Two spring exhibits at the Texas Quilt Museum take a turn towards the traditional. They include a peerless grouping of antique quilts from a famed collector, as well as contemporary-made artworks featuring time-tested designs and styles.

Both exhibits will run from March 31-June 26.  “Antique Ohio Amish Quilts, the Darwin D. Bearley Collection” in Gallery I will feature 24 works created between 1884-1940 from Amish quiltmakers based in Ohio. The Amish’s use of bold colors, geometric shapes, and simple designs have appealed to quilters for centuries.  

“Unlike the Pennsylvania Amish in Lancaster County, Amish makers living in Ohio often produced scintillating surfaces incorporating many small pieces of fabric. With a greater sense of freedom, the Ohio Amish often embraced asymmetry in their compositions,” says Museum Curator Dr. Sandra Sider.  

Prime examples in the exhibition include original interpretations of the Nine Patch, Double Irish Chain, Log Cabin, Railroad Crossing, Ocean Waves, and star patterns. Bearley has collected many of these works directly from the Amish themselves.  “The Darwin D. Bearley antique Ohio Amish quilts are by far the most impressive single collection of these jewels of American art,” Sider continues. She adds that, as the quilts may be destined for an institutional collection, this exhibit could be one of the last opportunities ever to view a significant number of these quilts together. 

Galleries II and III will showcase 22 works in “Amazing Appliqué From the 500 Traditional Quilts Book.” And while the Museum has featured quilts from the book (edited by Museum co-founder Karey Bresenhan) before, this is an all-new collection of work not seen in that previous exhibit. These quilts feature fine appliqué work.

“Traditional quilts will always have a place in people’s hearts,” Bresenhan writes in the book’s introduction. “Their beauty, their workmanship, their ability to evoke gentler times, the memories they bring to mind—these are integral to their tremendous appeal. And these quilts represent the crème de la crème of traditional quiltmaking today.”

The Texas Quilt Museum is located at 140 W. Colorado St., La Grange, Texas 78945. Learn more at www.texasquiltmuseum.org