GEE'S BEND: GET READY

A magnificent 1,000-piece puzzle featuring a colorful, intricately patterned quilt by renowned quilter, artist, and matriarch of the historic Gee's Bend quilting community Mary Lee Bendolph.

This is the first jigsaw puzzle to feature a print of one of the fabled Gee's Bend quilts, practical works of art created by the descendants of formerly enslaved people who settled and quilted in the rural Alabama community of Gee's Bend. The quilters developed a distinctive geometric aesthetic that results in quilts looking much like abstract expressionist paintings while retaining the hominess, comfort, and country flavor of the traditional quilt. The inventive, improvisational patterns of these quilts and the stories about their makers have enthralled a wide audience of contemporary art lovers, quilters, folk art enthusiasts, and American history buffs. Get Ready was created by matriarch quilt maker Mary Lee Bendolph, who descends from generations of quilt makers in Gee's Bend.

Mary Lee Bendolph is the matriarch and heart and soul of the Gee's Bend community, descended from generations of quiltmakers. As the cheerleader for Gee's Bend, she appeared at all the museum openings during the initial nationwide tour of the quilts and attended both of President Barack Obama's inaugurations.
Paulson Fontaine Press was founded in 1997 in Berkeley, California. They create limited edition fine art prints in collaboration with prominent artists such as Kerry James Marshall and Martin Puryear. Prints by Paulson Fontaine Press are in major museum collections all across the country, including the Art Institute of Chicago, the National Gallery of Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Library of Congress, MoMA, and the Whitney Museum of American Art.