Louisiana Bendolph was born in 1960. Her parents were Samuel Small and the Gee's Bend quilter Rita Mae Pettway. They lived on a farm, where Bendolph remembers watching her mother and other relatives sew and quilt. As an adult, Bendolph worked for the Lee Company, sewing zippers and pockets onto jeans until the company began to outsource that labor in 1997.

Supported by the newfound recognition and identity in the wake of the success of The Quilts of Gee’s Bend at the MFA Houston, Bendolph was among many quiltmakers who intensified their activity after 2002. She found a remarkably distinctive individual style that leads the old traditions in new directions.