Experiencing Color examines how quilters, from self-taught makers to contemporary artists, have used color to create striking designs. The exhibition teaches viewers about the properties of color using a wide range of quilts from across time and geography, showing that color theory was present in quiltmaking long before it had a name.  

(Coryell, 1/22/27 – 6/5/27)

For the 2026 Carrefour European Patchwork Meeting, quiltmakers were invited to engage with the visual language of Amish quilts, a tradition widely recognized for its bold geometry and powerful graphic presence. Since the late twentieth century, Amish quilts have held a prominent place in the study and appreciation of American quiltmaking, admired for their striking compositions and distinctive use of color.

Marking the 30th anniversary International Quilt Museum's founding, this exhibition reflects on the extraordinary legacy of Ardis and Robert James and their central role in establishing the IQM’s holdings. The quilts presented here come either from the original James Collection, whose donation to the University of Nebraska–Lincoln established the IQM in 1997, or entered the museum through the ongoing generosity of the James family.

Queer Threads explores the ways quilts and textile works have been used to articulate LGBTQ+ experience through the material language of cloth. Drawing on the long associations between textile practice, intimacy, and domestic space, the artists represented in the exhibition employ quilting as a means of personal reflection, historical acknowledgment, and cultural expression.