c. 1955

Housetop: Fractured-Medallion Variation Quilt

Delia Bennett

American, 1892 - 1976

The women of Gee’s Bend, a small rural Black community in Alabama of about seven hundred residents, have been creating bold, visually distinctive quilts since at least the 1920s.

Delia Bennett was the mother of seven daughters and four sons, most of whom, including the boys, learned all the steps of quilt-making—from beating and spreading out the cotton filling to piecing together the designs.

In this quilt, Bennett "fractures" the standard single-block Housetop pattern into four contrasting asymmetrical quarters built from Half-Log Cabin blocks. This pattern was also known as Pig in a Pen. The disjointed sections resonate in a lively way due to Bennett’s use of bold colors, patterned fabrics, and various weaves.