Historic Cottons to Modern Polyesters: Quilts from Telfair’s Collection

Made from the rarest silks to the simplest cottons, corduroys, wools, and modern polyesters, Telfair Museums’ small but important collection of quilts are presented in Historic Cottons to Modern Polyesters. Ranging from early 19th-century examples of pieced patchwork, to an appliqué story quilt made in the 1980s, the exhibition spans nearly two centuries of quiltmaking. This long, historical view allows the museum to highlight the larger story of artistic expression passed through generations of quiltmakers.

Mame and Kathryn Armstrong; Crazy Quilt, 1885; textile: silk embroidery on silk and velvet, cotton, linen; Telfair Museums purchase, 2003.21, gift of Barbara Armstrong Church