American quiltmaking is a 400-year story of global trade, technology, and entrepreneurial imagination. The introduction of cotton fabrics and design from India and Asian countries in the seventeenth century prompted developments in textile production that helped to launch the Industrial Revolution. In turn, those advances made cotton textiles, the “thread” that holds the story of quiltmaking together, available to all.

American quilts tell the stories of the many individuals not included in the written history of the U.S. The women, immigrants, communities of color, and others who embraced quiltmaking created visual evidence of their lives, and of the hope they held for future generations.

Coryell Gallery
June 5, 2026 - Dec. 19, 2026