Current Exhibits

Quilts of the Appalachian East

Quilt Journeys: Three Quilters

Click here to see all of the Museum's Collection Quilts

Quilts of the Appalachian East - School Block Challenge

January 20 to April 3

Last year The National Quilt Museum invited members of quilt guilds in Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia to submit quilts that represent their best work for a special juried exhibit titled Quilts of the Appalachian East. This exhibit highlights the work of quiltmakers who are the mainstream of quiltmaking today.

Essentially this exhibit asks, "Who is the American quilter?" She- or he- is one of 27 million Americans who call quiltmaking a pastime, a hobby, a passion, or a necessity. Many, if not most, of these quilters belong to a quilt guild. Membership in a quilt guild provides friendship, education, support, and a framework for community service for the individual quilter. If you are a quilter and move to a new community, the quickest way to make friends is to join a local quilt guild.

The 11 quilts in this exhibit include hand- and machine-pieced and quilted work; the machine quilting includes both regular and long-arm work. The quiltmakers were eager to learn new techniques and try new materials. Some of the quilts reflect a love of community and nature or are tributes to people and places. We see a love of the art of quilting, and a sense of accomplishment and beauty throughoutthe exhibit.

The National Quilt Museum is a non-profit institution established to educate the local, national, and international public about the art, history, and heritage of quilt making, including the diversity of quilts and their makers. This exhibit is supported in part by the Kentucky Arts Council and AT&T Yellow Pages.

Click on image for larger view

Oh My Stars, detail, Lorraine Durrill, Blacksburg, VA

Bits & Pieces, detail, by Patty Prodonovich, Hagerstown, MD

My Baltimore Album by Leona Bean Unkle, Leonardtown, MD

My Baltimore Album, detail by Leona Bean Unkle, Leonardtown, MD

Rachel's Wings, detail, by Pamela H. Mann, Elliston VA

School Block Challenge

Sponsored by MODA Fabrics, School Block Challenge is a yearly contest for children. Participating schools, youth groups and parents are given packets with three fabrics from MODA, and students are required to incorporate all three fabrics in their block. Entries may be created by individual students and small groups. The blocks are judged in categories of K - 4th grades, 5th - 8th grades and 9th - 12th grades. A grand prize award is given to the overall outstanding quilt block. An exhibition of all quilt blocks will be on exhibit at The National Quilt Museum. A narrative about each block's design and development submitted by the students is also exhibited. A kick-off reception for the exhibit is held in late January to recognize the winners and all the participants. Local residents and media are always invited to meet these amazing quilters and learn more about School Block Challenge. Sponsored by:

Quilt Journeys: Three Quilters

Journeys December 9, 2011 to March 13, 2012

In cooperation with Murray State University's Journey Stories Project, we will present the story of three quilter's journey into quilting. The exhibit tells the story of three quilters. This is not a journey from point A to point B, but rather a spiritual, emotional journey from one's first step into the world created by quilting.

Like most journeys, it isn't the destination that is the story, it is the process of getting there that is interesting. We follow three quilters, Diane Gaudynski (right, a sample of her "feather" stitching), the late Dorris McManis and the late Doreen Speckmann. Each issued themselves a quilt challenge, and this exhibit explores how they responded to that challenge. We follow them as they find their "voice" during their journey.

Lesson plans are available for teachers, educators and home schoolers:

"Footies" from Dorris McManis' year long challenge

(Click on images for closeups)

In Fields of Gold, Diane Gaudynski 2001

(Click on images for closeups)

Shadows of Umbria, Diane Gaudynsi, 2008

July, by Doreen Speckman

St. Thomas: Spinning Fish, by Doreen Speckman

The National Quilt Museum Collection

Ongoing Exhibit

At the heart of any museum's activities are the important objects it was founded to collect, preserve and share with the public.

The Museum Collection has become an ever-developing documentation of the quiltmaking revival that has flourished in the 1980's, 1990's and is sure to continue as the new century unfolds.

The core of the collection includes quilts donated by the founders of the museum, Bill and Meredith Schroeder and the American Quilter's Society Quilt Show & Contest purchase award winners donated through AQS. Also included are a number of other donations and purchases.

The collection currently includes more than 300 quilts created by more than 333 quilt makers. The works in the collection were made from 1980 on.

In 2008, the museum's collection became available on-line in partnership with the Alliance for the American Quilt through the Quilt Index. To see the museum's quilts, visit www.quiltindex.org.

Oh, Wow! The Miniature Quilt Collection

Ongoing Exhibit

Bill and Meredith Schroeder have watched the miniature quilt form grow in popularity and sophistication over the past several years. These quilts are not simply small quilts; they are made to scale. The rules for the miniature quilt category at the annual American Quilter's Society Show and Contest require that the quilt may be no wider than 24 inches, no longer than 24 inches, and it must be reduced in scale.

The first reaction people have when they see these tiny wonders is "Oh! Wow!". Bill Schroeder says, "No better word could describe this remarkable collection of miniature quilts. Look them over carefully, I think that you will agree." Mr. Schroeder, with the assistance of Klaudeen Hansen of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, has assembled an extraordinary group of miniature quilts. The Schroeders have generously donated this group of quilts to the National Quilt Museum.

In 2006 the miniature quilt category was first awarded a Best Miniature Quilt Purchase Award. This has been made possible by the generosity of Benartex, Inc., a leading supplier of creative 100% designer cotton prints, who sponsors this category. Their support will ensure the growth and quality of the collection.

A book, Oh Wow! Miniature Quilts, is available for purchase. Click here to order. In the future, this collection will be available to travel to other museums. Funds generated from the book and traveling exhibit will go to the Museum's acquisitions fund.

Special lighting for the Oh, Wow! collection was made possible in part by the Paul D. Pilgrim Memorial Fund.

Sponsored by Benartex, Inc. in honor of Selim Benardete.