The quilt that inspires quilters all over the world will be on its yearly display[....].  Brought to the museum 60 years ago, the Jane Stickle Quilt is only shown for a short time each year due to the fragility of the fabric.  Quilters from around the country, and world, plan trips to the region during that time to see the 1863 quilt.  The Jane Stickle Quilt is comprised of 169 five-inch blocks, each in different patterns, containing a remarkable total of 5,602 pieces surrounded by a unique scalloped border.  The craftsmanship of the quilt has been mentioned in numerous quilting books, and is the topic of Dear Jane, The Two Hundred Twenty-Five Patterns from the 1863 Jane A. Stickle Quilt, by Brenda Papadakis.  

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website.

Whether or not you go, Dear Jane: the Two Hundred Twenty-five Patterns from the 1863 Jane A. Stickle Quilt is for quilt lovers and Civil War buffs alike. It contains all of the 225 patterns of the historic Jane Stickle 1863 quilt as well as a series of letters to Jane about life and times in the nineteenth century, with emphasis on the Civil War and the women's movement. Among the patterns and letters you will find a dozen quilts from the 1990's, all inspired by Jane's supreme example of quilt-making artistry in 1863.

Dear Jane: the Two Hundred Twenty-five Patterns from the 1863 Jane A. Stickle Quilt