Massachusetts Quilts: Our Common Wealth
“Massachusetts Quilts, in addition to its vivid narratives about individual quilts, puts quilting history into its larger context… A large, sumptuous, brilliantly executed book, it should be welcomed into the library of anyone interested in American textiles, folkways, folk art, New England history, women's history, and Americana in general.”—Maine Antique Digest“Massachusetts Quilts, Our Common Wealth is a powerful presentation of historic quilts and their gifts makers. This newly released volume offers and important study of American quilt making… This book is enriching with its detailed text and beautiful color illustrations…”—Inside Antiques"In the years since the Massachusetts Quilt Documentation Project got underway in 1994, it has examined 6,000 quilts preserved in museums and historical societies and treasured in private homes. They are, as historian Marla R. Miller notes, "artifacts of sentiment . . . mediums  for nostalgia, affection, and veneration across generations." And they are also, she writes, "texts of historical insight." Some 200 examples are now handsomely displayed in "Massachusetts Quilts: Our Common Wealth," edited by Lynne Zacek Bassett, the project's founder. The book offers commentary on each quilt, its design and composition, the particular circumstances surrounding its making, and, frequently, the maker herself. In all,  it is a valuable document of the Commonwealth's cultural history." —Boston GlobeHistory lovers will appreciate how this book records the stories of Massachusetts people and towns from Nantucket to the Berkshires."—Lexington's Colonial Times