History of Boxes Under the Bed ™Project

The Alliance for American Quilts embarked in 1996 on a program to promote awareness of the value of quilt ephemera. Through "Boxes Under the Bed™" workshops, persons interested in recording information about the history of quilting in America learned methods for documenting "quilt paper" and for recording oral histories with the owners.

This website's information is designed to reach a much wider audience. With the heightened interest in quilt history and quilt documentation at the end of the 20th century, our understanding of the development of quilting history in America is clearer than it was 30 years ago. Much of that information has come from collectors and quiltmakers who have studied a wide range of quilt ephemera. Their published books, articles, and indexes are readily available in bookstores and libraries. However, many aspects of quilting remain under-studied. Information about some of these can be found in the bits and pieces of "quilt ephemera" that thoughtful quiltmakers have hidden away for safekeeping.

"Quilt ephemera," also known as "quilt stuff" or "quilt paper," is often found tucked in a dark closet or in a box under the bed. To the quiltmakers, it was just too good to throw away. To quilt historians, these resources taken together form an important archive for:

• Pattern identification and dating
• Quilt pattern designers and companies
• Prizewinning quilts and quiltmakers
• Quilt kit identification
• Activities of quilting groups