The quilt museum, located in downtown Lowell, is observing its 25th anniversary.
The New England Quilt Museum in Lowell.
LOWELL—Quilts are more than blankets under which to snuggle on a cold autumn or winter night; they can be works of art.
“Today, quilters create a vast array of work technically called ‘quilts’ that will never see a bed,” says Connie Barlow, executive director of the New England Quilt Museum.
Defined as two layers of fabric with one layer of batting stitched together by hand or by machine, quilts have long been ways to show off handiwork and a creative eye.
“Antique quilts were one of the few forms of artistic expression for women 150-200 years ago,” said Barlow, who has a long-time interest in quilt history. Quilts were a household necessity often taken from the realm of the functional to the realm of the beautiful. “It was an artistic outlet for women,” she said.
Many quilters today began in other artistic media, and others carry on a family tradition. “There is a tactile quality to fabric that is very appealing,” Barlow said.
The New England Quilt Museum is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. It’s not just for quilters, Barlow emphasized: Persons interested in handcrafts, fiber art, women’s history and folk art will find it of interest too.
The museum is located in historic downtown Lowell in what was once the Lowell Institution for Savings, built by master craftsman Josiah Peabody in 1845 in the classic Greek Revival Style. The building features an unusual rhomboidal footprint, with curved corners and an ornate wrought iron balcony along two sides.
Lowell is the historic center of the American textile industry and the site of the first urban national park celebrating textile history.
The museum’s permanent collection includes some 400 antique and contemporary quilts and tops and numerous related textile and sewing items representing the history of American quilt making. The permanent collection ranges from whole cloth quilts made in the late 18th century to contemporary quilts made by art quilters. A selection of quilts from the permanent collection is displayed in the Donahue Permanent Collection Gallery, study storage displays and period rooms.
Today the 18,000-square-foot museum includes exhibition galleries, a library and resource center, classrooms and a museum store.
Classes, workshops, a book group, backstage tours of current exhibits for members, lectures and children’s story hours are among the activities at the museum.