Stitching Together History: 250 Quilts Commemorating the Commonwealth of Virginia

by Mary W. Kerr, Donna Marcinkowski Desoto, Virginia Quilt Museum (Primary Contributor)

The Virginia Quilt Museum expects around 4,000 visitors to the museum during the run of the exhibition. In 2023 it had just over 7,000 visitors and its visitation has been steadily growing since late 2021. "This will also be an exhibition that we advertise extensively, and that we expect to draw lots of visitors." In addition, the museum website reaches over 12,000 visitors.
The Virginia Quilt Museum has an extensive marketing plan that reaches out to organizations and guilds across our state and region. There are partnerships in place with other textile museums and there are plans to allow selected pieces of this exhibit to travel.

256 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication January 28, 2026

Reviews

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have deep roots in Virginia. My Gochenour ancestors were settled in the Shenandoah Valley by 1742. My fifth great-grandfather married into a family that settled there before 1735. My grandfather left Virginia around 1923 but I have many distant relatives still there.

Stitching Together History is an inspiring collection of quilts that celebrate the history, places, and people of Virginia for the state’s 250th founding. In 2022 a call for quilts was made and 250 selected for the book and exhibit.

There is a large variety of quilt styles and techniques used in the quilts. The book includes beautiful selections from the Virginia Quilt Museum, including antique quilts.

I learned so much from these quilts. I loved the Chapstick quilt by Bunny Jordan, but had previously not known that my all time favorite product was invented in Lynchburg, VA, in the mid 19th c.

The quilts are presented by themed chapters: Power of Place; Unfinished revolutions; Virginia Experiments; We the People.

I was so happy to see a quilt inspired by Rachel Beanland’s novel The House is on Fire, which I have read. Quilt artist Barbara Brummond notes that seventy-two people died in a fire at a Richmond, VA, theater during a fundraiser to support the family of deceased actress Elizabeth Poe, mother of Edgar Allan Poe.

The expected Virginians appear on quilts, including Founding Fathers, entertainers, important changemakers, and inventors.

I loved that Virginia quilter Jenny Beyer has her own quilt! She was so influential when I began quilting over thirty years ago. Of course, quilt artist Julie Riggles used Jenny Beyer designed fabrics!

The beauty of Virginia’s landscape, flowers, and fauna are celebrated in the quilts. Shenandoah Sunset by Sandy Maxfield was inspired by a sunset view from Skyline Drive along the Blue Ridge.

Cultural and social changes are important parts of history and you will find quilts sharing breakthroughs. Votes for Women by Mary Kerr, one of my favorite Virginia quilters, celebrates women’s suffrage incorporating a vintage 1987 crazy quilt.

The book’s large format and presenting most quilts one to a page allows a good study of each quilt.

You don’t have to be a Virginian to appreciate this beautiful book.

Thanks to the publisher for a free book.