Quilts are my love language. So many of my family members and friends send me pictures of quilts whenever they see them out in the world. And I love it! But what really speaks to me is when I can visit museums and learn about the history of quilting and all the different styles of quilts throughout the years.
We don’t travel and take vacations as much as we’d like to, hello military family life, but I have a list of quilt museums to visit, or a bucket list if you will. So I thought I’d share with you in case you wanted to visit some places too!
National Quilt Museum located in Paducah, Kentucky
This museum celebrates Quilt Week, one of its biggest annual events, in late April in Paducah, Ky. However, even when this city isn’t celebrating Quilt Week, visitors can get a fabric fix at this museum, which has what may be the world’s top quilt displays. It’s one of the reasons Paducah won the honor of being named a UNESCO Creative City. You can find more information by visiting quiltmuseum.org
Gee’s Bend Quilting Cooperative located in Boykin, Alabama
The famed African American quilting community of tiny Gee’s Bend has been featured on U.S. postage stamps and in international museum exhibits. Visitors can meet the quilters and buy works from potholders to full-size, abstract fabric murals. You can find more information by visiting alabama.travel
International Quilt Museum located at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln Institute
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln institution holds the world’s largest quilt collection. It spans the history of quilting from way, way back, up to contemporary quilt makers. The collection also showcases the work of Michael James, who helped launch the art quilt movement in the 1970s and is now chairman of the university’s Department of Textiles, Merchandising and Fashion Design. You can learn more by visiting quiltstudy.org
Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum located in Golden, Colorado
This small museum hosts rotating exhibits like “Manifestations,” which features quilts made by men. The biennial offering, through April, is one of the museum’s most popular programs. You can learn more about this small Colorado museum by visiting rmqm.org
San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles located in San Jose, California
The San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles proves that the region’s innovators don’t just work with motherboards and tech start-ups. The staff and board of San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles believe that fabric holds an innate power to connect people of varied backgrounds. You can learn more by visting sjquiltmuseum.org
Wisconsin Museum of Quilts & Fiber Arts Cedarburg, Wisconsin
The museum’s roots extend back to 1988 when a group of quilters in southeastern Wisconsin founded the Wisconsin Quilt History Project, Inc., whose mission was to preserve the history and creativity expressed in quilts through documentation and research. This museum started as a project to record the history of more than 8,000 quilts. Now it has a permanent home on a 19th-century farmstead, featuring both vintage and modern examples of the craft. You can learn more to plan your visit at wjquiltmuseum.com
Iowa Quilt Museum located in Winterset, Iowa
The Iowa Quilt Museum is an aesthetically beautiful and culturally valuable institution, not just for Winterset and Madison County residents, but for all Iowans, as well as for any visitor, U.S. citizen or otherwise, who finds his or her way here to the heart of the Midwest. And Winterset, Iowa is the hometown of Fons & Porter. You can learn more and plan your visit at iowaquiltingmuseum.com
Pacific Northwest Quilt & Fiber Arts Museum located in La Conner, Washington
The Pacific Northwest Quilt & Fiber Arts Museum collection focuses on the textiles of the Pacific Rim that both exemplify tradition and reflect contemporary trends. The collection will serves both exhibition and educational purposes, and ensure its preservation for future artists, enthusiasts, and students. Learn more by visiting qfamuseum.com
Visions Art Museum located in San Diego, California
Visions Art Museum began as Quilt San Diego, a non-profit arts organization founded in 1985 to promote contemporary quilt making as fine art. In 2007, volunteers organized a community build and created our permanent location in the arts district at Liberty Station in San Diego, California. VAM features 20 exhibitions per year including the Online Exhibits, Member Challenges, and the Quilt Visions and Interpretations biennials. The museum also presents lectures and workshops by noted quilt and textile artists. Plan your trip by going to visionsartmuseum.org
Texas Quilt Museum located in La Grange, Texas
The Texas Quilt Museum is housed in two historic 1890s buildings, which provide a fine showcase for both antique and contemporary quilt art with their high ceilings, brick walls, and original hardwood floors. This Lone Star quilt haven grew out of Houston’s mammoth International Quilt Festival, which started in 1974 and now attracts more than 60,000 visitors a year. The museum’s collection reflects just a sample of the extraordinary works displayed at the show. Plan your trip or take a virtual tour at texasquiltmuseum.org
Bonus – Missouri Star Quilt Company in Hamilton, Missouri
Jenny Doan and her family have created a quilters haven in Hamilton, Missouri. They attract quilters and sewers from near and far and provide inspiration, encouragement, and education at Missouri Star Quilt Co. Missouri Star has grown from a single brick building with a longarm quilting machine and a few shelves of fabric to 12 themed quilt shops, a Sewing Center for retreats and events, and an Education Center for quilting and sewing classes right in town. You can learn more and check out everything available to do during your visit at visitmsqc.com
If you’ve visited any of these locations I’d love to hear about your experience in the comments below!
