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Michigan Quilt Project
Documentation Project
East Lansing, Michigan, United States
Michigan State University
Like many of the other state quilt documentation projects, the Michigan Quilt Project created a documentation form that included data on the social history and physical features of the quilt as well as information about the maker of the quilt. By the late 1990s the leadership of the Michigan Quilt Project were working closely with directors of other state documentation projects to determine best strategies to preserve the thousands of records and, importantly, make them accessible for research and education. In a partnership of the Alliance for American Quilts, Matrix: Center for Digital Humanities and Social Sciences, the MSU Museum (then home of the Michigan Quilt Project), a planning grant then implementation grant was secured to text and launch the Quilt Index. The Michigan Quilt Project records served as one of the first four test collections for the development of the Quilt Index.
Several research projects have already emanated from the Michigan Quilt Project, including the Michigan African American Quilt Project, supported by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Detroit News Quilt History Project, supported by the Salser Family Foundation.
From 1984-2019, the project was housed in the Michigan State University Museum as part of the Michigan Traditional Arts Program. From January 2020 – October 2024, the Michigan Traditional Arts Program and its community engagement projects pertaining to statewide cultural heritage were moved to the MSU Residential College for Arts and Humanities. As of November 2024, the Michigan Traditional Arts Program, including the Michigan Quilt Project, is housed in the MSU Outreach and Engagement.
The physical record files are held by the Michigan State University Museum and the digital files are accessible through Matrix: Center for Digital Humanities and Social Sciences. The Michigan State University Museum maintains a strong collection of Michigan quilts.
-- Marsha MacDowell, December 2024.
Michigan Quilt Project has revised its documentation form as the project has grown and matured.
View current form:
Michigan Quilt Project form-to print.pdf
Forty-two Michigan museum collections are included in the MQP. Click on the name below to see their collections.
Battle Creek Historical Society
Byron Area Historical Society
Charlton Park Museum
Clinton Historical Society
Columbiaville Historical Society
Con Foster Museum
Crossroads Village Museum
Dearborn Historical Museum
Detroit Historical Museum
Dr. William Hyser Rivers Museum
Flushing Area Historical Museum and Cultural Center
Fort Miami Historical Society
Frankenmuth Historical Society
Gerald Ford Museum
Grand Rapids Public Museum
Gratiot County Historical and Genealogical Society
Gulliver Historical Society
Harbor Springs History Museum
The Henry Ford
Heritage Museum (formerly known as Fort Miami)
Iron County Museum
IXL Historical Museum
Kalamazoo Public Museum
Lakeshore Museum Center
Le Cheneaux Historical Museum
Leelanau County Historical Museum
Liberty Hyde Bailey Museum
Little Traverse Bay Historical Society
Marquette Regional History Center
Menominee County Museum
Michigan History Center
Michigan Magazine Museum
Michigan State University Museum
Monroe County Historical Museum
Montrose Historical and Telephone Pioneer Museum
Newton House Museum
Old Depot Museum
Onaway Historical Museum
Republic Area Historical Society
Selinsky-Green Log House Museum
Tri-County Historical Museum
Watrousville/Caro Historical Society
Wyandotte Historical Museum
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Museum
Michigan State University Museum Michigan Quilt Project
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Historical Society
Byron Area Historical Society Michigan Quilt Project
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Museum
Marquette Regional History Center Michigan Quilt Project
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Museum
Charlton Park Museum Michigan Quilt Project
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Museum
Detroit Historical Museum Michigan Quilt Project
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Museum
Crossroads Village Museum Michigan Quilt Project
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Museum
Dearborn Historical Museum Michigan Quilt Project
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Museum
Dr. William Hysers Rivers Museum Michigan Quilt Project
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Museum
Flushing Area Historical Society Michigan Quilt Project
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Museum
Frankenmuth Historical Museum Michigan Quilt Project
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Museum
Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library & Museum Michigan Quilt Project
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Museum
Grand Rapids Public Museum Michigan Quilt Project
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Museum
Iron County Historical Museum Michigan Quilt Project
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Museum
IXL Historical Museum Michigan Quilt Project
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Museum
Leelanau Historical Society Museum Michigan Quilt Project
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Museum
Menominee County Historical Museum Michigan Quilt Project
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Museum
Michigan History Center Michigan Quilt Project
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Museum
Monroe County Historical Museum Michigan Quilt Project
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Museum
Montrose Historical & Telephone Pioneer Museum Michigan Quilt Project
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Museum
Lakeshore Museum Center Michigan Quilt Project
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Museum
Onaway Historical Museum Michigan Quilt Project
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Museum
Selinsky-Green Farmhouse Museum Michigan Quilt Project
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Museum
Wyandotte Historical Museum Michigan Quilt Project
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Museum
The Henry Ford Michigan Quilt Project
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Story
Survivors 2003
Feher, Aniko
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Gallery
Halloween and Autumn Quilts
Sikarskie, Amanda Grace
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Gallery
Michigan Quilts
MacDowell, Marsha
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Biography
Rebecca Snyder Braham
Auchterlonie, Robert
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Gallery
The Michigan State University Museum Q...
Sikarskie, Amanda Grace
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Exhibit
Mary Schafer: A Legacy of Quilt Histor...
Worrall, Mary
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Collection
Kitty Clark Cole Quilt Collection
Worrall, Mary
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Collection
Mary Schafer Quilt Collection at the M...
Worrall, Mary
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Collection
Merry and Albert Silber Collection
Swanson, Lynne
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Story
Bailey Indigo Wholecloth Quilt
MacDowell, Marsha
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Story
Mary Ann Orillia Karlan Carolan
MacDowell, Marsha
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Story
Louisa and William Davis Early Michiga...
MacDowell, Marsha
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Story
My Mother's Little Stars made by Rebec...
MacDowell, Marsha
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Story
Cornelia Driggs Small
MacDowell, Marsha
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Story
Mary Bailey worked for Phoebe Eugenia ...
MacDowell, Marsha
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Story
Rebecca Brickley
MacDowell, Marsha
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Story
Four generations of quilters in the Zu...
MacDowell, Marsha
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Story
Susannah Johnson Justice's Civil War H...
MacDowell, Marsha
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Story
Sarah Gardner Leslie
MacDowell, Marsha
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Story
The Van Deusen Crazy Quilt
MacDowell, Marsha
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Story
Armenia Winchcomb's Lone Star is a cat...
MacDowell, Marsha
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Story
Fenton, Michigan Signature Quilt
MacDowell, Marsha
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Story
Minnie TenEyck Rice
MacDowell, Marsha
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Story
Ada Miller
MacDowell, Marsha
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Story
Agnes Lovering Metcalf
MacDowell, Marsha
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Story
Women's Relief Corps, Grand Army of th...
MacDowell, Marsha
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Ephemera
The Ladies Aid of Hope Lutheran Church...
Ballard, Debra
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Essay
Odawa Floral Star Quilts in Michigan
MacDowell, Marsha
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Collection
North American Indian and Native Hawai...
MacDowell, Marsha
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