Resources
Exhibit Documents
Quilt Bibliography
Academic Quilt Studies
Berlo, Janet Catherine. Quilting Lessons: Notes from the Scrap Bag of a Writer and Quilter. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2001.
Chase, Pattie. The Contemporary Quilt: New American Quilts and Fabric Art. New York: E.P. Dutton, 1978.
Elsley, Judy. Quilts as Text(iles): The Semiotics of Quilting. New York: Peter Lang, 1996.
Ferrero, Pat, Elaine Hedges, and Julie Silber. Hearts and Hands: The Influence of Women and Quilts on American Society. San Francisco: The Quilt Digest Press, 1987.
Forrest, John and Deborah Blincoe. The Natural History of the Traditional Quilt. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1995.
Hall, Carrie A. The Romance of the Quilt in America. Caldwell, ID: Caxton, 1935.
Holstein, Jonathon. American Pieced Quilts. New York: Viking Press, 1972.
Orlofsky, Patsy and Myron Orlofsky. Quilts in America. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1974.
Reich, Sue. Quilting News of Yesteryear: 1,000 Pieces and Counting. Atglen, PA: Schiffer, 2007.
---. Quilting News of Yesteryear: Crazy as a Bed-Quilt. Atglen, PA: Schiffer, 2007.
Robertson, Elizabeth Wells. American Quilts. New York City: Studio Publications, 1948.
Robinson, Charlotte, ed. The Artist and the Quilt. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1983.
Safford, Carleton L. and Robert Bishop. America's Quilts and Coverlets. New York: E.P. Dutton, 1972.
Sturken, Marita. Tangled Memories: The Vietnam War, the AIDS Epidemic, and the Politics of Remembering. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997.
Torsney, Cheryl B. and Judy Elsley, eds. Quilt Culture: Tracing the Pattern. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1994.
Waldvogel, Merikay. Soft Covers for Hard Times: Quiltmaking and the Great Depression. Nashville: Rutledge Hill Press, 1990.
Regional and Local Quilt Studies
Arkansas Quilters' Guild. Arkansas Quilts / Arkansas Warmth. Paducah, KY: American Quilters' Society, 1987.
Barber, Rita Barrow. Somewhere in Between: Quilts and Quilters of Illinois. Paducah, KY: American Quilters' Society, 1986.
Benberry, Cuesta. A Piece of My Soul: Quilts by Black Arkansas. Fayetteville, AR: University of Arkansas Press,
Bishop, Robert Charles. A Gallery of Amish Quits: Design Diversity from a Plain People. New York: Dutton, 1976.
Brackman, Barbara. Civil War Women: Their Quilts, Their Roles, Activities for Re-Enactors. Lafayette, CA: C&T Publishing, 2000.
---. Kansas Quilts and Quilters. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 1993.
---. Quilts of the Civil War: Nine Projects, Historic Notes, Diary Entries. Lafayette, CA: C&T Publishing, 1997.
Cincinnati Art Museum. Quilts from Cincinnati Collections. Cincinnati: The Museum, 1985.
Connecticut Quilt Search Project. Quilts and Quiltmakers: Covering Connecticut. Atglen, PA: Schiffer, 2002.
Covington, Kae. Gathered in Time: Utah Quilts and Their Makers, Settlement to 1950. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1997.
Cross, Mary Bywater. Quilts and Women of the Mormon Migrations: Treasures of Transition. Nashville: Rutledge Hill Press, 1996.
Davis, Carolyn O. Hopi Quilting: Stitched Traditions from an Ancient Community. Tucson: Sanpete Publications, 1997.
Frost, Helen Young and Pam Knight Stevenson. Grand Endeavors: Vintage Arizona Quilts and Their Makers. Flagstaff, AZ: Northland, 1992.
Goldman, Marilyn and Marguerite Wiebusch. Quilts of Indiana: Crossroads of Memories. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1991.
Granick, Eve Wheatcroft. The Amish Quilt. Intercourse, PA: Good Books, 1989.
Hammond, Joyce D. T'ifaifai and Quilts of Polynesia. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1986.
Laury, Jean Rae. Ho for California! Pioneer Women and Their Quilts. New York: Dutton, 1990.
Lipsett, Linda Otto. Remember Me: Women and Their Friendship Quilts. San Francisco: Quilt Digest Press, 1985.
MacDowell, Marsha, ed. African American Quiltmaking in Michigan. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University, 1997.
Ramsey, Bets and Merikay Waldvogel. Southern Quilts: Surviving Relics of the Civil War. Nashville: Rutledge Hill Press, 1998.
Roberson, Ruth Haislip, ed. North Carolina Quilts. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1988.
Tobin, Jacqueline L. and Raymond G. Dobard. Hidden in Plain View: The Secret Story of Quilts and the Underground Railroad. New York: Doubleday, 1999.
Weinraub, Anita Zaleski, ed. Georgia Quilts: Piecing Together a History. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, 2006.
Williams, Charlotte Allen. Florida Quilts. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 1992.
Yabsley, Suzanne. Texas Quilts, Texas Women. College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press, 1984.
Young, Rosemary. The Civil War Diary Quilt. Iola, WI: KP Books, 2005.
Articles
Berlo, Janet Catherine. "Quilting to Save My Life." The Chronicle of Higher Education (30 March 2001): B11-B13.
Bonfield, Lynn A. “Quilts for Civil War Soldiers from Peacham, Vermont,” Uncoverings 22 (2001): 37-64.
Cerny, Catherine A. “Quilt Ownership and Sentimental Attachments: The Structure of Memory,” Uncoverings 18 (1997): 85-119.
Cummings, Patricia. “Gunboat Quilts: Fundraisers for the Confederacy,” The Citizen’s Companion (June/July 2007): 25-28
Davis, Olga Idris. "The Rhetoric of Quilts: Creating Identity in African-American Children's Literature." African American Review 32 (1998): 67-76.
Hafter, Daryl M. “Toward a Social History of Needlework Artists,” Woman’s Art Journal 2:2 (Autumn 1981-Winter 1982): 25-29.
Hawkins, Peter S. “Naming Names: The Art of Memory and the NAMES Project AIDS Quilt,” Critical Inquiry 19:4 (Summer 1993): 752-779.
Henley, Bryding Adams. “Alabama Gunboat Quilts,” Alabama Heritage 8 (Spring 1988): 14-25.
Mainardi, Patricia. "Quilts: The Great American Art." In Feminism and Art History: Questioning the Litany. Ed. Norma Broude and Mary D. Garrard. New York: Harper and Row, 1982.
Pershing, Linda. "'She Really Wanted to Be Her Own Woman': Scandalous Sunbonnet Sue." In Feminist Messages: Coding in Women's Folk Culture, ed. Joan Newlon Radner. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1993.
Schabel, Elizabeth Smith. “The Historical Significance of Patchwork Quilt Names as a Reflection of the Emerging Social Consciousness of the American Woman.” Tennessee Folklore Society Bulletin 47:1 (1981): 1-16.
Trechsel, Gail Andrews. “Mourning Quilts in America,” Uncoverings (1989): 139-158.
Ulrich, Laurel Thatcher. “Pens and Needles: Documents and Artifacts in Women’s History,” Uncoverings 14 (1993): 221-28.
Williams, Alice. “Spirit of My Quilts,” Canadian Woman Studies 10:2/3 (1989): 49-54.
Williams, Mary Rose. “A Reconceptualization of Protest Rhetoric: Women's Quilts as Rhetorical Forms.” Women's Studies in Communciation 17:2 (1994): 20-44.
Memory and Material Culture Research
Bodnar, John. Remaking America: Public Memory, Commemoration, and Patriotism in the Twentieth Century. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992.
Kammen, Michael. Mystic Chords of Memory: The Transformation of Tradition in American Culture. New York: Knopf, 1991.
Martinez, Katharine and Kenneth L. Ames. The Material Culture of Gender / The Gender of Material Culture. Hanover: University Press of New England, 1997.
Ulrich, Laurel Thatcher. The Age of Homespun: Objects and Stories in the Creation of an American Myth. New York: Knopf, 2001.
Online Quilt Resources
Quilting Organizations
This nonprofit organization started in 1993 with the mission to document, preserve, and share the American quilt heritage. This collection of rich stories about historic and contemporary quilts and their makers describe the diverse peoples and communities of this nation. Quilt makers, designers, scholars, teachers, and collectors come together to promote understanding of the quilt as an important American grassroots form.
A nonprofit quilt research organization, this group works to preserve quilt heritage through various publications, an extensive research library, yearly seminar, and membership contracts. Members include traditional and contemporary quilt artists, quilt lovers, historians, researchers, collectors, dealers, folklorists, authors, museum curators, quilt appraisers, and students of women's studies.
Information about books, magazines, products, quilt shows and contests, workshops, and other activities provides assistance to quilters of all skill levels to expand their horizons in quilt making, design, expression, and collecting. This group sponsors an annual quilt show in Paducah, Kentucky, considered the premier international quilting event.
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln presents this online archive and museum—a rich collection of quilts, exhibitions, and quilt information. Their mission is to collect, preserve, study, exhibit, and promote discovery of quilts and quiltmaking traditions from many cultures, countries, and times. Their comprehensive and accessible collection of quilts, related textiles, and documents form a primary text for study, insight, and inspiration.
Conceived and developed by the Alliance for American Quilts in partnership with Michigan State University's Center for Humane Arts, Letters, and Social Sciences Online and the Michigan State University Museum, this website is a research and reference tool. This resource provides images and information on quilts in private collections, museums, libraries, and state documentation projects.
This organization honors those who have made significant contributions to the world of quilting.
This annual Festival features antique traditional quilts as well as work by inventive quilters who create their own patterns. This year's festival, June 26-28, 2015, will highlight 19th century quilting styles, New England quilts, scrap quilts, and much more. Visit the Vermont Quilt Festival in Essex Junction, Vermont.
Womenfolk: The Art of Quilting
This website provides information about the history of quilting, descriptions of quilting styles, examination of ethnic and multi-cultural quilters, myths, historic patterns, and the history behind each pattern.
Institutions with Historic Quilt Collections
Daughters of the American Revolution
Founded in 1890 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., the DAR is a nonprofit, non-political volunteer women's service organization dedicated to promoting patriotism, preserving American history, and providing quality history education.
The Kansas State Historical Society includes a museum, state archives and library, historic sites, and publications to promote the rich history of the state. Their collections include books, photos, documents, and artifacts documenting a rich local history.
The MFA's textile collection was started when Boston was the center of the U.S. textile industry. Today the Museum owns more than 27,000 objects ranging from American needlepoint to European tapestries, Middle Eastern rugs, African kente cloths, and haute couture fashions.
Located in historic downtown Lowell, Massachusetts, the historic center of the nation's textile industry, this institution holds exhibition galleries, a research and history center, and a museum store. The collection includes over 150 quilts and quilt tops as well as quilt-related items: patterns, tops, sewing machines, and educational materials. Their library owns reference books, quilt magazines, information on local quilt guilds and shows, and quilt software.
Pioneer and Historical Society of Muskingum
This institution seeks to preserve the memory of the pioneers who settled in Muskingum County, Ohio. They collect items of historical significance to the area.
The Yakima Valley Museum holds a significant collection of quilts in Yakima, Washington. Their exhibits contain as many authentic objects as possible.
We hope you enjoyed Quilts As Visual History.
