Discovering the National Quilt Museum

When we arrived in Cadiz, Kentucky, we discovered that we were not far from the National Quilt Museum.  David's sister Leslie is an avid quilter, as is his cousin Carol, so we had to visit it to report on it to the family!  As it turns out, next week is Annual Quilt Week, and the Museum has several exhibits specially prepared for the influx of quilting visitors it expects, so we were treated to some very interesting collections of quilts.

The National Quilt Museum, located in Paducah, Kentucky, is an art museum that exhibits fiber art and quilting from around the world. The museum is recognized by USA Today as one of the world's top quilt displays. It supports local and expert quilters by providing workshops and other educational activities.  The Museum was established by Bill and Meredith Schroeder of Paducah and opened in 1991. It is the only museum dedicated to contemporary quilts and quiltmakers. The main gallery is devoted to a rotating selection from the museum's collection of over 600 quilts. Its two other galleries exhibit rotating fiber art exhibits throughout the year. The museum offers educational opportunities for adults and kids at all skill levels. In 1993, the museum hosted the first African American Quilters Forum.  In May 2008, the U.S. Congress designated it the National Quilt Museum of the United States.

We had not expected such an expansive museum or collection, nor did we expect it to be so well curated.  It is housed in a large, modern building in historic downtown Paducah, just a block or two from a very quaint village-type town square surrounded by most of the historic building in the city, most of which are restaurants or other businesses focused on tourism.

Even the beautiful outside facade did not prepare us for the interior design of the museum, which includes numeous stained glass windows, created by a Kentucky glass artist, depicting actual quilts and installed with the permission of the original quilt artists.  Most, if not all, of the quilts depicted in the stained glass displays are in the Museum's own collection.

The Museum's display space is designed in an open motif, with the central area devoted to rotating displays of the Museum's many quilts.  Toward each exterior wall are special exhibits (more on that later).  Here is a panoramic view of the central space with the unthemed, rotating quilt display:

Each quilt that is displayed is accompanied by a plaque describing the quilt and identifying its maker, with some additional information.  

One special exhibit, part of which is shown below, is a remarkable collection of quilts that first struck us as works of art in themselves:

These quilts have all been created by Sheila Frampton Cooper.  Born and raised in Los Angeles, she has lived in Italy, France and Belgium and has been an artist her entire life.  While she started out as a painter, she abandoned that medium as insufficient and turned to quilt art.  She has won awards at major quilt shows since 2010.

Among many other quilts from the Museum's collection, we thought the following five were noteworthy.  This first one was special because of its tufted textures and earth tone hues:

This detail from a puffin-themed quilt might help you see the incredibly detailed stitching that many of these quilting artists use to achieve their effects

This quilt would have taken first prize in any painting exhibition, and it is one of David's personal favorites:

This fiber art is uniue in what we saw because it is not a quilt.  From a series called, "Winged Series," this construction was created by Priscilla Sage of Ames, Iowa.

The nearly photographic detail of this quilt impressed us.  Titled, "Chasing Bubbles," it was jointly created in 2014 by Hiroko and Masanobu Miyama, of Chofu City, Japan.  They work as a team; she pieces the quilt top and he does the applique, then she does the quilting.

A very special exhibit today was titled, "New Quilts from an Old Favorite."  In introducing the exhibit, the Museum states, "One of the roles of a museum is not only to preserve the past, but also to link the past to the present and to the future."  The exhibit results from a biennial contest challenging quilt makers to interpret a single theme using a traditional quilt block in a work of their own design.  The contest requires the quilts to be recognizable in some way as a variation on the year's theme and block.  The quilt must be 24" wide and 40" long, in portrait orientation, and must be quilted.  

This year's contest was on the theme of Shakespeare.  We can't show you all of the quilts, or even all of our favorites, but here are two examples.  One is based on "A Winter's Tale" --

-- and the other on "Macbeth":

Another current special exhibit is titled, "Australia Wide Seven," and it showcases the work of Ozquilt Network members from Australia and New Zealand. The exhibition features 40 small artworks, each 16x16 inches.  These three had special meaning to us because we have been to the hometown areas of these quilters --

-- Perth, Australia --

-- then, below, Tauranga, New Zealand --

-- and, finally, Matakana, New Zealand:

There was one final exhibit we saw at the Museum, which is its Block of the Month Club Exhibit.  This particular presentation is from Round 3 of that competition.  Through the Block of the Month Club, the Museum aims to challenge quilteres to experiment with new techniques and styles while having fun connecting with quilters from all over the world.  This year, the blocks are to celebrate the Museum's 30th anniversary, exhibitions, programs and themes.  Blocks had to be 12" square.

Two of our favorites were:

"Blue Moon," by Kathy Madziar of Tecumseh, Michigan --

-- and "Hogwarts Charmed," by Holly Nightingale of Berryville, Virginia:

But we saved the best for last!  David's sister Leslie lives in Oregon, and his cousin Carol lives in the State of Washington.  We searched out quilts by residents of those states and found several, notably these three:

"The Canon," by Anne Dobratz Gillihan of Camas, Washington --

-- "Growing Into the Light" (2015), by Louise A. Harris of Tacoma, Washington --

-- and "Fields of Provence" (2006), by Jean Wells, of Sisters, Oregon:

This was an incredibly rich experience -- much deeper and more rewarding than we expected when we decided to visit the Museum.  We hope this inspires you to visit the National Quilt Museum whenever you can get to Paducah, Kentucky.  We are glad we did!