General Questions

It is satisfying to hear from so many people that they are eager to see all the quilts in our collections. We do believe that the Center's quilts have much to offer and teach us about cultural, social, women's, and political history and about developments in textile technology and design.

The mission of the International Quilt Study Center & Museum is to inspire an understanding of the cultural and artistic significance of quilts by collecting, preserving, studying, exhibiting, and promoting discovery of quilts and quiltmaking traditions from many cultures, countries, and times. Our curatorial staff divides their time between these activities so that when exhibitions are installed, visitors are able to see some of the best examples of the various types of quilts and also become informed about aspects of quilts and their reflections of culture.

We will usually hang from four to five new exhibitions each year and each exhibition is comprised of 15-50 quilts (depending on the size of each object), allowing visitors to have an in-depth view of around 100 quilts. A significant investment of time and financial resources is made to research, plan and create each exhibition. We also produce programs and educational activities to enrich each exhibition and train docents to provide excellent tours. We plan the schedule to balance the time needed to allow the public to experience each exhibition with the other expectation of seeing new exhibitions.

While most museums do not attempt to make their entire collections available on-line, we are aware of our audience's keen interest in the collections, and through the support of our generous donors, our collections are available for viewing in our Virtual Gallery and on our website within the Quilt Explorer module and through Search the Collections.