History

We found these fabulous antique quilts lining the wall in the ballroom at Road to California 2023. Enjoy quilts featuring Carolina Lilies, Grandmother's Flower, Cross Stitch, and more. This exhibition highlights traditional quilts and quilting from the past that just might inspire what you make in the future.

Join the DAR Museum, February 14, 2023 at 12pm (Eastern) for their Virtual Tuesday Talk, Sheets Don't Sew Themselves: Calculating the Sewing in Pre-Industrial Women's Lives.

Lilo Bowman, Editor-in-Chief and Production Manager for The Quilt Show, has made a Go Tell It video for the Quilt Alliance to preserve the story of her quilt, Looking at the Stars and Thinking of You, which she made in honor of her sons when they lived and worked overseas. It is a perfect story for this holiday season, especially when we can't be with the ones we love.

From the de Young Museum: "Produced on the occasion of the exhibition “Faith Ringgold: American People” at the de Young museum, and directed by LeRon Lee, this film tells the story of Black artist and activist Faith Ringgold, who has dedicated her life and artistic practice to amplifying the struggle for justice and equity of Black people in the United States and particularly of Black women."

The AIDS Memorial Quilt marked its 35th anniversary with its largest display ever in San Francisco in Golden Gate Park. This was also the largest version of the quilt on view anywhere within the last decade. Take a look and learn the history of one of the most important quilts to have been made, and "considered the largest community arts project in the world, has more than 50,000 individually sewn panels with more than 110,000 names."

"Numerous Louis Vuitton steamer trunks sat abandoned for decades in a forgotten storeroom in a fifteenth-century Florentine villa. When a painting conservator eventually stumbled upon the trunks, what she found inside were not only 38 beautiful gowns, but a lost piece of fashion history was also unpacked, along with the life of Hortense Mitchell Acton, the wealthy American banking heiress who owned them." - Antique Trader

In 2010 the American Folk Art Museum in New York City featured an exhibit entitled Quilts: Masterworks from the American Folk Art Museum, collecting some of the most stunning quilts of the 19th and early 20th centuries, and we sure wish we had been there to see it. But you can sample some of the amazing quilts that were on display in this retrospective of the exhibit.

We've shared costumes and fashions from the Gilded Age. But now let's take a step a bit further back in time to 1813 and marvel at the costumes of Netflix's period romance Bridgerton.

You may have watched the video we recently featured all about the fashions of the Gilded Age. Now, see how the real was interpreted for the small screen in HBO's television series, The Gilded Age. Watch and see as "the cast and crew discuss the intricately designed costumes and recreating the New York City streets and homes from the late 1800s."

In 2011 Mrs. Rose’s husband, Daniel, proposed a special gift for her 80th birthday – a celebration of the Joanna S. Rose Red and White Collection in an exhibition at the Park Avenue Armory in New York City. “Infinite Variety: Three Centuries of Red and White Quilts,” coordinated by the American Folk Art Museum, featured 651 extraordinary quilts. Now you can take a virtual tour of that exhibit!

Join SAQA and the Quilt Alliance for a Quilters’ Save Our Stories (QSOS) interview with Pat Sloan and Frances O’Roark Dowell for the historic QSOS oral history collection. This Textile Talks takes place TODAY, Wednesday, March 30, 2022 at 2:00 PM Eastern Time and will be recorded for later viewing.

March is Women’s History Month and C&T Publishing is celebrating with its staff and authors! They asked the women of C&T to reflect on their careers in the publishing industry, dreams, and aspirations, and what Women’s History Month meant to them. And someone you may have heard of is participating. Yes, our very own Alex Anderson talks about what Women’s History Month means to her and so much more.

Have you been watching The Gilded Age on HBO? Here's a presentation from the DAR museum that gives you an accurate historical perspective on the time and the clothing of the era.

If you haven't had heard the name Bisa Butler by now, then are you in for a treat with what you are about to see. Bisa takes moments throughout black history, and creates life-size quilted portraits with vibrant colors that will capture your imagination and attention from a mile away. In this profile from CBS Evening News, Bisa is interviewed about just what makes her quilts so special.

The Quilt Alliance's next Textile Talk is a collaboration with Quiltfolk! Join them on Wednesday, February 16, 2022 at 2pm EST for a fascinating panel discussion about Baltimore Album Quilts entitled The Mysteries of Baltimore Album Quilts: 4 panelists = 100 Years of Obsession, moderated by Meg Cox.

While everyone knows that The Smithsonian has wonderful museums celebrating history, aviation, science, and so much more, did you know that they have a fantastic quilt collection as well? They take great care in preserving the history and story of many different kinds of quilts. Come take a look behind the scenes and see a truly stunning collection! (Photo: Mary Hise Norton's Silk Quilt, 1825 - 1850. Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History)

The Quilt Alliance is excited to announce that their virtual quilt exhibition, Warm Remembrances: Quiltmaking and Memory Making, is now open to the public. This exhibition was created in conjunction with Quilters Take a Moment last September, but now anyone can tour the exhibit and see the amazing quilts, curated by Laura Hopper.

The Quilt Alliance has conducted a brand new Quilters Save Our Stories (QSOS) interview as a part of the Textile Talks series with Bets Ramsey, 98-year-old quiltmaker, writer, curator, educator and 2005 Quilters Hall of Fame honoree. Merikay Waldvogel was the interviewer. Bets is best known for her documentation, teaching and curating work, but Merikay’s interview reveals what an accomplished and prolific artist Bets is (still).

Join Jennifer Swope, David and Roberta Logie Associate Curator of Textile and Fashion Arts, for a virtual discussion of Fabric of a Nation: American Quilt Stories, currently on view at the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) Boston through January 17, 2022. Spanning more than 300 years, the 50+ quilts featured in this groundbreaking exhibition express the personal narratives of their makers and owners and connect to broader stories of global trade, immigration, industry, marginalization, and territorial and cultural expansion.