Mark My Words: Textiles and Text

Throughout history, quiltmakers have found creative ways to incorporate words into their work—recording names, commemorating milestones, expressing faith, sharing humor, preserving family histories, and advocating for causes they believed in.

Join renowned quilt historian, author, and collector Julie Silber for an engaging illustrated lecture exploring the fascinating relationship between textiles and text. Using remarkable nineteenth- and twentieth-century quilts from her extensive research and collections, Silber reveals the ingenious ways quiltmakers have stitched messages, memories, and meaning into fabric.

Julie Silber is one of America's foremost quilt experts. She is the former curator of the legendary Esprit Quilt Collection, has spent more than five decades buying, selling, researching, and interpreting historic quilts, and is the co-author of the acclaimed books Hearts and Hands: Women, Quilts and American Society and Amish: The Art of the Quilt.

Presented in conjunction with the Petaluma Museum's exhibition, The Fabric of Democracy: Quilts and the Power of the People, this program offers a deeper look at how quilts have served as powerful tools for storytelling, communication, and community across generations.

Whether you're a quilter, history enthusiast, or simply curious about the stories hidden in cloth, you'll leave with a new appreciation for the remarkable language of quilts.