Columbia River Basin Quilt Project

The great Western movement of the nineteenth century began at the same time that the patchwork quilt reached its uniquely American form. We, at the White Bluffs Quilt Museum, believe that quilts are diaries that speak to us of change, history and family.

Because migration was the essence of Washington's settlement, the Washington Centennial Quilt project collected data on all pre-1970 quilts made or brought to Washington State. White Bluffs Quilt Museum is collaborating with the the Washington State Historical Society and the Quilt Index Project to serve as a repository for this data, making it available to educators, authors, researchers and to the public.

The Quilt Index Project is a partnership project of the Alliance for American Quilts, MATRIX, the Center for Humane Arts, Letters and Social Sciences Online at Michigan State University and the Michigan State University Museum. This resource represents years of planning, research and public access. The program is International.

In 2014, the Benton County Commissioners, through the Historical Promotion Grants Program funded White Bluffs for a pilot program. The Quilt Index pilot was very successful, and accomplished all of the goals set for 2014. It is our hope to continue this work in 2016 and 2017.

As of June, 2016, the White Bluffs Quilt Index project has assessed, cleaned, photographed, numbered, cataloged (on computer and paper), wrapped in tissue paper, boxed, labeled and shelved 60 quilts and 15 comforters. The spreadsheet has been sent to the Quilt Index and is being processed for publication. Our next step is to complete this same process with the backlog of quilts on hand and to open the process to the community. This program is an excellent example of restoration and preservation.

A 2015 grant from the Benton County Promotion Grants Program enabled White Bluffs to register with the Quilt Index and to complete the first phase of our work. Our 2017 goals are to continue this project.

2016 we were granted access to the Centennial Project Information and it is our goal to post this Centennial data to the International Quilt Index. Quilts posted to the Quilt Index must include photos of the quilt and provenance records. If you have a historic quilt, or a new quilt, you will be able to bring it to White Bluffs to be recorded and registered with the Quilt Index.