Ren Riley African American Quilt collection

Cotton work pants quilt/double sided 1

GA.  1940's  (64x76)

Multi-toned red stars

EastTX. 1930-1940'S  (60x82

House Top

​AL.  1940-1950's  (64x72)

Triangles in changing pattern

So Il 1970's (64x80)

Strip quilt contained in stacks of squares

​AL.  1910-1920's  (65x74)

Cross quilt

​MO.  1930-1940's  (66x74)

Contained strip quilt/pattern variation within

​AL>  1940's  (65x86)

Strip quilt Al. (61x72) wools

Giant Log Cabin Wilcox county Al. (66x74)

Improv pattern of triangles

​TN.  1930's  (66x78)

Strip quilt /dividers/triangles within

​So IL.  1940's  (63x74)

Strip quilt

​AL.  1930-1940's  (65x70)

Bold Expressions is a book of many of the quilts in my collection and was produced by the Mingei Museum after a show of the quilts

available from Amazon or Mingei and Bellevue Museums

House Top variation

​TN. 1940's  (80x66)

​African American quilts have absorbed the interest of the collectors and the public eye that responds to the Arts. They go way beyond the traditional pattern set construction of what was thought of as a desirable quilt. These quilts speak to people in a way that a modern painting would if you came across it in a museum. They don’t usually keep a set pattern going unless it was a pattern cut freehand. This is what makes them interesting and full of surprises. You might get really bored with a pattern that is the same through out, likeing  to wall paper or some other decorative background. These quilts rarely seem boring, they usually will have much movement in them to keep the viewers interest.  There were 140 quilts in my collection that were collected over 35 years. Many of the quilts are now in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian , the High and the Mingei Museums .    There are 50 more of these quilts in my collection that need to be placed.

Double sided abstract strip quilt

​East TX.  (74x64)

Strip quilt /bars

East TX.  1940's  (68x78)