, The Quilts of Gee’s Bend, originating at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and the Whitney Museum of American Art. Additional museum venues for this exhibition include the Indianapolis Museum of Art, the Orlando Museum of Art, The Walters Art Museum, Tacoma Art Museum, the Speed Art Museum, Denver Art Museum, Milwaukee Art Museum and the Philadelphia Art Museum.

Work by Qunnie Pettway is in the permanent collection of the New Orleans Museum of Art.

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