Stella Mae Pettway is a third generation Gee’s Bend Quilter. She learned to quilt from her mother, Georgianna Pettway, and her grandmother, Delia Bennett. All Gee’s Bend Quilters. All born and raised in Gee’s Bend, Alabama.
Stella began quilting by working on the corner of her mother’s quilts. At first, she was not the best sewer and would often hear her mother say, “Stella, stay off!” But she really liked quilting, so she kept at it.
Stella initially found inspiration looking at what her mother was doing with her quilts. But these days, she loves quilting her way, alone, so she can talk, sing, or even pray while she quilts. She believes this gives her quilts life and energy. Stella finds beauty in color and the texture and feel of different fabrics. She comes up with her quilt designs by looking at the different fabrics and imagining how the different colors will blend and play together depending on the shape. While she sometimes recreates patterns she previously made, mostly she just starts ripping, cutting, and sewing. Always amazed at where she ends up.
When Stella is not quilting, she is at work passing the Gee’s Bend quilting and sewing tradition down to her nieces and other young folks in the Gee’s Bend community. She also enjoys sharing quilting with children at local schools that often invited her in to share her expertise. When she needs time to herself, Stella can be found reading (she can spend hours in the library browsing books and magazines) and watching western pictures. She believes she and Matt Dillion from Gunsmoke would get along just fine!
Stella earned a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education from Concordia College in Selma, AL. She worked at the very first certified daycare center in Gee’s Bend (Boykin), AL, served many years in the Wilcox and Dallas County public school systems as an Early Childhood Educator, and has worked as a Certified Home Attendant with the county health department. Her quilts have been featured at numerous museums and galleries in the US and London. You can check out some of her more recent work in her Etsy shop, Georgie’s Way Quilts, named in honor of her mother Georgiana Pettway.