Two-sided quilt: "Pinwheel" variation, and blocks and strips

Allie Pettway created this distinctive two-sided quilt—a form that appears often in Gee's Bend. The front is composed of blocks of triangles in contrasting colors, creating a vivid, irregular pattern. Each block is unique, with a different combination of colors or fabrics or a different arrangement of triangles. In some, they appear to windmill; in others, they suggest a bow tie. The back is as serene as the front is lively—made of simpler blocks and strips of fabric—but every bit as elegant. Alternating blocks of black and white harmonize with strips of striped and checked fabrics in corresponding shades of black, white, brown, blue, and gray.