Bouquet of Quilts

From its collection of more than 400 quilts, the New Brunswick Museum has selected a dozen flower-themed examples to acknowledge the 25th Marco Polo Quilters Guild Biennial Quilt Show.  Bouquet of Quilts features pieced, appliquéd and embroidered examples that date between 1867 and 2011, that have been acquired since 1995 and that, with one exception, have not been exhibited previously.

Flowers have a language of their own and can symbolize a full range of emotions.  Their messages can be romantic, spiritual, political or aesthetic and they have long been a subject for the enhancement of textiles.  In the case of these twelve flower-patterned quilts, they were chosen to show the ingenuity, engineering and creativity of their makers…and by extension to laud the work of the current Marco Polo Quilters Guild.

These twelve items also reveal patterns, colours and techniques that reflect changes in fashions, marketing and production of quilts in New Brunswick over the course of almost 150 years.  They also document the transitions from traditional quilting parties to commercially available quilt kits to the rise of the quilting guilds and the revival and establishment of quilting as an art form.  They celebrate a strong, vibrant and proud textile heritage.

Bouquet of Quilts is at the New Brunswick Museum Exhibition Centre until 27 September 2019.

This exhibition was made possible with the generous financial support of the Financial and Consumer Services Commission of New Brunswick.

About FCNB:

From credit union accounts and mortgages to investments, payday loans, real estate transactions, insurance and pensions, virtually every New Brunswicker is a consumer of financial services. We register and license businesses and individuals in the financial and consumer sectors, all of whom work with the hard-earned money of New Brunswickers. Our mandate is to protect consumers and enhance public confidence in the financial and consumer marketplace through the provision of regulatory and educational services.

  • April 11, 2019 - October 6, 2019