Welcome to the launch of the Quilt Alliance blog!!

Whether you make quilts or collect them, sleep under or study them, or just want to learn more about quilts, you have come to the right place.

Founded in 1993 by four women who cared passionately about giving quilts a voice, the Quilt Alliance documents, preserves and shares the stories of quilts and their makers.  Originally, the nonprofit was called the Alliance for American Quilts, but the name was changed this year, as the Alliance’s projects go global.

Feel free to drop in anytime to the Alliance’s unparalleled “virtual quilt museum” at www.quiltalliance.org. You can browse more than 53,000 quilts from four centuries at the Quilt Index, an amazing archive run in partnership with Michigan State University Museum and MSU’s MATRIX.  Some of the quilts come from major museum collections, but many were photographed and analyzed by state documentation projects, hidden treasures rarely seen. Or go read one of the 1,000-plus interviews at the oral history project, Quilter’s S.O.S. – Save Our Stories, which are also archived at the Library of Congress’ American Folklife Center.

The reason for this blog is that the Quilt Alliance is so much more than these outstanding online resources. This blog will be a place for quilt-lovers to find out about new projects, live events, volunteer opportunities, quilt contests, and more. As well as a place to connect with other quilt nerds.

And about the website. You might think you know it pretty well, but I can tell you, there are some hidden gems lurking there. I know, because I hid some myself. When I joined the board of the Alliance in 2005, I created a virtual honoring quilt on the website as a personal tribute to my late mother, Jo Cox, who taught me to quilt. You can see it by CLICKING HERE. 

The thing that makes me truly proud: there is a second, simpler honoring quilt, and someone bought a block on it for me. My husband’s ex-wife gave it to me as a Christmas gift, and I did cry.

You can be a part of a virtual online quiltmaking memory quilt and help support Quilt Alliance in the process.  The Memory Quilt is a place for individuals and groups to honor the special people who have touched their lives and taught them to love quilts. Many beloved people die without their accomplishments and generosity being celebrated as they deserve to be. Here’s your chance to honor that special person in your life!  CLICK HERE for more information on how you can get involved in the  “Star Memory Quilt” or the “Chinese Coin Memory Quilt.”

Welcome!! Come back often. Bring friends. And tell us what you think.

  Meg Cox, President, Quilt Alliance