There is nowhere in the world quite like Gees Bend, Alabama with the story of how its quilt-makers were acclaimed as artists, and their work bought by galleries and museums around the world. Necessity is the mother of invention and this is particularly true in this small community, where for generations women have created quilts to keep out the cold and to furnish their homes. They used anything and everything that came to hand, and over time they honed their skills and their designs. Isolation, poverty, and a strong community spirit nurtured an acute eye for colour and design that is unequalled. It took 100 years for their work to be properly appreciated, and when it was, the critics believed that the work of the quilters prefigured the work of the Modernist Art Movement. This is the story of the quilters, how they grew up, and how they work. It tries to answer the question of how they took quilting to the level of great art.