Lectures & Trunk Shows

Lectures & Trunk Shows
A museum educator brings a show of quilts and tailors the program of your choice to suit the needs of your group.
Fee: $180 plus mileage (Hosting organizations outside the Denver Metro area will be asked to provide mileage and lodging for the speaker.)

Become an RMQM Guild Member
$180 fee waived per guild membership, pay only lodging & travel expenses.


Crazy Quilts: The Pride of Victorian Womanhood
Victorian women liked to show off their handwork skills and they did that by making crazy quilts. Unlike the previous generation—women who made quilts for warmth and utility—Victorians made quilts that only had to be beautiful. As women of leisure, they had time to study art and fancy needlework, and they used this new quilt style to demonstrate their skills.  Learn about symbolism and the language of flowers contained in most crazy quilts. Several great examples of Crazy Quilts are shown in the museum’s Educational Collection.

Quilt Care and Restoration
Learn about caring for antique quilts from grandmas or your own not-so-antiques. The presenter guides you step-by-step through proper care and cleaning of quilts and textiles. Understand storage practices and find out how to creatively and effectively display quilts in your home.

Quilts of the 1930s: The Depression Era
Insight into the revival of quiltmaking during tough times. Women bought inexpensive, cheerful prints, and they saved, traded, and used every scrap. Rural women used feed sacks that were printed with pretty designs which were company marketing tools. Learn about fabrics and prints and how to recognize a 1930's quilt. Get up close and personal with 30 quilts from the museum’s Education Collection. Presentation is 45 minutes to an hour and is suitable for quilt guilds, history classes, and other organizations.

Red & White Quilts
Red & White Quilts - Who hasn’t been captivated by the eye-catching beauty of a red-and-white quilt?
These stunning quilts can be a simple design of a patchwork quilt or the intricate design of a Mariner’s Compass.
Red and white quilts run the gamut of time from the early 1800s to contemporary studio art quilts.
RMQM brings you a wonderful collection of red-and-white quilts in a PowerPoint presentation as well as hands-on quilts for all to view and touch.

Signature Quilts: Precious Memories
Friendship quilts brought precious memories to their recipients. There were many varieties of signature quilts, those made for friends traveling to faraway places and quilts made for weddings, births, deaths, and fundraising purposes. Quilt historians look to these quilts as personal histories with beautiful stories. Learn research techniques and how to enjoy the past through signature quilts.

Sunbonnet Sue - Love Her or Hate Her
Sunbonnet Sue's roots began in the late 1800s and she evolved well into the 1900s. Along the way, she found a friend Overall Bill and the pair have been a favorite of many a quilter throughout the years.

NEW in 2025! 
Blue & White Quilts 
Two color quilts are always fun to see - they keep your eyes moving and enjoying the contrasts. But with Quilts there is always more to the story than just the color contrast. Learn fun facts and stories behind the quilts in our education collection that have become part of this Trunk Show. Get insight into our ancestors - who they were, the challenges in their lives, and the importance quilt patterns hold. Enjoy touching these bits of connections to generations past whose stitches and care we relate to and admire. Bookings open for after March 2025

Quilts of America Through Time 
The story of quilts and quilting in America is pretty amazing! This show looks at that history with an eye on the artistic aspects. Did you know quilts were some of the primary decor setters through American History? We think of ART QUILTS as new - but their history goes back a bit further than you think! This show is great to help business groups and general public appreciate these lovely items of comfort - and their impact on life in the US through the years. Bookings open for August 2025 and beyond.


For more information or to schedule a show, contact the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum office at 303-215-9001, Monday–Thursday 9:30 am–4:00 pm, or email us at RMQM@RMQM.org.