Native American Quilts from the Southwest

A brilliant selection of Native American quilts was displayed at the 2025 Modern Quilt Guild show.* From a collection at Michigan State University, their bold colors and graphic designs feel like a precursor to many of the elements we see in modern quilts today.  

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Black Foot Boy's Shirt Quilt (1983) by Margaret Wood (Navajo & Seminole) quilted by Una Jarvis 

These stunning wall hangings by Margaret Wood were inspired by a Blackfeet boy's shirt made circa 1870. It's a wonderful color study with dark and lighter blues contrasting with yellow-orange. 

Blackfeet Color Study #2: Navy/Turquoise by Margaret Wood (Phoenix, Arizona) 

Even more minimalist, the navy/turquoise center of this quilt is a counterpoint to the Seminole-inspired border. So many precursors of modern quilting can be seen here. The center also reminds us of Amish bar quilts which are beautiful in their simplicity.

Image credits: Quilts are from a collection at Michigan State University. Photos were taken at the 2025 QuiltCon show in Phoenix, Arizona.

Modern Quilt Month: Minimalist Design! (2)

Minimalism refers to a design approach that emphasizes simplicity, clean lines, and a restrained aesthetic. Within the Modern Quilt Guild, it has its own category for shows! We're honoring modern quilts for the month of July, starting with minimalist designs.

p.s. Check out our E-Bay shop for great bargains on craft jewelry, patterns, and collectibles!
For continuous free quilt patterns, please visit us on Twitter.    

Klee for a Day, 37" square, by Karen Duling (Michigan) @karenbduling

Paul Klee's inspiring work "Fire in the Evening" influenced the use of color and line in this quilt.  Karen Duling explains, "My version started by sewing together a long-held collection of medium and dark value strips.  Strips were arranged using lessons learned by studying Klee's work.  Textile artist Rosalie Dace opened my eyes to Klee's work in her virtual class "The Thinking Eye." Klee for a Day is machine quilted in a grid using silk thread, adding subtle texture to the minimalist design.

Off Kilter by Margo Yang (California) @Quiltmagic

  

This quilt with its creative use of reclaimed materials and its minimalist design conveys a heartfelt message: "Distractions in life happen, They can throw your world into chaos. That's when you hold on to things that anchor you, be it faith in God, family, and friends. These distractions will be but a short while and then life goes on and everything will be okay at the end. This quilt is made of old denim, garment top and painter's drop cloth as background. It reminds me that life is not perfect but beautiful." For more about Off Kilter see this post by Margo Yang.

 

Extreme Dopamine by Jenn Burt (North Carolina) @jenngeorgeburt  

Dopamine is a chemical messenger that works in the brain and is associated with pleasurable reward and motivation. This quilt is titled "Extreme Dopamine" because of the way the artist felt about creating this piece: "It was joy-inducing from the design process to the color scheme selection, to the embracing of a newly-found love of piecing inset organic shapes, to the time devoted to hand quilting." 

We found our eyes moving from the subtle curves and contrasts in the background, to the intense colors and quilting within the circles, shown below.

Image credits: Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2025 QuiltCon show in Phoenix, Arizona.

Modern Quilt Month: Minimalist Design! (1)

Minimalism refers to a design approach that emphasizes simplicity, clean lines, and a restrained aesthetic. Within the Modern Quilt Guild, it has its own category for shows! We're honoring modern quilts for the month of July, starting with minimalist designs.

p.s. Check out our E-Bay shop for great bargains on craft jewelry, patterns, and collectibles!
For continuous free quilt patterns, please visit us on Twitter.    

Imaginary Places V: Dreaming in Calm by Carolina Oneto @carolina_oneto (Brazil), quilted by Veronica Dacal 

This quilt serves as a peaceful shelter, reflecting the subtle harmony of nature. Each stitch invites calmness and contemplation, providing a momentary escape from our fast-paced complex world, thus allowing us to reconnect with the serenity that resides within. 

Carolina Oneto explains, "In Imaginary Places V: Dreaming in Calm, I explore the tranquility of imaginary landscapes.  With a muted color palette, soft greens depict a serene lake, while gray gradations over the mountains create a soothing atmosphere. 

 Park Modern by Robert Lowe @rbtlowedesigns (New Mexico), quilted by Tisha Cavanaugh

Beautiful smooth lines and strong contrasts distinguish this architecture-inspired quilt. Robert Lowe explains, "Although the architecture this piece was influenced by is reminiscent of the Guggenheim Museum, a landmark work of 20th-century design by Frank Lloyd Wright, it is instead from just after that time period, and by different architects.  The building was designed for Macy's Queens Plaza department store in Queens, New York by Skidmore Owings & Merrill and this is only its parking structure."

Vacation Rental by AnnMarie Cowley (Oregon) @runandsew 

This fascinating quilt exhibits the clean lines and precision that characterize minimalist designs.  The piece was inspired by modern architecture, but not by any specific building! As AnnMarie Cowley explains, "Using AI to generate a mid-century modern summertime theme, I used an inset circle for the sun and created a paper piecing template on giant paper.  It's quilted with my signature seer-sucker quilting (on a longarm machine)." 

 Image credits: Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2025 QuiltCon show in Phoenix, Arizona.