American Quilts in the Modern Age published by U of NE Press

10 Mar 2009    

TCD faculty member Dr. Patricia Crews, Director of the International Quilt Study Center & Museum, and IQSC curator of exhibitions Marin Hanson have been working for several years on a Getty Foundation-supported project to catalogue a large part of the IQSC collection. That project has culminated with the publication by the University of Nebraska Press of the first volume in what is expected to be a multi-volume overview of the collections housed in the museum.

A major achievement of quilt scholarship, American Quilts in the Modern Age, 1870–1940 examines the period’s quilts from both an artistic and a historical perspective. From pieced block to crazy style to Colonial Revival examples, as well as one-of-a-kind creations, the full array of style and design appears in this book covering seven decades of quilt making. The contributing authors provide critical information regarding the modern and anti-modern tensions that persisted throughout this era of America’s coming of age, from the Civil War to World War II. They also address the textile technology and cultural context of the times in which the quilts were created, with an eye to the role that industrialization and modernization played in the evolution of techniques, materials, and designs. With full-color photographs of over 587 quilts, American Quilts in the Modern Age, 1870-1940 offers a new visual and tactile understanding of American culture and society, bridging the transition from traditional folk culture to the age of mass production and consumption.

Dr. Patricia Cox Crews, IQSC & Museum Director and co-editor of American Quilts in the Modern Age 1870 - 1940

The handsomely designed and illustrated book will be available at the IQSC Museum shop on or about April 1. Retailing for US$90 in hardcover, the book is likely to become a classic of quilt documentation and contextualization. Congratulations to the editors and to the IQSC staff and graduate students who supported this project over numerous years of research, compilation and writing.

Marin Hanson, IQSC & Museum Curator of Exhibitions and co-editor of American Quilts in the Modern Age 1870 - 1940. Photo: David Kostelnik