Lola Pettway facts for kids

Lola Pettway (born 1941) is an American artist known for her amazing quilts. She is part of the famous Gee's Bend quilting group, just like her mother, Allie Pettway. Lola's beautiful artwork has been shown in big museums like the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and the Frist Art Museum. Her quilts are also part of the collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

Early Life and Family Quilting

Lola Pettway comes from a long line of talented quilters. Her grandmother was Henrietta Pettway, and her mother was Allie Pettway. Her father was John the Baptist Pettway. This means that making quilts was a special family tradition passed down through generations.

Lola grew up with a large family, including nine sisters and four brothers. From a young age, she learned to help out with many family tasks. She started cooking when she was nine years old. By the age of ten, she was working in the fields and also learning to quilt. Lola was very determined and competitive, especially with her older brother, Ebenezer. She once said, "if he picked two hundred pounds, I’d pick two hundred, too." This shows how hard-working she was even as a child.

As an adult, Lola married and raised twelve children.

The Art of Quilting

Lola Pettway loved the active parts of making a quilt. She especially enjoyed the actual quilting process more than piecing the fabric together. She remembered how much effort went into finishing each quilt.

She explained that they had to use "four frames" for quilting. These frames would be hung up in the loft of their home. Lola mentioned, "I pieced some quilts but I’d rather quilt." She preferred quilting because piecing required a lot of sitting still. She also described the hard work of preparing the cotton for the quilt. This involved "beating on the cotton to spread it out" and then attaching it to the frame. The frames were set on blocks to make them easier to work with. Lola said, "Piecing and quilting takes a lot of sitting down. I don’t like to be sitting down too long a time." This shows her active nature and dedication to the craft.