Cheddar Quilts
Oct. 5, 2018-Feb. 3, 2019
from the Joanna S. Rose Collection
"I am not a collector. I am a treasure hunter. A collector always wants to better a collection. I buy only what I like and for no other reason. Quilts look better when you have a lot of them."
New Yorker Joanna S. Rose began buying quilts in the 1950s. She enjoyed the hunt for quilt treasures, and searched for bargains at flea markets and antique stores. Rose started buying orange quilts—colloquially known as "cheddar quilts"—as décor for Thanksgiving, her favorite holiday. Her main interest was the expressive potential of color, which “can evoke emotion without representing anything.” To Rose, "bright orange has a warmth that transcends the literal warmth of a quilt."
Rose continued to buy quilts, selecting whatever caught her eye. She did not know how many she owned until planning Red & White Quilts: Infinite Variety, a 2011 exhibition at the Park Avenue Armory in New York City. It turned out that she owned more than 650 red and white quilts alone. Today Rose’s collection contains more than 1,500 quilts.