Sharon Pettway Williams

Ms. Sharon Ann Pettway Williams was born and raised in Gee’s Bend, Alabama, to Mr. Roger Lee Pettway and Ms. Rosie Lee Pettway. She began learning to sew and quilt around the age of eleven by watching her mother closely, often sitting underneath the quilts as they were being stitched, studying her mother’s hands and how each piece came together. Like many Gee’s Bend quiltmakers, her family used old, worn clothing to create quilts. As a young girl, Ms. Sharon also used leftover fabric scraps to make clothes for her dolls, developing her skills early.

Her early life was shaped by both quilting and farm work. Her father grew vegetables and cotton, and she and her siblings spent long days in the fields helping with the harvest. Though the work was demanding, she carries forward the independence, strength, and discipline it taught her.

At thirteen, Ms. Sharon took her first real turn at quilting when her mother stepped away from a quilt in progress. When her mother returned and saw her stitching, she was impressed and welcomed her as a quilting partner from that day forward.

Ms. Sharon spent many years working in garment production, including more than 15 years in a sewing factory in Selma, Alabama. She later lived in Birmingham and Atlanta before returning home to Gee’s Bend in 2005. It was after coming back home that quilting found its place in her life again in a deeper way.

She is the mother of four daughters—Tammie, Cassandra, Jennifer, and Jemica—and has passed the tradition on to the next generation, with most of her daughters quilting as well. She has made quilts for each of her thirteen grandchildren, as well as for family members beyond Gee’s Bend.

Ms. Sharon works in a style that is entirely her own. She does not follow set patterns, choosing instead to begin with an idea and let the quilt take shape as she works. She is drawn to bold color and trusts her instincts, often finding that the finished quilt becomes something different (and better) than what she first imagined.

What she values most is the way people respond to her work. She takes pride in seeing others connect with her quilts, ask questions, and take a genuine interest in what she has made. Her quilts have been featured in museum exhibitions, and she continues to create with that same sense of purpose and care.