Discussion Guide
DVD and Discussion Guide are no longer available for sale on WhyQuiltsMatter.org, but the series is available for watching online.
We’re excited and proud to announce the release of Why Quilts Matter: History, Art & Politics Discussion Guide, a comprehensive and group-friendly resource designed to help you continue the conversation about the landmark documentary series that has been aired on more than 200 select PBS stations.
We know you’ll find dozens of ways to use this 56-page, full-color resource for further discussion. It’s flexible enough to adapt to the needs of your specific group, while comprehensive enough to provide you days, weeks, even months of things to talk about. To ensure that we covered all the bases, we asked a wide range of people—including quiltmakers, artists, academics, and collectors—to help us craft the questions. That said, we consider this a work in progress. If your discussions uncover a hot topic that we’ve missed, please tell us so that we can share it through our blog and other social media.
Perfect for quilt and fiber-arts groups, libraries, classrooms, museums the Guide includes episode-by-episode questions specially tailored for:
- General audiences
- The quilting community
- Artists and arts organizations
- Academics and college students
- Middle and high school students
- Museums
To download the Guide in PDF format (free of charge), please visit this page.
Here’s what you’ll discover in Why Quilts Matter: History, Art & Politics Discussion Guide:
- Four pages of thought-provoking questions devoted to each of the nine episodes and designed to stimulate animated post-viewing discussion
- Ten discussion questions addressing the series as a whole; for example, “If every quilt in America suddenly vanished, what would we lose?”
- An energizing conversation starter and series enhancement that’s perfect for quilt and fiber-arts groups, libraries, classrooms, museums , and more
- A helpful “How to Host” section, with suggestions and guidelines for organizing and launching your own viewing and discussion group
- A list of additional resources, including links available on the Why Quilts Matter website, such as an episode-by-episode Image Resource Guide identifying every quilt and other still image shown in the series and additional ideas for how the series can be used as programming for quilt guilds and at exhibition venues
- A sample lesson plan for using Why Quilts Matter in the classroom
To download the Guide in PDF format (free of charge), please visit this page.
One final thing we think you’d like to know: Why Quilts Matter: History, Art & Politics Discussion Guide was produced by The Kentucky Quilt Project, Inc.—a 501 (c) (3) not-for-profit organization—with funds raised through sales of the series DVD, and through the generosity of individual donors, including Exclusive Industry Sponsor Hoffman California Fabrics International. More about the series sponsors...
