The Museum ocated in Lowell, Massachusetts, the heart of America’s nineteenth-century textile industry, was founded in 1980 by the New England Quilter’s Guild (NEQG). Themuseum had temporary homes in several locations until 1993, when an 1845 landmark savings bank building in downtown Lowell was purchased for its use. Themuseum’s mission is to preserve, interpret, and celebrate American quilting, past and present, and it offers traveling exhibitions of contemporary, traditional, and antiquequilts. Its own collection comprises some 150 quilts, representing all eras of quilt history. Through its holdings, exhibitions, programs, and technical assistance services,the museum serves as a resource for quilters, collectors, researchers, and a variety of quilt enthusiasts. Classes, lectures, and workshops supplement exhibits and serveto educate the general public in the art, history, making, and care of quilts. A reference library of books, periodicals, patterns, and slides is also available for research.The museum is a private, non-profit corporation supported by membership dues, admission fees, store sales, and private donations, as well as gifts and grants from public and private institutions, including the Lowell Cultural Council, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, The Stevens Foundation, and The Theodore Edson Parker Foundation. The NEQG now functions as the museum’s auxiliary, and sponsors a major quilt show every other year to benefit the museum.