Quilt Books by State
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Explore quilt history one state at a time with books about regional quilts, antique quilt traditions, and local quilting styles across America. Quilts in other countries are listed on the International Quilt Books Page.
Alabama Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin New England The Midwest The South Appalachia
Alabama
Alabama Quilts: Black Belt to Hill Country
Just How I Picture It in My Mind: Contemporary African American Quilts From the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts
The Quilts of Gee's Bend
The catalog of the exhibition that brought these Alabama quilts to museums around the country. The large color photographs show the bold, improvised designs in rich detail.
The Freedom Quilting Bee
The history of the Alabama quilting cooperative founded during the civil rights movement. It shows how quiltmaking became a source of income and pride for a whole community.
Arizona
Grand Endeavors: Vintage Arizona Quilts and Their Makers
Arkansas
Needle, Cloth, and Time: A Celebration of Traditional Quiltmakers
Stitches in Time, A Legacy of Ozark Quilts
Arkansas Quilts: Arkansas Warmth
A Piece of My Soul: Quilts by Black Arkansans
More than 75 quilts from the Old State House Museum in Little Rock, each shown in color with Benberry's commentary. She explains how the quilts were used, what they were made from, and how they were put together, which makes it a wonderful guide to looking closely at rural Southern quilts.
California
The California Art Quilt Revolution
The California Quilt and the California Quiltmaker: 1850-1945
From Dust Bowl to Salad Bowl: The Quilts and the Quiltmakers of the Depression Era Migration to the Salinas Valley
Colorado
The Quilt That Walked to Golden: Women and Quilts in the Mountain West from the Overland Trail to Contemporary Colorado
Connecticut
Quilts and Quiltmakers Covering Connecticut
Delaware
Of the Best Sort but Plain: Quaker Quilts From the Delaware Valley, 1760-1890
A Mirror to Show Thy Friends to Thee: Delaware Valley Signature Quilts, 1840-1855
Quilted for Friends: Delaware Valley Signature Quilts, 1840-1855
Florida
An Examination of Three African American Quilters in Florida
Patchwork & Palmettos: Seminole/Miccosukee Folk Art Since 1820
Georgia
Southern Comfort: Quilts From the Atlanta Historical Society Collection
Patterns: A Celebration of Georgia’s Quilting Traditions
Georgia Quilts: Stitches and Stories
African-American Female Identity in the 19th Century: The Individual and Cultural Empowerment of Harriet Powers’ Bible Quilts
Hawaii
Hawaiian Quilting on Kauai
Tutu and the Ti Plant
Hawaiian Quilting, A Fine Art
“Quilts” in Finding Paradise, Island Art in Private Collections
The Queen’s Quilt
Kauai Museum Quilt Collection
Hawaiian Quilts, Tradition and Transition
At the Cutting Edge: Contemporary Hawaiian Quilting
Idaho
Tactical Textiles: A Genealogy of the Boise Peace Quilt Project, 1981-1988
Illinois
Somewhere in Between: Quilts and Quilters of Illinois
Connecting Stitches: Quilts in Illinois Life
Illinois Amish Quilts: Sharing Threads of Tradition
Patchwork Souvenirs of the 1933 World's Fair
The story of the Sears National Quilt Contest held at the 1933 Chicago World's Fair, which drew tens of thousands of entries. A great window into Depression-era quilting and the designs of the time.
Indiana
Personal Histories from Members of the AQC, Americus Quilting Club
Perpetual Bloomer
Women’s Work: Traditional Quiltmakers of Southern Indiana
Iowa
Quilts Reveal Lives of Early Iowans
The Thread That Remains: Patterns From Iowa’s Past
Heritage Quilts From the Heartland: The Iowa Quilts Research Project
Victorian Crazy Quilts
Kansas
Mid-Century Masterpieces: Quilts in Emporia, Kansas, 1935-1950
Kansas Quilt Treasures II: An Exhibition of Twenty Kansas Quilts 100 Years Old & Older
Kansas Quilt Project
Quilted All Day: The Prairie Journals of Ida Chambers Melugin
Sunflower State Quilts: A Guide to Publicly Held Quilt Collections in the State of Kansas
Material Pleasures: Quilts From the Kansas Museum of History
Kansas Quilts: An Exhibition of Antique and Contemporary Quilts From Kansas Collections
Kansas Quilt Symposium, July 20-21-22, 1978
Kentucky
Kentucky Quilts: Roots and Wings
Louisiana
Traditional Quiltmaking of North Louisiana Women: Form, Function, and Meaning
Anna Williams: Her Quilts and Their Influence
Maryland
The Fruits of Her Hands: Baltimore Album Quilts as Manifestation of Early Nineteenth-Century American Patriotism
Heirloom Quilting Designs From the Woodbourne Quilt
Old Line Traditions: Maryland Women and Their Quilts
Lavish Legacies: Baltimore Album and Related Quilts in the Collection of the Maryland Historical Society
Baltimore Album Quilts
Spoken Without a Word: A Lexicon of Selected Symbols with 24 Patterns from Classic Baltimore Album Quilts
Massachusetts
Massachusetts Quilts: Our Common Wealth
Clara Wainwright: Quiltmaker and Celebration Artist
Michigan
Michigan Quilts
Susan McCord’s Quilts: A Farmwife’s Legacy
The Elliott Family of Sac Bay, Michigan and Their Quilts, Early 1850s-1920
Mary Schafer and Her Quilts
The story of a Michigan quiltmaker who studied old quilts, revived traditional designs, and finished antique tops left by earlier makers. A lovely example of a quilter who was also a quilt historian.
Mary Schafer, American Quilter
Minnesota
In Her Own Words: Uncovering a Life Experience Woven into the African American Quiltmaking Tradition (Wilma Gary)
Stitches in Time
Discovering Ourselves in Minnesota Quilts
Minnesota Quilts, Creating Connections to Our Past
Mississippi
Martha Skelton: Master Quilter of Mississippi
The Art of Afro-American Quiltmaking: Origins, Development and Significance
Quilts and Quilting in Claiborne County: Tradition and Change in a Rural Southern Community
Something To Keep You Warm: The Roland Freeman Collection of Black American Quilts from the Mississippi Heartland
Journey of the Spirit: The Art of Gwendolyn A. Magee
Missouri
Missouri Heritage Quilts
Ozark Quilts, 1830-1930: A Celebration of Our Past
Montana
Montana Star Quilts
Textiles From the Steamboat Bertrand: Clothing and Gender on the Montana Mining Frontier
Celebrating One Hundred Years: The Montana Centennial Quilt, 1889-1989
Quilts by Iris Allrunner
Nebraska
Influence of Ethnicity on Nebraska Quilts Made Before World War II
The Nebraska Quiltmaker
Nevada
Nevada Quilts: A Material History Perspective
Quilters Between the Revivals: The Cultural Context of Quilting 1945-1970
New Jersey
American Quilts in the Newark Museum Collection
New Jersey Crazy Quilts, 1875-1900
New Jersey Quilts, 1770-1950
New Jersey Quilters: A Timeless Tradition
Quiltmaker Tales
Quilts and Counterpanes in the Newark Museum
Herstory: Quilts of Hunterdon County, New Jersey, 1820 to 1950
New Mexico
The Hispanic Tradition of Quiltmaking in Mora County, New Mexico
New York
Quilted Together: Women, Quilts, and Communities
Patterns in Time: Quilts of Western New York
The Raquette River Quilters: A Case Study of Cultural Biases and Contemporary Quiltmaking Production From a Feminist Perspective
Threaded Memories: A Family Quilt Collection
Quilts From Montgomery County, New York
North Carolina
Quilts, Coverlets & Counterpanes: Bedcoverings From the MESDA and Old Salem Collections
Artistry in Quilts
150 Years of North Carolina Quilts: Selections From the Pattie Royster James Quilt Collection
North Carolina Quilts
The results of the North Carolina Quilt Project, one of the state documentation projects that changed quilt history. It shows what real quilts from one state looked like, rather than what museums chose to keep.
Nancy Riddick’s Quilts: A Model for Contextualizing African American Material Culture
North Carolina Country Quilts: Regional Variations
A Historical Study of American Quilts: Designs From North Carolina From 1660 to 1976
Economic Influences on German and Scotch-Irish Quilts in Antebellum Rowan County, North Carolina
North Dakota
Native Needlework: Contemporary Indian Textiles From North Dakota
A Century of Quilts: An Exhibit of North Dakota Quilts in Honor of One Hundred Years of Statehood, 1889-1989
Morning Star Quilts: A Presentation of the Work and Lives of Northern Plains Indian Women
Ohio
Quilts in Community: Ohio’s Traditions
The Ohio Quilt Project's findings, organized around the communities that made the quilts. It shows how religion, ethnic background, and neighborhood shaped what people stitched.
Ohio Quilts and Quilters, 1800-1981
Quilts and Carousels: Folk Art in the Firelands
Ohio Quilts, A Living Tradition
‘In the Old Days, They Used Scraps’: Gender, Leisure, Commodification, and the Mythology of Quiltmaking, Wayne County, Ohio, 1915-1995
Uncommon Threads: Ohio’s Art Quilt Revolution
The History of the Bicentennial Quilt Project of the Ohio Valley Quilters’ Guild
Album Quilts of Ohio’s Miami Valley
Philena’s Friendship Quilt: A Quaker Farewell to Ohio
Oklahoma
Oklahoma Heritage Quilts: A Sampling of Quilts Made in or Brought to Oklahoma Before 1940
Centennial Stitches: Oklahoma History in Quilts
Oregon
Quilts and Quiltmaking in the Willamette Valley of Oregon
Speaking in Cloth: 6 Quilters, 6 Voices
Pennsylvania
Lancaster County, Quilt Capital USA
Bits and Pieces, Textile Traditions
Pieced by Mother: Over 100 Years of Quiltmaking Traditions
Research papers from a Pennsylvania quilt symposium, covering makers, fabrics, and regional traditions. Good reading for anyone who wants to go beyond pictures and into the research itself.
Quilts From Two Valleys: Amish Quilts From the Big Valley [Pennsylvania], Mennonite Quilts From the Shenandoah Valley [Virginia]
Just a Quilt (Juscht en Deppich): A Folk Cultural Study and Source Book of Quilting Practices in and Around the Goschenhoppen Region 1840-1940
The Quilts of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania: Production, Context, and Meaning, 1750-1884
In the Heart of Pennsylvania: 19th and 20th Century Quiltmaking Traditions
Women’s Voices, Women’s Quilts: A Study of Discourse Practices in a Pennsylvania Quilting Circle
Quilts: The Fabric of Friendship
The first book-length history of American quilts, written by a well-known pattern designer. It captures how quilters of the early twentieth century saw their own craft and its past.
Quilted Memories of Schuylkill County
Threads of Tradition: Northwest Pennsylvania Quilts
Nineteenth-Century Applique Quilts
The Hands That Made Them: Quilts of Adams County, Pennsylvania
Quilt Treasures of Yesteryear: Antique Quilts of Franklin County, Pennsylvania
Layers: Unfolding the Stories of Chester County Quilts
Pennsylvania Quilts: One Hundred Years, 1830-1930
Plain & Fancy: Country Quilts of the Pennsylvania-Germans
Berks County Quilt Harvest Documentation Project
For the Joy of It: Appliqué Quilts From the Judy Roche Collection
Saved for the People of Pennsylvania: Quilts From the State Museum of Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
My Voice on Cloth: Story Quilters of the South Carolina Low Country
Social Fabric: South Carolina’s Traditional Quilts
Glorified Patchwork: South Carolina Crazy Quilts
South Dakota
The Star Quilt: A Symbol of Lakota Identity
Tennessee
Quilts…Homeward Bound: The Quilts of Hickman County, Volume V
Soft Covers for Hard Times: Quiltmaking and the Great Depression
How and why quilting boomed during the Depression, from feedsacks to kits to newspaper patterns. If you have a 1930s quilt, this book explains the world it came from.
A Patchwork of Quilts, A History of Friends and Families in Hickman County, Tennessee, Volume I
Quilts of Tennessee: Images of Domestic Life Prior to 1930
The findings of the Tennessee quilt documentation project, with quilts and the stories of the families who made them. A great model for regional quilt research.
Celebrating 200 Years of Stars: The Quilts of Hickman County, Volume II
Celebrating the Comforts of Home: The Quilts of Hickman County, Volume III
Of Hearth & Home: The Quilts of Hickman County, Volume IV
Bristol’s History Told in a Quilt Setting
Making Do: Quilts of the Great Depression
Texas
Lone Stars: A Legacy of Texas Quilts 1836-1936 (Vol. I)
Lone Stars: A Legacy of Texas Quilts 1936-1986 (Vol. II)
Quilts of the Texas South Plains: A Sesquicentennial Exhibition
Texas Quilts, Texas Women
Trinity Valley Quilters’ Guild: Quiltmaking Practices and Motivations
Quilting and the Pattern of Relationships in Community Life
Texas Quilts, Texas Treasures
Utah
Quilts in Utah: A Reflection of the Western Experience
Magnificent Harvest, Quilts From the Heart
A Quilt for the Promised Valley
Quilted All Day: The Prairie Journals of Ida Chambers Melugin
Outer Image, Inner Things: A Study of the Relationship Between Belief System and Artistic Expression
Vermont
55 Famous Quilts From the Shelburne Museum in Full Color
Plain and Fancy: Vermont’s People and Their Quilts as a Reflection of America
Virginia
Appalachian Quilts of Floyd County, Virginia
Virginia Quilts: First Search for Virginia-Made Quilts, Beginning in Northern Virginia
Quilts of Virginia, 1607-1899: The Birth of America Through the Eye of a Needle
First Flowerings: Early Virginia Quilts
Washington
A Common Thread: Quilts in the Yakima Valley
Mother Work: Quilts and Art: A Material Culture Study
Washington State: Women and Their Quilts
West Virginia
A Canopy for Dreams: Historic Quilts From the West Virginia State Museum Collection
Mountain Artisans; Appalachia Exhibition
Wisconsin
Wisconsin Quilts, History in the Stitches
Dressing the Bed: Quilts and Coverlets From the Collections of the Milwaukee Public Museum
New England
What’s New England About New England Quilts?
The Midwest
African American Quilt Culture: An Afrocentric Feminist Analysis of African American Art Quilts in the Midwest
The South
Southern Quilts: A New View
Essays that challenge old assumptions about Southern quilts, drawing on state documentation projects. A thoughtful read on what really sets quilts from the South apart.
Southern Quilts: Surviving Relics of the Civil War
Essays that challenge old assumptions about Southern quilts, drawing on state documentation projects. A thoughtful read on what really sets quilts from the South apart.
Appalachia
Quilts from Appalachia
Best of the Appalachian Craft Series: Quilts
If you know of any books that I have missed, please let me know. I am not listing symposium papers or magazines.
