This Weekend: WQM Exec Producer and Host Shelly Zegart Comes to San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles!

Happy New Year, everyone! If you are in–or anywhere near–the San Francisco Bay Area this coming weekend, here’s an opportunity you won’t want to miss… On Saturday, January 5, at 2 PM, Shelly Zegart, Exec Producer and host of the series Why Quilts Matter: History, Art & Politics, and an expert at the forefront of quilt study for […]

Our Best Wishes for a Happy Holiday…and a “Save the Date” for January 5!

As the year winds down, we want to thank you so very much for your continuing support of Why Quilts Matter: History, Art & Politics, and to wish you the very best for a joyous, safe, healthy, and peaceful holiday season–whatever the holiday you celebrate this month. We also want to alert you to a […]

Important Discovery – by Bill Volckening

Achsah Goodwin Wilkins (1775-1853) was the daughter of William Goodwin of Lyde, a wealthy merchant in Baltimore. At age 18, Achsah became a member of the Methodist church, which caused difficulties with her Episcopal family. Two years later, she married William Wilkins, Jr., (1767-1832), who was also Methodist and a merchant. The family had a […]

Sisters in Cloth: The Modern Quilters and the Quilters of Gee’s Bend

Over the past few years, the Modern Quilt movement has taken the quilting world by storm, and many Modern Quilters reference the quilts of Gee’s Bend as a seminal influence on their work. To quote the Modern Quilt Guild blog: Some quilt designs even transcend time and reflect our current “modern” aesthetic. Immediately the quilts […]

Visions of Sugar Plums: Some Quilted “Eye Candy” for the Holidays

It’s December! We know it’s a busy time for everyone, so this week we invite you just to sit back and enjoy this “virtual quilt show” of quilts vintage and new that speak to the season in their colors, themes, or traditional pattern names. All of these beautiful quilts appear in the documentary Why Quilts Matter: History, […]

Why DO Quilts Matter? A Few More Reasons…

Earlier this month, we received a tweet from the owner of a quilt shop in Raleigh, NC. It read: “@WhyQuiltsMatter – so glad our shop @wishuponaquilt is sending quilts to the victims of #Sandy – that’s why quilts matter.” That Raleigh quilt shop is Wish Upon A Quilt, and–as a result of a call for quilts […]

Wonderful Wools – by Bill Volckening

In 2001, I was very intrigued by a quilt up for auction on eBay. I’d always preferred quilts that stood out as being different in some way, even though I wasn’t really a seasoned collector. Around the same time, I discovered eBay. Scrolling through hundreds of pictures of antique and vintage quilts for hours – […]

Why Quilts Matter: History, Art & Politics in Quilters Newsletter – Dec’12/Jan’13

Why Quilts Matter: Sweeten the Holidays with Our Gift of Free Shipping

It’s hard to believe that it’s mid-November. The leaves are a memory (unless you’re still raking them!), the days are getting shorter, and the holiday season will soon be upon us. As the season of giving begins, we’d like to offer you a gift that will make the documentary Why Quilts Matter: History, Art & […]

“Quilt Nation” Descends on Houston for International Market/Festival

As this post is being written, one of, if not the biggest annual event on the “quilt radar” is winding down in Texas. For the past 10 days, tens of thousands of women and men from around the world—quilters, quilt lovers, quilt scholars, those in the business of quilting—have converged on the George R. Brown […]

Getting in on the Conversation

Greetings all – I’m Joan Major Ciolino and I’m pleased to introduce myself as the new Program Coordinator for Why Quilts Matter project. I live in the coastal community of Gloucester, Massachusetts, but have strong Midwest roots and still consider Nebraska home. I began sewing back in the seventh grade, mostly useful things for a […]

American Folk Art Museum and Boca Raton Museum of Art Join Forces for Timely Quilt Exhibit

You can’t go anyplace in the States these days without running into the subject of politics. With a presidential election a mere two weeks away, it’s the hot topic on everyone’s lips. Sometimes it’s hard to remember that less than 100 years ago, a major segment of the American populace was not extended the privilege of the ballot. It wasn’t […]

Why Quilts Matter Receives Recognition in Canada and United Kingdom

Our most recent media coverage is abroad – Why Quilts Matter: History, Art & Politics was reviewed in Quilter’s Connection (Canada) and Popular Patchwork (United Kingdom). Quilter’s Connection – Canada Click on the image below to read the article in PDF format.   Popular Patchwork – United Kingdom Click on the image below to read […]

Quilts in the Information Age – by Bill Volckening

The information age is loosely defined as a period that began in the 1970s. This age is marked by the massive proliferation of information, particularly the publication, consumption, and manipulation of information via computers and computer networks. We are hardly immune to effects of the information age, even those of us who don’t spend a […]

American Quilt Study Group – 33rd Annual Seminar: October 3 – 7, 2012

I am back from an exhilarating time at the AQSG seminar in Lincoln, Nebraska. The study center co-chaired with Karen Alexander was full of great people including Lynne Bassett and Marianne Fons and Margaret McDonald from Australia. They loved the series and are all really excited about the Discussion Guides. We were brainstorming how to […]