Quilts

Civil War Quilt, made by Susan Robb for her stepson William Henry Robb who served in the Confederate Military, circa 1860. Gift of the Estate of T. J. Robb

With more than 350 examples, the Museum of Texas Tech University holds one of the largest quilt collections of any university. The quilts range from an 1810 trapuntoed white work quilt made in Spartanburg County, SC to 21st-century art quilts made in Texas. Examples of almost every type of American quilt are found in the collection from early chintz quilts to friendship quilts.

One of the most important pieces in the entire museum is the Susan Robb quilt, shown at right. Made for her stepson, Susan's quilt is one of the few to survive that represents the southern point of view during the Civil War. She used her quilt to state her political conviction that the south would win the conflict. The lower right-hand portion of the center block of the quilt features a pelican, a symbol of the south, knocking an eagle, a symbol of the north, off the pedestal.

Recent additions to the collection have included a beautiful Poppy quilt made from a kit by Ethel Abernathy, pieces from Jackie Reis who founded ACCU-PATTERNS, a quilt pattern company in Lubbock, an extensive group of quilts made by and collected by West Texas quilt teacher Linda Fisher and important art quilts by fiber artist Ellie Kreneck. An important signature quilt made by the women of the Iglesia Baptist Bautista Templo, Lubbock Texas in 1988 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the National Women's Missionary Union of the Baptist Church is just one of the Museum's seven inscribed quilts.

The exhibition "Legacy of a Thousand Stitches; Quilts of the Museum of Texas Tech University," which was mounted at the museum in 2016 showcased almost 50 quilts which were featured along with another 50 in the exhibition catalog that accompanied the exhibit. At least four quilts are included at each Come and See program held four times throughout the academic year.