Over 270 beautiful historic quilts and ephemera appear in over 430 color and vintage photographs. From quilted armor of the 17th centrury to crazy quilts of the 19th century, these personal family and museum treasures include homespun work of slaves and fancy work of freed women and First Ladies. This book is an important contribution to quilting history and Virginia heritage, and will be inspirtional today for enthusiastic sewers everywhere.

An exquisite and authoritative look at four centuries of quilts and quilting from around the world Quilts are among the most utilitarian of art objects, yet the best among them possess a formal beauty that rivals anything made on canvas. This landmark book, drawn from the world-renowned collection of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, highlights the splendor and craft of quilts with more than 300 superb color images and details. Fascinating essays by two noted scholars trace the evolution of quilting styles and trends as they relate to the social, political, and economic issues of their time. The collection includes quilts made by diverse religious and cultural groups over 400 years and across continents, from the Mediterranean, England, France, America, and Polynesia. The earliest quilts were made in India and the Mediterranean for export to the west and date to the late 16th century. Examples from 18th- to 20th-century America, many made by Amish and African-American quilters, reflect the multicultural nature of American society and include boldly colored and patterned worsteds and brilliant pieced and appliquéd works of art. Grand in scope and handsomely produced, Four Centuries of Quilts: The Colonial Williamsburg Collection is sure to be one of the most useful and beloved references on quilts and quilting for years to come.

The companion book to the award-winning PBS documentary of the same name. It reveals the important role played by women and quilts in the nineteenth century's great movements and events.

Meet a creative group of quilters who love antique quilts as much as you do. Let the Divas teach you how to stitch intricate 19th-century inspired quilts. You'll love piecing the elegant quilt blocks yourself or with friends in an ongoing block exchange. Each classic block is presented in four strikingly different quilts that will inspire hours of pleasurable stitching with your favorite reproduction fabrics. Enjoy the love of yesteryear's quilts and true friendship exquisitely stitched together!

Located in the historic Shenandoah Valley, the Virginia Quilt Museum is a resource center for the study of quilts and quilting in American culture. Included in the museum's collection are the creations of both early American and contemporary artisans. The book comprises 50 examples of the museum's permanent collection, including Crazy quilts, Album quilts, Log Cabin quilts, quilts that show the German influence found in Shenandoah Valley folk art, quilts that are uniquely Virginian in character, and more. Along with the color photographs, selected patterns are included.

Folk art is one of the American South's most significant areas of creative achievement, and this comprehensive yet accessible reference details that achievement from the sixteenth century through the present. This volume of The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture explores the many forms of aesthetic expression that have characterized southern folk art, including the work of self-taught artists, as well as the South's complex relationship to national patterns of folk art collecting. Fifty-two thematic essays examine subjects ranging from colonial portraiture, Moravian material culture, and southern folk pottery to the South's rich quilt-making traditions, memory painting, and African American vernacular art, and 211 topical essays include profiles of major folk and self-taught artists in the region.

Winner of the 2022 James F. Sulzby Book Award from the Alabama Historical Association Alabama Quilts: Wilderness through World War II, 1682–1950 is a look at the quilts of the state from before Alabama was part of the Mississippi Territory through the Second World War—a period of 268 years. The quilts are examined for their cultural context—that is, within the community and time in which they were made, the lives of the makers, and the events for which they were made. Starting as far back as 1682, with a fragment that research indicates could possibly be the oldest quilt in America, the volume covers quilting in Alabama up through 1950. There are seven sections in the book to represent each time period of quilting in Alabama, and each section discusses the particular factors that influenced the appearance of the quilts, such as migration and population patterns, socioeconomic conditions, political climate, lifestyle paradigms, and historic events. Interwoven in this narrative are the stories of individuals associated with certain quilts, as recorded on quilt documentation forms. The book also includes over 265 beautiful photographs of the quilts and their intricate details. To make this book possible, authors Mary Elizabeth Johnson Huff and Carole Ann King worked with libraries, historic homes, museums, and quilt guilds around the state of Alabama, spending days on formal quilt documentation, while also holding lectures across the state and informal “quilt sharings.” The efforts of the authors involved so many community people—from historians, preservationists, librarians, textile historians, local historians, museum curators, and genealogists to quilt guild members, quilt shop owners, and quilt owners—making Alabama Quilts not only a celebration of the quilting culture within the state but also the many enthusiasts who have played a role in creating and sustaining this important art.