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HANDSTITCHED WORLDS: THE CARTOGRAPHY OF QUILTS

HANDSTITCHED WORLDS: THE CARTOGRAPHY OF QUILTS

October 14, 2023
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Quilts, like maps, trace the personal stories and experiences of makers and their communities, often illuminating larger historical events and cultural trends. Handstitched Worlds draws from the collection of the American Folk Art Museum, with examples ranging from traditional early-American quilts to contemporary sculptural assemblages.


Image: Nora McKeown Ezell (Eutaw, Ala.), Star Quilt, 1977. Image courtesy of the American Folk Art Museum. Photo by Scott Bowron. Image above: detail of  Artist unknown, Mennonite Quilt: Joseph’s Coat, early 20th century. Image courtesy of the American Folk Art Museum. Gift of Karen and Werner Gundersheimer. Photo by Gavin Ashworth.

Looking across city blocks and quilt blocks, roadways and seams, one can see a visible kinship between quilt making and cartography. Both are based on established systems that use colour, pattern and symbols to establish a unique sense of order and balance. Quilts and maps are infused with history and memory, but are also living records of traditions, experiences, relationships, beliefs and future aspirations.


Image: Jerry Gretzinger (Minn., N.Y.), Jerry's Map (E1/N1, Generation 11), 2009-2012. Image courtesy of the American Folk Art Museum. Gift of the artist. Photo by Adam Reich.

Handstitched Worlds: The Cartography of Quilts invites viewers to read quilts as maps that give shape to our world. Spanning the 19th to the 21st centuries, the exhibition brings together 18 quilts from the collection of the American Folk Art Museum, New York, representing a range of materials, motifs and techniques. Like a roadmap, these unique works offer a path to a deeper understanding of the American cultural fabric.


Image: Artist unknown (Va.), Map Quilt, 1886. Image courtesy of the American Folk Art Museum. Gift of Dr. and Mrs. C. David McLaughlin. Photo by Schecter Lee.

Among the diverse examples on display are a dazzling, improvisational star quilt created in 1977 by Alabama-based quiltmaker Nora McKeown Ezell (1917-2007), and a 19th-century Soldier's Quilt made from wool fabric used in the production of military uniforms. Contemporary highlights include a work by Afro-Creole artist Jean-Marcel St. Jacques, whose wooden quilts give new life to the remnants of Hurricane Katrina.


Image: Artist unknown (India), Soldier’s Quilt, 1850-1875. Image courtesy of the American Folk Art Museum. Gift of Altria Group, Inc. Photo by Gavin Ashworth.

Handstitched Worlds: The Cartography of Quilts is on show at The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum until 23 December 2023.

Find out more and plan your visit:
museum.gwu.edu/handstitched-worlds-cartography-quilts
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