California Heritage Quilt Project - CHQP

04/25/2026

We are excited to share that the 1st 10 quilts documented in Sacramento on February 27th, 1985 Quilt Days, have been entered into the Quilt Index. We have been working hard to get the photos and paper records digitized. Check out the website at www.chqp.org

https://quiltindex.org/results/?search=quilts&qproject=California%20Heritage%20Quilt%20Project,%20Phase%201%20Records

Along with our outreach & talking about documentation using the Quilt Index, we have finished digitizing all the CHQP "Quilt Days" records!    For more information, see our "What we are doing now" page.

01/11/2026

Come see us at Road to California January 21-24th! We’ll be in the Atrium!

Along with our outreach & talking about documentation using the Quilt Index, we have finished digitizing all the CHQP "Quilt Days" records! For more information, see our "What we are doing now" page.

12/17/2025

Check out the California Heritage Quilt Project under Collections! We have a few museums entered, and a few guilds working on their guild entries!

Need assistance and you’re in California, we are here to help, contact us through our website at www.chqp.org

At this time of year it’s traditional to look back at 2025 and celebrate accomplishments. I’m happy to say there are many. This year we reached the 100,000 quilts milestone! This was done with the addition of new projects (welcome Delaware and America Quilts 250! History Project), new museums (Colonial Williamsburg, Union County (PA) Historical Society, etc.), individuals using our Submit A Quilt page, and projects who continue to add more quilts (IL, WI, MN, MI, etc.). The Story section continues to grow with audio and video interviews from Minnesota, Michigan, and the Black Diaspora Quilt History Project. The ephemera section has added Bertha Stenge correspondence from the Illinois State Museum, articles and updated research about the 1933 Century of Progress Sears Quilt Contest, Blanket Statements from the American Quilt Study Group, and the start of Barbara Brackman’s Quilt Detective Digital Newsletters. New additions coming in 2026 are >7600 quilts from the Georgia Quilt Project, new quilts from the Museum of Texas Tech University, completion of the Quilt Detective Digital Newsletters (and other Brackman initiatives), identifying and documenting quilts that celebrate America in the America Quilts 250! History Project, and piloting our new Guild pages. Challenges include finding and digitizing records from the remaining state quilt projects, encouraging users to add their quilts and collections, and keeping the site up to date. This year we have seen a surge of bots invading our site. If you have experienced slow downs on the QI, you’ve met our bots. Maintaining a site like the QI requires constant vigilance from our programmers who not only monitor unwanted activity but strive to keep up with the rapid advancement of internet technology. The Quilt Index could not grow and exist without you. If you have any information on documentation projects and where their records are located, have a guild you’d like to see in our pilot project, work at a museum or historical society who would like to add their collection, or want to add your own collection of quilts and/or ephemera, just contact me at Beth, [email protected]. To keep our site updated and sustainable we welcome donations, https://quiltindex.org/donate/. Thank you for being a member of the Quilt Index community and we wish you a Happy Holiday season. I look forward to hearing from you. https://quiltindex.org/

08/22/2025

Shelly was one of the people our original CHQP people consulted with when starting our state’s project in 1983!

This is a wonderful article honoring her legacy in the quilt documentation world!

We are honored that The New York Times has recognized the extraordinary life and vision of our founder, Shelly Zegart.

Shelly’s work redefined how the world understands quilts—transforming them into recognized works of art and history. Through initiatives like the Kentucky Quilt Project, the Quilt Index, and her PBS series Why Quilts Matter, she reshaped cultural narratives nationally and globally.

As founder of Kentucky to the World, she carried this same spirit into elevating Kentucky’s storytellers, changemakers, and innovators, proving the power of narrative to shape economic and cultural futures.

We are proud to see Shelly’s legacy honored on such a prominent stage, and we remain committed to advancing the mission she so passionately built.

Read the feature here: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/21/arts/shelly-zegart-dead.html?unlocked_article_code=1.f08.DaM2.GM4HyR-j6uRH&smid=url-share

03/28/2025

The San Francisco Quilters Guild is having their show today and tomorrow at the St Mary’s Cathedral in San Francisco. Link in the comments for more information.

There will be a display of the Buds and Leaves made by Rosina Widman, from the collection of Linda Breitbarth. Documented at the 1985, Nov 6th San Francisco Quilt Day, it was that days’ winner of being the most historic, it’s found on page 53 & 54 of Ho for California! Pioneer Women and their Quilts. Written by Jean Ray Laury & the California Heritage Quilt Project.

This quilt and many of the paper records from CHQPs quilt days are becoming available as we work with LACMA to digitize them, contact CHQP for more information at [email protected] or check us out at

Along with our outreach & talking about documentation using the Quilt Index, we are starting to digitize the original CHQP Quilt Days records, archived at Los Angeles County Museum of Art. We are seeking donations to support this effort as we move forward. For more information, see our "What w...

01/28/2025

Thanks you Mona and Alma from the Piece Corp Quilters for helping in the CHQP booth at Road to California!

01/28/2025

Thanks Michelle for helping support CHQP at Road to California this last week!

01/21/2025

If you're attending Road to California this week, come by our booth and say hi!

We will be in the Atrium!

12/03/2024

Giving Tuesday comes around every year to give us the opportunity to give generously to non-profit organizations. Please think about the California Heritage Quilt Project - CHQP and its work to preserve a part of women’s history and quilting. You can use the donate button on www.chqp.org or mail a check to our PO Box 241, Jurupa Valley, CA 91752.

All you quilters out there, please share!

Along with our outreach & talking about documentation using the Quilt Index, we are starting to digitize the original CHQP Quilt Days records, archived at Los Angeles County Museum of Art. We are seeking donations to support this effort as we move forward. For more information, see our "What w...

10/05/2024

If you're in Santa Barbara this weekend, come check out the Coastal Quilters of Santa Barbara & Goleta's awesome quilt show! www.chqp.org is here!