Harriet Powers

Harriet Powers was an AfricanAmerican slave, folk artist, and quilt maker from rural Georgia. She used traditional appliqu techniques to record local legends, Bible stories, and astronomical events on her quilts. Only two of her quilts are known to have survived Bible Quilt 1886 and Pictorial Quilt 1898. Her quilts are considered among the finest examples of nineteenthcentury Southern quilting. Her work is on display at the National Museum of American History in Washington, DC, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts.

Powers was born to slaves near Athens, Georgia. Historians say she spent her early life on a plantation owned by John and Nancy Lester in Madison County, Georgia, where it is believed learn to sew either from other slaves or from the mistress.

Source: Wikipedia