Contact: Justine Richardson, MATRIX, (519) 766-0171, richa332@msu.edu; Peter Knupfer, MATRIX, (517) 355-9300, Knupfer@msu.edu; or Gisgie D�vila Gendreau, University Relations, (517) 432-0924 or gendrea3@msu.edu
2/22/2005 Star of Bethlehem Quilt Margaret (or Anna) David (Odawa) c. 1920 Peshawbestown, Leelanau County, Michigan Michigan State University Museum/Great Lakes Quilt Center collections.
EAST LANSING, Mich. � Stars in eye-popping blues and reds. Strips of left-over cottons and wool pieced together into a Log Cabin pattern. Even a tongue-in-cheek pictorial of ways to �do in� the popular Sunbonnet Sue.
Beautiful fabrics and colorful patters abound in three free online resources available through a partnership between The Alliance for American Quilts, a nonprofit organization that develops innovative projects to expand the recognition of quilts and quilt makers in American culture, and Michigan State University�s MATRIX: The Center for Humane Arts, Letters and Social Sciences Online, which seeks to promote access to knowledge in the humanities and social sciences through research and production in new media.
�These quilt resources are the culmination of more than 20 years of effort to document, preserve and share the nation�s quilt heritage,� said Shelly Zegart, the current board president of The Alliance for American Quilts. �They represent a milestone not only for quilt research, but also for the organizations that have come together to make this dream a reality.�
�Quilts are a metaphor for American culture. Many different pieces of fabric are brought together and sewn into a whole new object,� said Justine Richardson, MATRIX project manager. �There are so many different kinds of people in our country, bringing together all of their experiences and cultures into a whole nation.�
- Quilt Index
www.quiltindex.org
Pineapples, sunflowers and diamonds � inspiration and information for quilt makers and historians can be found in this growing collection that currently includes some 2,000 images of quilts from across the country documented in four statewide projects. Plus nearly 10,000 more quilt images are on the way, in this Alliance, MATRIX, MSU Museum collaboration with other archives.
Collections highlighted include the Michigan Quilt Project at the MSU Museum/Great Lakes Quilt Center. The Museum�s own quilt collection numbers more than 500 and includes African-American and American Indian quilts, as well as quilts with special ties to Michigan.
Visitors may browse the collection by time period, style/techniques, purpose/function and location.
- Quilt Treasures Project
www.centerforthequilt.org/treasures
Quilts � bed coverings or works of art? That�s one of the issues addressed by notable individuals in the quilting community � quilt makers, designers, business people, collectors, scholars and publishers � in this collection of stories produced by the MSU Museum and MATRIX for The Alliance for American Quilts.
Quilt Treasures presents oral history interviews online through multi-media �Web portraits� that include curated video and audio excerpts, mini-documentaries, pictures and essays.
Portraits include such notables as Virginia Avery, known for both her quilts and wearable art; Cuesta Benberry, whose study and research of quilt history, primarily on African-American quilt history, spans some 50 years; and Joyce Gross, researcher, publisher, scholar, teacher, collector and organizer.
- Quilters� S.O.S. � Save our Stories
www.centerforthequilt.org/qsos/qsos.html
Read transcripts of interviews with more than 400 quilt makers as they share what inspires them, how they choose their next project and how the quilting tradition has been passed down through generations.
For example, in a 1999 interview with quilt maker Anita Murphy at the International Quilt Festival in Houston, she shares how quilt makers at the turn of the last century sometimes added a �chin guard� to a quilt to protect it from a man�s �whiskers.�
This Alliance for American Quilts site also includes a complete manual on how to gather additional quilt makers� stories. MATRIX developed and hosts the open-source programming that supports online entry, digital preservation, content management and dynamic presentation of Quilters� S.O.S-Save our Stories.
�It is estimated that there are as many as 21 million people in the U.S., in industry and as individuals, who are involved in quiltmaking. And most quilt makers keep their art within their families,� Richardson said.
�Providing access to creative works of this nature is a necessary research challenge for advancing online educational resources in the arts and humanities,� she added. �This partnership demonstrates the harnessing of different technologies to achieve multiple goals.�