Trudi
- Jan 29, 2019
- 1 min read

KEN BURNS SUPERSTAR QUILTS

Earlier this year a seemingly unlikely event took place. At the International Quilt Study Center and Museum, in Lincoln Nebraska, 28 pieces from Ken Burn’s Quilt collection went on display.

Yes, Ken Burns of PBS documentary fame!

The acclaimed filmmaker has accumulated about 75 pieces, and selects each piece for his collection based on what moves him, the design, the story, as well the makers.

Burns seems to approach collecting quilts as a documentarian, thinking about the communities that created them as well as the stories shared. In an interview with Kim Carpenter from the Omaha World Journal Burns said:

“Certainly there are quilts that are individual, but they often reflect a kind of teamwork, a group of women sitting together and making a quilt within a family or within a community.”

History itself can stitch us together, Burns said, and quilts can link “individuals, families and communities together.”

I have my fingers crossed there is a giant coffee table book in the works!

– Trudi