Kristen Nichols, a thoughtful artist and blogger from Massachusetts,  e-mailed Maria Friday shortly after 2 p.m. to tell her that she had just discovered that some of the Gee’s Bend Quilters were going to be in Brattleboro, Vt. at 5:30 p.m as part of the city’s gallery and literary festival. We called Deb Foster and she happily agreed to come feed the animals in the afternoon and we took off for Vermont.

We got there, the streets were packed with people, we made it to crowded gallery and there were three of the quilters in the lobby working on fabrics for quilts.

Gee’s Bend is the inspiration for much of Maria’s life as an artist, she was so excited, I wanted very much to go along, I wasn’t sure we could get there in time. We did, we had a few minutes to spare, we got to Shin La and had Zucchini Scallion Pancakes, Shumai (shrimp dumplings) and Sushi.

Maria made a pilgrimage to Gee’s Bend in Alabama last year, Gee’s Bend is a kind of homecoming for her, the quilters their share her notion of creativity: they take discarded fabrics and make beautiful and original quilts with them, they do it the way you want to do it, not the way other people tell you it must be done.

The Gee’s Bend quilters are descended from slaves who lived and worked on a huge plantation, the Pettway Plantation. They made quilts out of necessity, mostly to keep warm in the wooden shacks they lived. The quilters remember picking cotton when they were fix and six, they had no money and often went hungry.  All their quilts were made of worn out clothes and towels and blankets. There was no cash to buy fabric.

Because they were invisible, working in a remote inlet in Alabama, no art professors or critics told them what to do, so they did what they wanted and made some amazing art.

There were three quilters from Alabama there in Brattleboro, one of them,  Maria Delia Pettway Thibodeaux, invited her to sit down and sew with her, and I nearly cried watching these two – sisters in art – work together for nearly a half an hour. Maria was radiant, she learned some new stitches, she said she felt totally star struck. We looked at the quilts, saw a half-hour film about the quilters, and then got some yogurt at a new place on Main Street.

We were home shortly after 9, tired and very happy. Maria was still beaming.  We couldn’t stay over there because I have a writing class Saturday morning at Pompanuck. Maria said she was grateful that I wanted to come, but this puzzled me, as  why wouldn’t I want to come? It was a very special night for the two of us, I’m grateful we made the dash.

I’d drive a lot farther to see the joy and meaning in her face, sitting there with Delia. I hope I see it many times more. (Maria’s conversation with Delia was recorded by a reporter for Vermont Public Radio, it will probably be aired in the next few days.)