What makes the art of quilting so special? Find out with an afternoon of programs about this beloved craft and the artists keeping the tradition alive. Learn about Amish, Native American and African American quilting traditions, quilts created in response to important historical moments and the rise of the “art quilt” in contemporary art. Also enjoy classic episodes from Lap Quilting with Georgia Bonesteel, which helped teach and popularize this artform beginning in the 1970s.
Explore more below for our TV schedule and films streaming now on the PBS App.
12 PM The Great American Quilt Revival
1 PM Craft in America: Quilting
2 PM The Quiltmakers of Gee's Bend
3 PM Craft in America: Threads
4 PM Lap Quilting with Georgia Bonesteel: Quilt Nation '89
4:30 PM Lap Quilting with Georgia Bonesteel: Patchwork in Paducah
5 PM Lap Quilting with Georgia Bonesteel: North Carolina Quilt Symposium
This programming block will also air Monday, 3/20, 12-5 PM on the North Carolina Channel.
Starting in 1978, Georgia Bonesteel helped teach and popularize quilting through this long-running series. Produced by PBS North Carolina and filmed throughout North Carolina, the United States and across the world, the series highlights the art, craft and creativity of quiltmaking.
Season 1 of Lap Quilting with Georgia Bonesteel is now streaming online & on the free PBS App.
Georgia visits the Museum of the American Quilters Society in the heart of the country.
Learn about contemporary quilters from diverse traditions as we celebrate the important role quilts have played in our country’s story. Featuring Susan Hudson, Victoria Findlay Wolfe, Michael A. Cummings, Judith Content, the International Quilt Museum, and special guest Ken Burns.
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Filmmaker Ken Burns has collected quilts since the 1970s. Unlike his films, Burns has not publicly shared his collection until 2018 when he allowed the International Quilt Study Center and Museum in Lincoln, Nebraska to host exhibit a small selection of them. Nebraska Public Medias talks with the filmmaker to learn why he chose to share his quilts and why he chose Nebraska.
Quiltmakers of Gee's Bend explores the extraordinary lives, inspirations, and history of these artists, and also follows them on a poignant and sometimes very comical bus journey to see their quilts exhibited at The Milwaukee Art Museum.
Explore the needle arts including weaving, storytelling through quilts and textiles that speak to the creativity of the human spirit. Featuring fiber artists Terese Agnew, Randall Darwall, Faith Ringgold, Consuelo Jimenez Underwood.
In a time when books are banned and discussions around race are curtailed, Karen Hinton Robinson takes on the responsibility of teaching Black history beyond the institution. In this mother-daughter interview, the historian and skilled quilter explains how her craft is used to supplement education by creating quilts that document the important figures of Black history, missing in Texas schools.
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The act of making quilts has long been a survival skill, an art and a communication tool. Through this meaningful art, Black quilters have been sharing their stories even as many have tried to minimize or omit Black Americans' contributions to U.S. history.
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