The fourth biennial symposium, The Global Quilt: Cultural Contexts, was held April 2-4, 2009. It explored the full breadth of contexts in which the quiltmaker's art is expressed and transmitted among and across cultures, including the ways in which quilts communicate cultural values, reflect cross-cultural transmission of style or technique, serve as a medium for social connection or reflect and express environmental, artistic, scientific and technological influences of the society in which they were made.

Previous symposia:
2007: Traditions and Trajectories: Education and the Quiltmaker
2005: Collectors, Collecting and Collections