Quick-Fire Quips is a questionnaire where we get to know people who stand out in the State of Alabama! In this episode, Alabama Public Radio host Baillee Majors talks with renowned Mrs. Fannie Etheridge Gee's Bend quilter and member of the Freedom Quilting Bee.
These groups, along with the Gee's Bend Quilting Collective, have a deep significance and history in Alabama. The Gee's Bend community (or Boykin, officially) is primarily the descendants of enslaved people who worked the local Pettway plantation.
For over a century, the women of Gee's Bend created quilts out of necessity to keep their families warm, using whatever materials were available—including old work clothes, denim and feed sacks.
In 1966, the community was hit hard by the economic pressures of the Civil Rights Movement. In response, local women formed the Freedom Quilting Bee (1966–2012) as a way to gain financial independence. It was through this collective that their unique work finally caught the attention of the rest of the country.
The cooperative was catalyzed by Father Francis X. Walter, who, after noticing the striking, colorful quilts on a local clothesline, recognized their similarity to contemporary Op Art (a major development of painting in the 1960s that used geometric forms to create optical effects) and helped organize the quilters into a coalition to fund their families and their activism.
In 2021, Freedom Quilting Bee Legacy was established celebrate and teach about the work and accomplishments of the original Freedom Quilting Bee.. The nonprofit operates in the same community, offering workshops, hosting the Airing of the Quilts Festival— set for October 2, 2026— and preserving the original building as a museum.
Baillee: Hey, Mrs. Fannie. How are you?
Fannie: Hi, how are you?
Baillee: I'm doing great. So happy to speak with you today. For those who may be unfamiliar, can you talk about Gee's Bend?
Fannie: Gee's Bend is kind of a rural area. Unless you go across the ferry, it's only one way in, one way out. But it's a lot that goes on there.
Baillee: How long have you been a quilter? How long have you been quilting?
Fannie: I've been quilting now about 30 years. I got into it when I went to work at the Freedom Quilting Bee.
Baillee: How did you get involved with the Quilting Bee?
Fannie: I got laid off at the sewing factory, where we were used to doing production work. The faster you work, the more you make. But at the Quilting Bee, after we finished with the Compton bags, we had to learn to quilt, and I didn't want to quit. It was too slow.
I was told by one of the former members that the Quilting Bee was a co-op, and you had to learn everything: You had to learn from threading the needles, fixing the sewing machine, you had to learn paperwork, you had to do everything.
That made me fall in love with the quilting, and then a couple of years later, I became manager. So what she was saying was so true. You can't just learn one thing and then go; you got to learn everything. That makes a big difference.
Baillee: If someone's hearing about the Quilting Bee for the first time, or Gee's Bend, what is something that you would like them to know?
Fannie: I think I would like to tell them about the legacy and how it got started, and how these middle aged women with little or no education started this.
The amazing thing that gets me is, that in three years time, they had this idea, they put it together— and in three years time, this 45-square foot building was erected, and they had moved in.
Most people have five year business plans, they have 10 years, and they don't accomplish [it], but these women actually accomplished what they went out to do. The quilting is very, very important. But the legacy, how it started and how it started, is what gets me.
Baillee: Now that introductions are done. Let's get you warmed up for the questionnaire. And to do that, I want you to say "Quick-Fire Quips" three times fast.
Fannie: Quick-Fire Quips, Quick-Fire Quips, Quick-Fire Quips.
Baillee: Here's the first question: what comes to mind when you hear Alabama?
Fannie: There are a lot of things that come to mind. The one most important thing comes to mind, is pretty much the Civil Rights Era because that was a big part of our life during that time.
Sweet Home Alabama. You think of the song. And then when you get around to it, just family. Family.
Baillee: What is your favorite thing about living in Alabama?
Fannie: I was born in Georgia, but my parents moved here when I was like five years old, and we've been here all our life. Most of my family is here, so that's what kind of holds me together. I raised my kids here. My grandkids are being raised here.
Baillee: What is a bad stereotype or something that people get wrong about Alabama?
Fannie: Most people think of us as not educated. It's just all poor people, just because we are in a certain area that is just poor. But all that has changed. People have their own houses, they have their cars. They go when they get ready, they come when they get ready, but people still have that backward stereotype about us here in Alabama.
Baillee: What is a hidden gem in Alberta that you think more people should know about?
Fannie: The quilting, and there are other things. They go on about the love and the family, but right now, the most popular thing is going is the quilting and about the heritage.
We want people to know about our heritage, It's not just the quilting that's being publicized now. It's about the history that goes behind the quilting.
Baillee: What is your favorite thing about quilting?
Fannie: When I first started, it was about being with people, being around the other women, and getting a chance to talk and do. But now it's just like therapy. If I wasn't quilting, I don't know what I would be doing.
Baillee: Can you talk about the community that you found within the Bee?
Fannie: When you went to the Bee, they were singing. It was always happy! When you went to the Bee, you never saw anybody sad. Everybody was talking and singing and just having good time.
It was a family environment. They were happy to be working and making a living, but it was more of a family thing to just get together. I think that's what made it work.
Baillee: There's a deep significance of quilting in Alabama. Can you talk about the patterns, how it holds histories and stories?
Fannie: A lot of the womens made quilts just to keep warm. It wasn't about art, it was about keeping warm. But they always gave them names. All the quilts pretty much told a story.
They have one that's called a "Lazy Gal," which is a quick quilt. If somebody got burned out or somebody needed a quilt, at the end of the day, the womens would get together and make that one in one day, so somebody could have it for their bed at night.
Then, the Underground Railroad quilts have signals in them. Some of the womens, now they make quilts, and they start out with one pattern and it ends up another. So they just call it "My Way."
Everything pretty much tells a story... Someone has dementia, you put pictures of their loved ones or their old houses, and when some of them are in the nursing homes, they can recognize some of those things. Quits always tell a story.
Baillee: And do you have any patterns or colors that you really like to use?
Fannie: Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and I draw it out, you know, I get up and do it. I like African prints. Some people like solids and prints together.
I kind of gravitate to putting prints [together]. It doesn't have to have a solid. Put prints as long as they kind of go together.
(Click here to see some of Fannie's colorful patterned quits!)
Baillee: Yeah, they can't clash, but they can go together! Can you talk about how important it was, and still is, to have the Quilting Bee?
Fannie: Oh, at the time when they built it, it was like a lifesaver to a lot of the women! They were making their quilts just for keeping warm and to give families: anybody had a baby, or went off to school or they got married, they got a quilt.
But then when the Reverend Walter came through and discovered it, he let them know that they were art. They took more pride into their work. So once they found that out, and they learned how to make the dimensions... and they put more pride into it.
Then they thought, "Okay, we're not just making these quilts to get warm. We're making these quilts to actually make a living," which they had never thought about it in that way.
Baillee: From what I understand, there's a lot of generational quilting and sewing within the Bee. People learn[ing] from their grandmother or their mother. What is the significance of that?
Fannie: Just bringing it back to family. When you were around the quilt, you're family. As the women got older, they needed the kids to thread the needle or whatever they needed done. So it still brought the family together, brought the community together.
That was what it was all about, being family and community. Now we're still doing it, but we realize now that it's art. It's just not to keep warm. It's an art now.
Baillee: You talked about raising your kids in Alabama, and your grandkids are here, too. Do they also know how to sew or to quilt?
Fannie: Well, I have two girls that actually worked at the Freedom Quilting Bee with me when I was manager, and they actually quilt, but they're not really interested in it like I am. Maybe they will one day.
I have my grandson and a granddaughter who are interested in it. My grandson, he likes to make clothing from old quilts. My granddaughter, she pieces them, and I quilt them. She hasn't really got the hand quilting down yet.
Baillee: Do you have any favorite memories when it comes to quilting?
Fannie: Oh, yeah, a lot of them! I remember when Ms. [Loretta] Pettway told me that I had to learn to do all the quilts. So, I made my first quilt. It took me forever to make it, but I made it, and it wasn't perfect! Somehow, I wish I could go back and find that quilt, but it was sold because I was working at the Bee.
After I finished it, I found that I can do it. That's what my mom always tells us: never say never. I said I could never make a quilt, but after that, I just fell in love with it.
My husband bought me my first sewing machine, and he had to kind of slow me down with it. Those are fond memories. Being up late at night, trying to figure out how to do a pattern, and now I just love it.
Baillee: Can you describe some of the favorite quilts that you've made?
Fannie: My favorite one is the first one that I ever made, and it was the "Grandmother's Dream." But my favorite one now, because it's a quick one, is the "Lazy Girl" and the "Housetop," which are just strips, but you do a lot of vibrant colors.
Baillee: Do you have any superstitions or irrational fears?
Fannie: No, but one of the Gee's Bend quilters I met years ago, she told me that sometimes when you're making a quilt, you put one piece in backwards or turn it another way. That was for good luck.
Baillee: Tell me something on your bucket list.
Fannie: One thing that was on my bucket list was to learn to swim by the time I turned 65, but I didn't do it. So that's still on my bucket list... I want to travel. I'm an empty nester, and I would like to travel now.
Baillee: Anywhere specific that you're looking to go?
Fannie: I want to go to South Africa, and I want to go to Cuba.
Baillee: Did you have a childhood hero?
Fannie: My mom was my hero because she worked a lot—well, she was pretty much a single parent most of the time we were coming up.
Baillee: Is she still your hero today?
Fannie: Oh, she most definitely is! She's my PR person. She's my pusher; she pushes us to do what we need to do. She's 88 years old now, and she's still doing fine, and she makes me drink coffee with her every day.
Baillee: What is your favorite getaway spot in Alabama?
Fannie: Huntsville is nice. I like to go to the Space Center (U.S. Space & Rocket Center), and I have a daughter that lives there, so that's one reason I like to go there, too. Town is growing, but it's still just quiet enough for you to enjoy it.
Baillee: Here is the last question: what does Alabama need?
Fannie: I would have to say, in our area, we need more industry. Most of our people have to go to Tuscaloosa, Birmingham or Bessemer for jobs. We need more industry so people can work, and they can stay here.
And we do need a lot more art, to let these young people know that some of the stuff that they're doing is fabulous. We didn't know at the time the stuff that we were doing was great, but now we know.
We got to keep pushing our kids to let them know "what you're doing is great." It doesn't work when it just stays in our community. It has to go out so other people can see it also. That's what we need.
Baillee: That's it for today's Quick-Fire Quips, a questionnaire where we get to know people who stand out in the state of Alabama. That was Gee's Bend quilter, Mrs. Fannie Etheridge. I'm your host, Baillee Majors.
More about the impact of Gee's Bend:
- In 2006, the United States Post Office released a series of commemorative stamps honoring the Gee's Bend quilters. Ten of the designs created by the world-renowned quilters' collective were featured.
- The Gee's Bend Quilt Mural Trail was created in 2007 to highlight the world-renowned quilts. The trail features ten large murals depicting some of the more notable quilt designs.
- The Gorgas House Museum and UA’s College of Arts & Sciences—in partnership with the Freedom Quilting Bee Legacy—is currently presenting "Cotton, Cloth, and Community: Alabama Quilting Traditions." Visit the Catherine and Pettus Randall Welcome Center (Moore-Wilson Gallery) through May 30, 2026, to explore diverse quilting styles from across the state.
- Visit Gee’s Bend is a project of the nonprofit Souls Grown Deep and the communities of Gee’s Bend and Alberta. This includes the Gee's Bend Welcome Center and the River Gallery.
- The Freedom Quilting Bee Legacy dedicated to preserving the history of the original 1966 Freedom Quilting Bee cooperative. The nonprofit offers special community event, tours, hands-on workshops and retreats, which can be found here.
