For generations, hundreds of Mississippi women have stitched quilts, creating a rich body of folk art and enlivening the centuries-old tradition of quilting. The Mississippi Quilt Association embarked on a six-year project to document this significant craft heritage. Throughout the state, association members gathered heirloom quilts from families and from major collections. Of more than 1700 quilts examined, 140 were chosen for full-color photographs to represent the very best from the state. Co-published with the Association, Mississippi Quilts is a thorough examination of the state's quilting heritage before 1946, when synthetic fabrics and batting became widely available. The featured quilts, created from the early 1800s to 1946, are joined by archival black-and-white illustrations of selected quilt makers and by historical photos by Eudora Welty. From the beginning of the project, Welty, a Mississippi writer and photographer, a Pulitzer Prize winner, and a member of the Mississippi Quilt Association, served as Honorary Chair. Mississippi Quilts features five of Welty's photographs as chapter dividers, along with quilt-related quotations from her work. Most of the quilts featured are handmade. Each is described by pattern, date, maker, current owner, material specifications, and size. Quilts from such prominently known makers as Hystercine Rankin and Martha Skelton are handsomely presented alongside group works by family artisans of superb skill. The book contains 152 colo