Bedding

Quilts

The collection has approximately eighty quilts, quilt tops, and fragments dating from circa 1800 to 2006. It includes examples of piece work, white work, crazy quilt, and strip quilt techniques. Quilt patterns include Sunburst, Log Cabin, Rose of Sharon, God’s Eye, Trip Around the World, Whig Rose, Subtle Star, Charleston Beauty, Flower Basket, Flying Geese, Mosaic, and others. 

Quilts with historical associations include one made for President Zachary Taylor, one used by the Marquis de Lafayette, several associated with the 1884–1885 World’s Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition held in New Orleans, and a log cabin quilt made by an enslaved woman. Several quilts are associated with plantations such as Melrose, Roberta Grove, and Williams. There are two quilts made of Louisiana Acadian cottonade fabrics, two made by renowned self-taught Louisiana artist Clementine Hunter, and several made by master contemporary Louisiana quilters. 

Recent additions to the quilt collection include several quilts inspired by Hurricane Katrina.

Coverlets/Bedspreads

Artifacts in this category exhibit a full range of techniques used to make and decorate bed coverings in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The Museum has coverlets and bedspreads that were woven, pieced, crocheted, knitted, embroidered, and appliquéd.

Blankets, Sheets, Pillowcases, and Mosquito Netting

The collection contains an assortment of materials used to dress beds. Many of these items are from wedding trousseaux. The dates of these objects range from the 1840s to the 1930s.