Wild by Design: Two Hundred Years of Innovation and Artistry in American Quilts

Wild by Design explores the American tradition of freewheeling, improvisational, often asymmetrical quilts, whose makers experimented boldly with design, color, and pictorial motifs. It examines both the aesthetics and the social history of quilts from the early nineteenth century to the present, including Amish, African American, and modern art quilts.

From the state fair to the clothesline, women have sought ways to exhibit the beauty and optical effects of their quilts. The "quilting frol...