Last month was exciting for the International Quilt Museum — we not only unveiled our latest exhibition "A New Deal for Quilts," but we also published an accompanying book written by historian and guest curator Janneken Smucker.  

For November's Quilt of the Month, we are sharing this beautiful album quilt currently on display in the Gottsch Gallery as part of our new exhibition.  

In response to the hardships caused by the Great Depression of the 1930s, the U.S. government promoted thriftiness in all areas of daily life. These make-do, thrifty values manifested in quilts like this one, in which the maker dug into a scrap bag, as evidenced by the inclusion of late nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century fabrics pieced together with fabrics from the 1930s.  

This quilt was gifted to the IQM by Ardis and Robert James in 1997 and was part of the initial collection that established the museum.  

Come see this quilt and many others on display through April 20. Copies of Smucker's book are available at the Museum Store and online.