“Why Quilts Matter: History, Art & Politics” KET2 Premier – Episode 2, “Quilts Bring History Alive”

Episode 2, “Quilts Bring History Alive,” premiers on KET2 next Monday, September 12, at 7PM EST.

We all wonder how people really thought, dressed, traveled, and behaved in generations past, and we need only to look to quilts to find out. Quilts are informative as a textbook but much more fun to read! Women made them for daily use and used them to express their feelings about their everyday life and time period.

This week as we remember the events of 9-11 it is particularly poignant that in the section of this episode titled “Windows into Two Centuries” you will see Susan Shie’s 9-11 quilt “Liberty Weeps for our Country” and you will learn about the exhibition mourning the events of 9-11 that took place in Houston at International Quilt Festival less than two months after that tragic day. Also note that Susan’s quilt appears on our DVD package. We realized that the series would first be available during this time period and wanted to be sure to include a 9-11 quilt in our montage of quilts on the cover of the DVD package.

Quilts are certainly a connection to our history. While memories fade and photographs are lost, quilts become a snapshot of a person’s life and the times in which they were made. All of these pieces of history can be deciphered through the quilts and its materials.

– Shelly Zegart

→ Find out more about Episode 2, “Quilts Bring History Alive”

→ Watch Episode 2 Preview

→ Image Resource Guide for Episode 2

Image Credits:

Top: Cigar Band Quilt. Maker unknown (c. 1880-1890). Silk. 35″ x 36″. Photo by Geoffrey Carr. Formerly in the collection of Shelly Zegart. Collection of The Art Institute of Chicago.

Left: Liberty Weeps for Her Country.  Susan Shie (2001).  Cotton, paint, glass beads, polymer clay, buttons, antique clothespins, sequined snake appliqués, ceramic alphabet beads. 44″ x 34″ www.turtlemoon.com