Museum to Document Local Quilts

The Elkhart County Historical Museum will host a Quilt Study Day on Saturday, January 24 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The program is aimed to document and preserve the history of regional quilts into a register to be held at the museum for researchers.

Many quilts appear in shows throughout the year in Elkhart County and afterwards most disappear from the public and remain undocumented as to their local provenance. The museum will begin recording these quilts during a quilt study day to assemble a growing encyclopedia of locally made or owned quilts.

“We hope to create a document that illustrates changes in quilting trends or regionalisms that are particular to Elkhart County,” says Museum Director Nick Hoffman. “Anyone interested in the history of textiles and quilting, or contemporary quilters who want to replicate an early quilt, will find the register incredibly useful.”

Several viewing stations will be created for participants to have their quilts inspected in a public or private review. Then skilled quilt historians and museum staff will help trace the history of the participating quilts. Each bed cover will then be photographed and notes regarding fabrics, provenance, and a broad history will be recorded for each object. Museum staff will also offer recommendations to store or display your bedcover in a safe manner for ideal preservation.

The finished register will be available in the museum’s library for researchers. Participants have the option to keep their names anonymous with the quilt in the published version of the register. The museum hopes to make this program an annual event to create a master listing of patterns, fabrics, and other relevant information related to our region.

Participants are encouraged to stay for the event to witness the vast array of local quilt patterns. The program will conclude with a quilt show and tell featuring privately owned local quilts and recent acquisitions into the Elkhart County Historical Society’s collection.

Pre-registration is required for this program by calling 574-848-4322 or emailing Nick Hoffman at nick@elkhartcountyparks.org. Participants will be arranged into several timeslots for their quilt documentation session.