National Quilt Collection

"Quilt": A cover or garment made by putting wool, cotton or other substance between two cloths and sewing them together. An American Dictionary of the English Language, by Noah Webster, LL.D., New York 1828. 

The National Quilt Collection incorporates quilts from various ethnic groups and social classes, for quilts are not the domain of a specific race or class, but can be a part of anyone’s heritage and treasured as such. Whether of rich or humble fabrics, large in size or small, expertly crafted or not, well-worn or pristine, quilts in the National Quilt Collection provide a textile narrative that contributes to America’s complex and diverse history. The variety and scope of the collection provides a rich resource for researchers, artists, quilt-makers and others. 

Part of the Division of Home and Community Life textiles collection, the National Quilt Collection had its beginnings in the 1890s. Three quilts were included in a larger collection of 18th- and 19th-century household and costume items donated by John Brenton Copp of Stonington, Connecticut. From this early beginning, the collection has grown to more than 500 quilts and quilt-related items, mainly of American origin, with examples from many states, including Alaska and Hawaii. Most of the contributions have come to the Museum as gifts, and many of those are from the quilt-makers’ families. The collection illustrates needlework techniques, materials, fabric designs and processes, styles and patterns used for quilt-making in the past 250 years. The collection also documents the work of specific quilt-makers and commemorates events in American history. 

Learn more about the quilt collection and step behind the scenes with a video tour.

Patience Ramsey was 13 years old when she made this complex quilt, according to family information. The twelve “Rose Tree” circles were constructed almost completely in curved piecing with only small appliqued leaves at the tops of the rosebuds.
Description
Patience Ramsey was 13 years old when she made this complex quilt, according to family information. The twelve “Rose Tree” circles were constructed almost completely in curved piecing with only small appliqued leaves at the tops of the rosebuds. The white circular “blocks” are pieced of several sections (all in the same arrangement). It is quilted (10 stitches per inch) in a diamond pattern.
Patience Ramsey was born in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, in 1832. She married William Gutshall and they had thirteen children. She died in 1880. This quilt and another in the Collection were donated by her granddaughter about 100 years after Patience stitched them.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1845-1860
maker
Ramsey, Patience
ID Number
TE.T13210
accession number
250982
catalog number
T13210
Patience Ramsey pieced this quilt with four-pointed stars set with white diamonds, a pattern published in Godey’s Lady’s Book in March 1851.
Description
Patience Ramsey pieced this quilt with four-pointed stars set with white diamonds, a pattern published in Godey’s Lady’s Book in March 1851. Although no name was given to the design in the magazine, in recent times it is known as “Job’s Troubles.” The roller-printed cottons used for the quilt date from the 1850s.
Patience Ramsey was born in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, in 1832. She married William Gutshall and they had thirteen children. She died in 1880. This quilt and another in the Collection were donated by her granddaughter about 100 years after Patience stitched them.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1850-1870
maker
Ramsey, Patience
ID Number
TE.T13211
accession number
250982
catalog number
T13211

Our collection database is a work in progress. We may update this record based on further research and review. Learn more about our approach to sharing our collection online.

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