Distinguished quilt maker, Loretta Pettway (born 1942) descends from generations of accomplished quilters, but she has kept to herself artistically throughout her adult life. Her earliest quilts are made of everyday clothing, especially men’s work clothes. In 2006 her quilts “Roman Stripes” variation and Medallion appeared on two US postal service stamps two as part of a series commemorating Gee’s bend quilters. She is a recipient of a 2015 National Heritage Fellowship awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts, which is the United States government’s highest honor in the folk and traditional arts. Her work was included in the exhibitions The Quilts of Gee’s Bend; Gee’s Bend: The Architecture of the Quilt; the Quilt. and is in the collection of the U.S. Department of State, the Foundation for Art and Preservation in Embassies, the New York Public Library and the Souls Grown Deep Foundation.