[4] Louella Pettway was the youngest child of one son and six daughters born to Elizabeth and Sim Carson.
She and her siblings raised crops typical of Gee's Bend farms: cotton, corn, sweet potatoes, peanuts, and peas.
Her mother passed when she was still young and her father raised her and most of his grandchildren by himself.
[2] Louella did not grow up making quilts, though she learned to sew from her mother, who made all of her children's clothing.
She recalls making quilts and giving them away; she made them for enjoyment as well as utility.