Annie E. Pettway was an American artist. She is associated with the Gee’as Bend quilting collective.

Early life

As told through her son, Sheriff Willie Quill Pettway, in an interview with the Souls Grown Deep Foundation, Annie E. Pettway was born on June 18, 1904 to Austin H. Pettway and Leetha Pettway. She was one of ten children.

Together, Ed and Annie had nine children – five boys and four girls. Her son described her as a “housewife and a fieldworker,” doing every task imaginable to keep the farm and family running.

Work

Sheriff Pettway describes piecing quilts as a necessity to protect and keep her family warm. It is a tradition that she passed to her daughters and her granddaughters.