Virtual Exhibit: Deeds Not Words: Celebrating 100 Years of Women’s Suffrage

Spring is showing itself here in Iowa. My garlic has popped up and there is GREEN grass in our yard. With Spring, we start to see more visitors to the museum and we are deep into the planning of our 2022 Madison County Airing of the Quilts.

We have three more Tuesdays@12 taking place in the next few weeks AND we’re about to change exhibits. There is always something taking place here at the Iowa Quilt Museum. So, if you don’t live close enough to visit us in person, make sure you’re following us on YouTube and watching our free online content.

For those of you within a couple of hours of us, we have TWO weeks remaining of the current exhibit so come visit us before this powerful exhibit moves on to its next museum.

Happy quilting,

Carissa Heckathorn, IQM Director


VIRTUAL EXHIBIT: Deeds Not Words: Celebrating 100 Years of Women’s Suffrage

Our current exhibit, Deeds Not Words: Celebrating 100 Years of Women’s Suffrage, comes to us from co-curators Dr. Sandra Sider, Curator of the Texas Quilt Museum, and Pamela Weeks, Binney Family Curator of the New England Quilt Museum.

This exhibit has toured the country for the past 2 years and landed in our gallery in January. It’s one of the last opportunities to see this touring exhibition of studio art quilts commemorating the one-hundredth anniversary of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, granting women the right to vote. Twenty-eight award-winning artists from across the United States accepted the invitation to create new works celebrating women’s suffrage, along with one artist whose 1995 quilt on the 1848 Declaration of Sentiments is included.

We know seeing this exhibit in person is the best way to view these works of art, but for those who can’t visit us in person, we do have a Virtual Exhibit available for $8, the same price as our admission to the museum. You can even forward or reverse the Virtual Exhibit and come back to it at a later date.


Virtual Quilt Events – Tuesdays@12

We’ve been having so much fun hearing from the artists featured in the Deeds Not Words: Celebrating 100 Years of Women’s Suffrage exhibit. If you’ve missed any, be sure to check them out on our YouTube channel and subscribe so you don’t miss future complimentary online content.

Iowa Quilt Museum YouTube Channel

Also make sure to register for our upcoming Tuesday@12:

The Many Women Who Fought For Our Rights – March 29, 2022 at 12 PM

We’ve been asked why we ask you to register. There are actually quite a few reasons. The most important is to minimize the risk of being hacked. Registration also gives us the opportunity to stay in touch with you regarding the event, just in case we need to cancel, so we can send you the one hour reminder emails. and send you the recording.


Our Favorite Quilting Books

March is National Reading Month as well as the month all of us quilters celebrate National Quilting Day. Which led us to create a blog post about favorite quilt books­—fiction or non-fiction. Now, as quilters and/or book lovers, you probably know how hard it is to choose JUST ONE book that is your favorite.  So even though we’ve focused on just one, please take note that we have quite a few more lined up right behind these ones.

What is your favorite quilting book? We might need to add it to our list of “books we need to read”.


Madison County Airing of the Quilts

Save the Date: June 1-4, 2022

It’s already time to plan for the Iowa Quilt Museum’s biggest fundraiser of the year—Airing of the Quilts 2022. Go grab your favorite beverage and take a seat because there’s a lot for us to tell you about this year’s largest quilt festival in Iowa.

  1. We’re expanding the dates of our event and adding classes and a retreat to the event. We’ll start on June 1 and offer three days of classes. Scott Flanagan will teach three classes and each day will focus on one of his quilt designs. We’ll also offer hand sewing classes and a color crayon embroidery class. Registration will begin really soon!
  2. Along with the classes we are offering a three-day retreat. We will provide a venue, pastry breakfast and lunch and all retreat registrants will receive discounts to classes taking place that week. Registration also includes tickets to Saturday’s Airing of the Quilts. Tony Jacobson and Joyce Franklin, from Piece Works Quilt Shop, will offer mini classes during retreat.
  3. Have some fun on the National Historic Winterset Square with our Quilt Scavenger Hunt. Find quilts we’ve placed in stores and venues around our town to win a great prize!
  4. Take in a movie in the beautifully restored Iowa Theater Thursday, June 2. The theater is showing “How To Make An American Quilt”. TOO MUCH FUN!
  5. Tony Jacobson, nationally known quilt designer and Creative Director for Piece Works Quilt Shop in Winterset, will be presenting his program Quilting: the Art of What If at the Covered Bridge Winery on Friday, June 3. Registration Coming Soon.
  6. We’re working hard to secure quilts for our Saturday Airing of the Quilts and will announce those in the near future.

There is so much taking place June 1-4 and we’re really excited to offer you an unforgettable quilt festival and introduce you to our charming town and county, or reintroduce you if you’ve been here before. Break in those walking shoes for a fun four days of Iowa quilting fun.

Check back to this page to stay up to date on our registration and events.


In addition to keeping you up-to-date on all of the happenings here at the IQM, we also use our Iowa QuiltScape messages to share quilt-related news and events happening across our great state. Check it out!


Heartland Fiberpalooza

March 26, 2022 – 9AM to 4 PM

Get your yarn and fiber fix at this fun, one day event in Winterset! There will be vendors selling hand dyed and handspun yarn, spinning fibers, finished items, notions, bags and all things needful for your habit! Classes and demonstrations all day. $3.00 per person. Event by Heartland Fiber Co. Winterset Middle School


QUILT AMANA 2022
April 1-3 at Price Creek Event Center, Amana Iowa.
Friday & Saturday 9-5:30, Sunday 10-3.

An eclectic display of breathtaking quilts, including nationally recognized award winning pieces will be on display.
Over 150 Quilts For Sale – This will include heirloom quilts as well as quilts for everyday use, baby quilts, art quilts , wall hangings & more!
Fabric Rep Swatch Sale
NEW EVENT – “Found” Quilt Exhibition
Art Quilt Exhibit with one of a kind pieces to purchase from local artist and award winning quilter Sue Kluber.
Amana Quilting Exhibit 
Handcrafted Hardwood Quilt Displays by Schanz Furniture


14th Biennial New Hope Charity Quilt Auction

April 9, 2022 – 2PM to 9PM

This event brings in area artists and the beautiful quilts they’ve created, as well as New Hope donors and supporters. An afternoon quilt viewing is open from 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. Social hour and auction previews begin at 4:30 with dinner served at 5:30 and the auction immediately following. Tickets may be purchased in advance for either the afternoon viewing or the evening auction event. Started in 1996, the event is held every-other-year. Quilt donations are received from across Iowa, South Dakota and Minnesota. In 2017, nearly 150 quilts and silent auction items were collected. Many of the items are auctioned by volunteer auctioneers, with some gift baskets and non-quilt items being sold by silent auction.. New Hope, founded in 1977, is a Carroll County, Iowa, based non-profit organization that supports nearly 200 individuals with disabilities.

Call Angie Owen at 712-794-0917 to purchase tickets. Tickets are $25 per person.


Thank you for reading Iowa QuiltScape.
Please share us with a friend!

Iowa QuiltScape is a feature of the Iowa Quilt Museum’s periodical e-newsletter, and will highlight quilting events happening all around the state. The goal of Iowa QuiltScape is to provide a central place for Iowa quilting organizations to share upcoming events and help quilters and quilt lovers across Iowa reach a broader audience.

If you have an event you would like to share via Iowa QuiltScape, send your information to
Museum Director Carissa Heckathorn: director@iowaquiltmuseum.org.

If you’re reading this but it didn’t come to your inbox, use the Email Signup form on the top of this page to make sure you’re on the list and don’t miss out on any Iowa QuiltScape news!

2 Responses

  1. Patricia Steckman
    | Reply

    Can’t wait for details on “Airing of the Quilts”. Hoping all works out so I can participate in many of the events and classes.

    • Carissa Heckathorn
      | Reply

      That’d be wonderful! Fingers crossed. All classes will be June 1-3 and the actual Airing of Quilts on Saturday, June 4. We’re going to have tickets and details out in a week or two!

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