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Blocks and Strips work-clothes quilt

Lucy Mingo American
1959
Not on view
In this classic work-clothes quilt, which Mingo pieced together from the remainders of worn garments, note the outlines of back pockets removed from pairs of pants or overalls. Pants backs were preferable for use in quilts, because the fronts were often worn out from kneeling while farming. When old quilts became too threadbare to function, they were sometimes reused as quilt filling. Mingo explained, "I made this old block quilt out of pants and shirt tops, and scraps from the shirt factory in Linden."

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Blocks and Strips work-clothes quilt
  • Artist: Lucy Mingo (American, born Rehoboth, Alabama, 1931)
  • Date: 1959
  • Medium: Top and back: cotton
  • Dimensions: 80 5/8 × 69 1/2 in. (204.8 × 176.5 cm)
  • Classification: Textiles
  • Credit Line: Gift of Souls Grown Deep Foundation from the William S. Arnett Collection, 2014
  • Object Number: 2014.548.46
  • Rights and Reproduction: © Lucy MingoSewell/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
  • Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art

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