“Behind the Scenes” Tours of the Quilt Collections

Sign up for a peek behind the scenes at our museum. Each tour includes seeing a portion of virtually all of the museum’s quilt collections in their state-of-the-art rolled storage systems, viewing 10 quilts on examination tables, and receiving a mini-lesson on how to care for old textiles. When time permits, a demonstration of the Michigan Quilt Project database, the Quilt Index and an introduction to the Great Lakes Quilt Center library will be included. Feel free to bring a show and tell quilt to share.

The two-hour tours are by appointment only and are generally scheduled on weekdays during business hours (9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.); evening and Saturday (except on MSU football game days*) tours may be available.

Price of the tour is $15.00 per person.

Tours require a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 20 persons.

To schedule a tour or for more information contact Beth Donaldson by phone at the QuiltLine (517-432-3800), by e-mail (quilts@museum.msu.edu) or by mail (Quilt Tours, Great Lakes Quilt Center, MSU Museum, East Lansing, MI 48824-1045).

Choose from the following tour topics or make a special request:

“African American Quilt Collection,” This collection was developed as part of a research project on African-American quilting traditions in Michigan and a related publication, African American Quiltmaking in Michigan. From early 20th c. traditional quilts of home-woven and dyed fabrics to more contemporary art quilts, this collection celebrates the wide variety of quilts made by African American quilters in Michigan.

“Embroidered Quilts,” Penny square quilts from the Deborah Harding Collection, crazy quilts and kit quilts all feature fancy embroidery. Some of our quilts from the 1930s were quilted with embroidery floss in a style now popularly known as “Big Stitch.”

“Crazy Quilts,” mostly silk quilts from 1890-1920 featuring irregular patchwork, fancy embroidery, GAR ribbons, poems, and hand made lace.

“Scrap Quilts, Everyone’s Favorites,” ranging from 1840 to the present, these are quilts that feature a wide variety of fabrics. They are usually pieced, not appliqued.

“Merry & Albert Silber Collection,” Detroit-area collectors who have donated over 40 quilts to the MSU Museum collection. They range from the 1840's to 1890's and include pieced and appliqued quilts.

"Amazing Appliques," covers the earliest broderie perse quilts, ca. 1820, to traditional red and green quilts from the 1850s to story quilts of the 1940s and more! Many prize-winning quilts are in this group.

"Lone Star Quilts," another pattern that stands the test of time, this pattern appears over and over again. The MSUM collection contains rare Native American star quilts from the 1920s, early settler quilts from Michigan in 1850, and Star of Bethlehem quilts from the 1840s.

"The Mary Schafer Story," follow Mary's adventures making, collecting, researching and trading quilt history through a sampling of her quilts.

"The Clarke Family Collection." Mother Bozena, daughter Laura, and daughter in-law Emilie were prolific quilters during the 1930s and 1940s. Their quilts won prizes in the hugely-popular Detroit News quilt shows of that era.

"Hexagon Quilts." One of the oldest published patterns, it first appeared in Godey's Lady's Book in 1835 and has never gone out of fashion. The earliest quilts were called Hexagons, then Hexagon Mosaics. Grandmother's Flower Garden quilts were one of the most popular patterns from the 1920s-1940s.

* Home Football Schedule for 2008-no tours available.
September 6-Eastern Michigan
September 13-Florida Atlantic
September 20-Notre Dame
October 4-Iowa
October 18-Ohio State
November 1-Wisconsin
November 8-Purdue

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