Products inspired by Gee’s Bend, Alabama, artisans featured at Target stores for Black History Month
During Black History Month, customers at Target can purchase items with designs inspired by the Gee's Bend Quilting Collective of women artisans in Alabama. (Donna Cope / Alabama News Center)
Contemporary quilts from Gee’s Bend makers are now on exhibit at the Birmingham Public Library.
For more than 200 years, Black women in Boykin, Alabama, also known as Gee’s Bend, have practiced their art: hand-sewing quilts, throws and other textiles for their families.
It was a life forged in 1816 by necessity, with women on the Gees Plantation salvaging cloth scraps from old clothes and even gunnysacks of coarse burlap to make blankets that were passed down from generation to generation.
Today, the handcrafted quilts and throws are cherished collectibles that appear in art shows and are displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and across the globe. A new exhibit of contemporary Gee’s Bend quilts, crafted by 23 artists between 1975 and 2023, just opened at the Birmingham Public Library. An opening reception is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 3, from 3-5 p.m.
Now, national retailer Target, in recognition of Black History Month, is bringing the designs of Gee’s Bend craftswomen to the mainstream through a new line of clothing and household items. The Target offerings are produced through collaboration with Gees Bend craftswomen and the Nest Foundation, a nonprofit that aims to help women succeed financially.
In its promotion of the new line, Target holds up the handiwork of Gee’s Bend quilter Delia Thibodeaux, named for her grandmother Delia Bennett. She learned the family art at the knee of many women quilters whose legacy continues on today.
The retailer describes its “Gee’s Bend x Target” collaboration as a “curation of unique quilted bedding, clothing and stationery pieces.” Among the affordable household items being offered: a quilted pouch for $5 and other inexpensive accent pieces, such as a quilted tote and a journal with a reusable cover, and a Gees Bend double-wall tumbler in a geometric design or a colorful pattern.
Also available: a quilted throw for $40 in a colorful geometric print that hearkens to the antique quilts produced by Gee’s Bend craftswomen; a “That’s Sew” Gees Bend apron; throw pillows in cotton-linen fabric; and a four-piece coaster set with a cork backing to protect wood surfaces.
The Gee’s Bend-inspired clothing offerings include a quilted jacket for adults; a Gee’s Bend hoodie; a quilted, button-down cardigan in a cream and gray checkerboard pattern; and short-sleeve pocket T-shirts for children and adults priced at $12-$20. There’s also a satin-lined baseball hat or a cuffed beanie for $13.
Many of the Gee’s Bend items ship free with a Target card, and same-day delivery is available in some locations. Or pick up the items at Target stores.
Handiwork from the actual members of the Gee’s Bend Quilting Collective can be found at galleries and arts festivals, as well as on Etsy and Ebay.
Target describes the Gee’s Bend quilters as “a celebration of strength, ingenuity and legacy, carried through as the expressions of generations.” To view the available items, click here.
