Hopi Quilting: Stitched Traditions from an Ancient Community

For centuries, Hopi men grew cotton and wove the fibers into blankets and clothing. In the 1880s, with the arrival of Anglo missionaries and government officials, quilting was introduced to the Hopi people and it quickly became integrated into Hopi culture and ceremony with quilts being used in every Hopi household. Hopis today are 4^th and 5^th generation quiltmakers and as the artistic traditions of two cultures are blended, it is not uncommon to see a quilt with a traditional Anglo pattern and an ancient Hopi image, such as a kachina or a clan motif. This presentation includes a trunk show of Hopi quilts.

Carolyn O’Bagy Davis, a fourth-generation descendant of Utah pioneers, is the author of thirteen books on archaeology, quilting, and the history of the Southwest. Her book Hopi Summer was selected as OneBookArizona for 2011, and Desert Trader was named one of the Best Books of the Southwest 2012. She was the founding president of the Tucson Quilters Guild and Old Pueblo Archaeology Center and is an inducted member of the Arizona Quilters Hall of Fame and the Society of Women Geographers. Davis has appeared on HGTV, PBS, and Lifetime programs, and has curated many traveling museum exhibitions.