International Quilt Museum pieces together centuries of craftwork
Lincoln is home to the world’s largest publicly held quilt collection, with objects from more than 65 countries and some dating back to the 1600s.
At first blush, it would seem to rank up there with famous tourist traps like the World’s Largest Ball of Twine in Cawker, Kansas, or Michell, South Dakota’s Corn Palace, but the International Quilt Museum in Lincoln, home to the world’s largest publicly held quilt collection, with objects from more than 65 countries and dating back to the 1600s, is a true treasure.
Leslie Levy, executive director of the museum, said she revels in picking out reluctant husbands and others coming through the doors whose faces betray that they “are being drug to the quilt museum.”
“It is fun for us to watch the reaction, because the minute they walk in, they know they’re going to see something different,” Levy told the Nebraska Independent. “They’re going to know they are in an art museum. The architecture of the building is beautiful, and each of the exhibitions is really an experience. It’s not just quilts on the wall.”
Indeed, the museum’s collection goes far beyond what many people think of as quilts, the common bed coverings you can buy in stores. The quilts truly are cultural and historical works of art, with vibrant colors, stitch patterns and intricate craftsmanship.
The museum is now 50,000 square feet after being expanded in 2015. The space boasts some 8,800 quilts and related items from around the world, including Bolivia, the Cook Islands, Czechia, French Polynesia, and Hungary.
Nestled on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s East Campus, the museum, attracts visitors from all 50 states and some 35 countries each year, Levy said. It was established in 1997, when native Nebraskans Ardis and Robert James donated nearly 1,000 quilts to the university from their private collection.
The museum has sent traveling exhibitions from its collection to other museums in conjunction with the Smithsonian Institution and has displayed part of documentary filmmaker Ken Burns’ extensive quilt collection.
The oldest quilts in the museum are believed to date back to the 1600s, but the oldest verified piece, which is from the Mediterranean region, dates back to the early 1700s.
“We can look at the thread that’s used, the fabric that’s used, the dye that’s used, the batting in the middle, you know, how the fabric is woven, and we can tell the history of where it comes, what the dyes are, where it was made,” Levy said. “We have a quilt that came from Sweden, but we can tell by the design and the fabrics that it got to Sweden probably through the trade routes, because it’s made with silk from China.”
Curators take great care with the collection. The quilts that aren’t on display are refolded every two years to prevent creases and fold lines from doing permanent damage, Levy said.
Hannah Demma, a local artist and artist liaison at the Lux Center for the Arts in Lincoln, said she often visits the museum for inspiration.
“It’s a really incredible place,” she said. “I didn’t understand what a quilt could be until I went there.”
