Stories in Stitches: Quilts from the East Tennessee Historical Society’s Permanent Collection

A Feature Exhibition at the Museum of East Tennessee History

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – “Stories in Stitches: Quilts from the East Tennessee Historical Society’s Permanent Collection” features more than 24 quilts ranging from 1820 to 2001 and is on display Aug. 7 to Jan. 2, 2018 at the Museum of East Tennessee History.

The exhibition highlights more than two dozen quilts in a variety of fabrics, and patterns, and highlights some of the families who have made and cherished them. Patterns include everything from Rose of Sharon and “Knoxville Crazy Quilt” to a Civil War memory quilt and one pieced together out of clothing labels. The quilters range from John Sevier’s wife Bonny Kate to the Smoky Mountain Quilters of Tennessee.

When the East Tennessee Historical Society was founded in 1834, early collection efforts focused on books and manuscripts. In more recent decades, objects began to be added, and the idea of displaying them in a museum grew. The ETHS Permanent Collection acquired its first quilt in 1992, one year before the Museum of East Tennessee History opened on the first floor of the renovated Customs House. Now a part of the expanded East Tennessee History Center, the museum and its collection includes more than 100 quilts.

The East Tennessee Historical Society Permanent Collection focuses on quilts made or used in one of East Tennessee’s 35 counties. An acquisitions committee reviews potential additions, evaluating the quilt’s history, condition, and importance to the collection as a whole. Some quilts are displayed in the museum’s signature exhibition, “Voices of the Land: The People of East Tennessee.” Others are cared for in climate-controlled storage and are brought out for special events or exhibitions like this one.

“Stories in Stitches” is dedicated to Linda Claussen and Ginny Rogers for their years of service and support of the East Tennessee Historical Society’s quilt collection.

About East Tennessee Historical Society

Established in 1834, the East Tennessee Historical Society is widely acknowledged as one of the most active history organizations in the state and enjoys a national reputation for excellence in programming and education. For 183 years the East Tennessee Historical Society has been helping East Tennesseans hold on to our unique heritage—recording the events, collecting the artifacts, and saving the stories that comprise the history we all share.

For more information, visit www.easttnhistory.org.

# # #