An Ecology of Quilts: The Natural History of American Textiles brings together approximately 30 examples, spanning the 18th to 20th centuries, from the Museum’s rich collection of more than 600 quilts and presents them from an ecological perspective, tracing patterns of relationships between the environment and traditional quilting practices.
From The Met: "Follow the conservation treatment of “King Arthur” from the “Nine Heroes Tapestries” series, among the oldest in The Met’s collection. The tapestry had not been treated since 1949, when it first came into The Met’s collection. Watch as conservators clean, stabilize, and reweave fragile areas of the work, finally reinstalling it at The Cloisters."
The Bayeux Tapestry is coming to London for a major exhibition at the British Museum from September 2026 to July 2027.
From the Museum of Fine Arts Boston: "In rural Chinese villages today, women are creating dynamic patchwork textiles, as their mothers and grandmothers did before them. This art form, which evolved from ancient Buddhist and Daoist customs of monks dressing in patched rags to project a sense of humility, is rooted in practicality, with the fabrics serving as bed and window covers, door curtains, and children’s clothing. The vibrant abstract compositions demonstrate creativity and fine artistic sensibilities that flourish far beyond the borders of established Chinese art canons."
From the Victoria and Albert Museum: "Elsa Schiaparelli (1890 – 1973) pushed boundaries as a fashion designer, transforming functional items of clothing into unique style statements. Her evening suits embody the height of 1930s haute couture, owing to their intricate embellishments, luxurious textiles and severe tailoring. Her collaborations with Surrealist artists like Salvador Dali produced provocative, even shocking designs. Theatrical accessories such as the shoe-shaped hat, her ‘Tears’ dress patterned to look like torn flesh, and the uncanny ‘Skeleton’ dress complete with the dramatic outline of bones, represent Schiaparelli at her most radical."
From the Victoria and Albert Museum: "Join Senior Paper Conservator Susan Catcher as she conserves a fragile 200-year-old fan from the era of Marie Antoinette. Using specialist conservation techniques (plus plenty of patience and a porcupine quill!) Susan addresses the structural integrity of the fan – reinforcing the back and creating a hinge to allow it to open and close once again. She also re-adheres fiddly loose sequins, stabilises areas of wear, and subtly retouches the design using watercolour paint."
From The Met: "Join scholar Carol Rodríguez and conservator Christine Giuntini in an exploration of the Wari Feathered Panels (600–900 CE), nine of which are now installed in the newly-renovated Michael C. Rockefeller Wing. In 1943 a cache of ninety-six feather panels was found in the Churunga Valley in Peru. The panels had been rolled up and placed in ceramic jars that were then buried at a ceremonial center. Each panel is densely covered with tens of thousands of feathers, primarily from the blue-and-yellow macaw, which lives in the Amazonian rainforest."
The finale to the Downton Abbey saga, appropriately titled Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale, recently debuted in theaters and with it came a cavalcade of picture perfect period costumes to match. Join Joe Zee, host of Focus Features: Dressed series, as her speaks with stars Michelle Dockery, Laura Carmichael, and costume designer Anna Robbins to chat about their outfits, the inspirations behind them, and the place they hold within the show and films legacy.
Victoria and Albert Museum: Mounting An 18th-Century Silk Dress – Textile Conservation Step-by-Step
From the Victoria and Albert Museum: "In this video, we take you behind the scenes of the Textile Conservation Studio to see how museum mounting professionals Lauren and Hannah mount and display an original 18th-century robe à la française (also known as a sack-back dress). Experience each step of the textile mounting process — from preparing the mannequin with conservation-safe materials, to supporting delicate fabrics – all ensuring the long-term care of the garment."
From the National Trust: "Famous actress Ellen Terry wore this shimmering dress in the 1888 production of Macbeth. Decorated in more than 1,000 beetle wings, it was even immortalised in a painting by John Singer Sargent."
Julie Silber is a celebrated quilt historian, curator, and quilt broker, who has been a guest of The Quilt Show many times. Recently, she sat down with another guest of The Quilt Show, Patricia Belyea of Okan Arts, to discuss her life in quilting. Read about Julie's fascinating life in quilts, and see some lovely photos taken along the way.
From Historic Royal Palaces: "Embroidery was a staple at the Tudor Court. It decorated the huge halls of palaces like Hampton Court, and adorned the clothes of Kings, Queens, and aristocrats. In this video, Tudor fashion historian Eleri Lynn talks to Curator Charles Farris about the place of embroidery at court, and how Elizabeth I both produced and wore elaborately decorated textiles."
From the Victoria and Albert Museum: "Join Senior Curator Sonnet Stanfill as she examines Schiaparelli's uncanny evening dress, superimposed with the outline of skeletal bones. Get closer than ever before and see how padding, zips, and quilting have been used to construct such an elegant yet surreal garment."
Did you catch Alex's LIVE on Wednesday about her visit to the 50th Sisters Outdoor Quilt Festival? Did it make you excited to visit next year? Want to learn even more about this storied quilt show? Well, you're in luck, as founder of the Sisters Quilt Show, Jean Wells, has written a book about the history of the show and more entitled, Sisters, Oregon - Five Decades of Quilting in America. Listen to Jean, and her daughter Valori Wells, as the talk about the book, its release, and how you might be able to get an autographed copy for yourself.
From the National Quilt Museum: "A testament to the survival of ancestral knowledge systems, the exhibition, Whiles I Yet Live: Matriarchy and Generational Exchange in Gee’s Bend presents a selection of over twenty quilts, spanning nearly a century of artistic practice within the community. This exhibition borrows its title from the 1955 song “Give Me My Flowers” by The Consolers, which inspired the later Christian Gospel performed by Reverend James Cleveland. The hymn was re-recorded by Boykin-based quilters Mary Ann Pettway, China Pettway, Lorene Pettway, and Nancy Pettway in 2016." Click through to find out more about the National Quilt Museum's stunning new exhibit.
From The Met: "Join Monica L. Miller, Guest Curator and Professor and Chair of African Studies, Barnard College, Columbia University, on a tour of the exhibition Superfine: Tailoring Black Style, with an introduction from Andrew Bolton, Curator in Charge of The Costume Institute. The Costume Institute’s spring 2025 exhibition presents a cultural and historical examination of Black style over three hundred years through the concept of dandyism. Through a presentation of garments and accessories, paintings, photographs, decorative arts, and more, from the 18th century to today, Superfine interprets this sartorial practice as both an aesthetic and a strategy that allowed for new social and political possibilities."
From the Royal Collection Trust: "Step into the splendour of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra’s 1902 Coronation at Westminster Abbey, which ushered in a golden age of style and glamour for the royal family. The royal couple set new trends that shaped Edwardian fashion and taste. Go behind the scenes with our conservators to learn about the recent conservation of these iconic thrones, which have been on display in the Ballroom at Buckingham Palace since the 1902 coronation."
From the Victoria and Albert Museum: "Join New York-based designer, Marc Bouwer, and V&A Senior Conservator, Rachael Lee, as they take a close-up look at the glittering dress worn by Whitney Houston at the Grammy Awards in 1994. Bouwer's long-term working relationship with Whitney Houston saw him create hundreds of on-stage looks for the singer, each tailored to her preference for ease of movement and support for her vocal chords. Discover the inspiration behind the striking design and the painstaking process of its embellishment as the dress is prepared for display in our DIVA exhibition (24 June 2023 – 7 April 2024)."
Last year, Robert Eggers' reimagining of Nosferatu, itself a retelling of the classic Dracula tale, was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design. Join Joe Zee as part of Focus Features: Dressed series as he sits down with the film's costume designer Linda Muir to talk all about the historical influences and design choices that went into making these characters clothes come alive.
From The Met: "Explore behind the scenes at The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute Conservation Laboratory, where objects in the collection and exhibition loans are expertly conserved. In this video, Jessica Regan, assistant curator in The Costume Institute, offers a close look at an American dress from about 1885."