“Drunkard’s Path” by Lucy T. Pettway

My quilt is found in the patterns and geometry section of the quilts. The artist is Lucy Pettway. She was born in 1921 in Alabama and made her first quilt when she was 12. She mostly made her patterns by herself, using a pattern from a book only twice. This quilt caught my attention for it’s symmetry while also staying quite organic. The different fabrics have their own patterns on them that don’t match each other, but the shape of each piece is still the same which creates the symmetry. The main shape inside each the four squares is also interesting because it is very organic and flowy, but also more geometric in the repetitive nature. Each section is the same, but when you look closer is actually different. The different fabrics used make each one look unique while they all uphold the same shape. I think the inspiration for this pattern comes from the name “Drunkard’s Path.” The shape resembles the route one would take while stumbling. There’s no single straight line, it sort ofwavers, but it keeps going in the same direction. This artist loves to quilt, and would use lots of different scraps from around the house or old clothes to make her quilts, so it seems thats where this came from as well.