50 Quilt Quotes to Bring Warmth to Your Life

By Norbert Juma

Master quote curator and editor on a mission to inspire

Published July 14, 2023

Quilt quotes are famous among people of all ages.

This is because we all have many childhood memories associated with quilts, primarily related to “Bedtime Stories.”

We have created this list of quotes to help you find your favorite.

Apart from our quotes section, we also discuss key aspects of quilts.

If interested, please continue reading!

A Brief Introduction to Quilt

A quilt is a kind of bed covering usually made of three layers.

These include:

A fabric layer at the top
Middle layer containing thick and warm filling
Fabric layer at the bottom

A quilt is complete when all these three layers are stitched together.

Typically, quilting involves a wide array of design patterns.

Quilts are created by either machine or hand.

Due to their intricate design and comfort, quilts have been popular among civilizations for centuries.

Types of Quilts

Whole Cloth Quilts
Art Quilt
Patchwork Quilts

Whole Cloth Quilts

These types of quilts are simple yet look elegant and offer the required amount of comfort and warmth.

Whole cloth quilts are made with a single piece of cloth and don’t involve any kind of patchwork.

To ensure durability and comfort, whole cloth quilts are made with high-quality fabrics such as:

Cotton Sateen
Silk
Satin

In addition, unique quilting techniques like “Trapunto” are also used while making these quilts.

This technique involves using extra padding to give a three-dimensional look to the quilt.

Art Quilt

This type of quilting style is relatively different from traditional quilting techniques.

Art quilts are made with varying types of art forms on them.

This is done to add some aesthetics to the quilts.

The types of art used vary depending on the customer’s requirements.

For instance, it could involve various art styles, from abstract to realistic.

Depending on their style, art quilts are generally classified as under:

Abstract
Improvisational
Collage
Landscape
Nature
Portraits

Patchwork Quilts

Patchwork quilts are by far the most well-known and popular type of quilting.

These quilts are made by stitching together various pieces of fabrics that are different in their design and color combination.

The patches could be smaller or larger depending on the design requirement.

There is a wide array of available options when it comes to using geometric patterns.

For instance, you can use rectangles, triangles, or squares.

The most popular and widely used design patterns include:

Log Cabin
Nine Patch
Irish Chain

Conventionally, patchwork quilting involves the use of cotton fabric.

However, at present, quilters are experimenting with a wide range of materials like silk, wool, recycled textiles, etc.

Top 10 Quilt Quotes

Let’s check out the top 10 quilt quotes to perk yourself up.

1. “Grandma Grace used to tell Gracie, ‘Every quilt has a story.’” — Cherie Dargan

2. “The whole quilt is much more important than any single square.” — Rohinton Mistry

3. “Lying on a feather mattress or quilt will not bring you renown.” — Leonardo da Vinci

4. “Sometimes, a girl just has to dive under the duvet and regroup.” — Jody Gehrman

5. “I think I’m one of the patches of the quilt here, myself and Dwyane.” — Shaquille O’Neal

6. “It’s all a quilt of fairy tales with a patch here and there of truth.” — Laini Taylor

7. “For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness.” — Barack Obama

8. “Three years later, my mother held Steven John in the quilt for the first time.” — Patricia Polacco

9. “The radical right is so homophobic that they’re blaming global warming on the AIDS quilt.” — Dennis Miller

10. “Every time I start a new piece of work, I spend a long while under the duvet thinking I can’t do it.” — Sue Townsend

Quilt Quotes by Patricia Polacco

The best quilt quotes from Patricia Polacco’s book “Keeping Quilt.”

11. “She had grown very old and was sick a lot of the time. The quilt kept her legs warm.” — Patricia Polacco

12. “Again the quilt became a wedding huppa, this time for Carle’s wedding to Grandpa George.” — Patricia Polacco

13. “The quilt welcomed me, Patricia, into the world, and it was the tablecloth for my first birthday party.” — Patricia Polacco

14. “The quilt was a pretend cape when I was in the bullring, or sometimes a tent in the steaming Amazon jungle.” — Patricia Polacco

15. “When Mary Ellen left home, she took the quilt with her. When she became a bride, the quilt became her huppa.” — Patricia Polacco

16. “When my Grandma Carle was born, Anna wrapped her daughter in the quilt to welcome her warmly into the world.” — Patricia Polacco

17. “We will make a quilt to help us remember home; it will be like having the family in back home Russia dance around us at night.” — Patricia Polacco

18. “Just like their mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother before them, they, too, use the quilt to celebrate birthdays and make superhero capes.” — Patricia Polacco

19. “On Friday night, Anna’s mother would say the praters that started with Sabbath. The family ate challah and chicken soup. The quilt was a tablecloth.” — Patricia Polacco

20. “Carle and George moved to a farm in Michigan, and Great-Gramma Anna came to live with them. The quilt once again wrapped a new little girl, Mary Ellen.” — Patricia Polacco

Quilt Quotes about Patchwork

Patchwork quilting is a tradition that is about much more than just making quilts. The most challenging and visually appealing patchwork quilts are discussed in these quilt quotes.

21. “Much like a patchwork quilt, the inspiration that stirs and motivates me is made of many things.” — Robert Reynolds

22. “My life is like a patchwork quilt of wisdom, prayers, hope, and faith mixed with miracles along the way.” — Paulette L. Motzko

23. “Use a make-up table with everything close at hand and don’t rush; otherwise, you’ll look like a patchwork quilt.” — Lucille Ball

24. “We stitch together quilts of meaning to keep us warm and safe, with whatever patches of beauty and utility we have on hand.” — Anne Lamott

25. “You know, I’m really starting to think the whole world is just a patchwork quilt of crazy little cults, all with their own secret spaces, their own records, their own rules.” — Robin Sloan

26. “The lives of most men are patchwork quilts. Or, at best, one matching outfit with a closet and laundry bag full of incongruous accumulations. A lifetime of training for just ten seconds.” — Jesse Owens

27. “So there are cakes and pillows and colors galore, but underneath this more obvious patchwork quilt are places like a quiet room where you can go and hold someone’s hand and not have to say anything.” — Alice Sebold

28. “America is not like a blanket-one piece of unbroken cloth, the same color, the same texture, the same size. America is more like quilt-many patches, many pieces, many colors, many sizes, all woven and held together by a common thread.” — Jesse Jackson

29. “A fine memoir is to a fine novel as a well-wrought blanket is to a fancifully embroidered patchwork quilt. The memoir, a logical creation, dissects and dignifies reality. Fiction, wholly extravagant, magnifies it and gives it moral shape. Fiction has no practical purpose. Fiction, after all, is art.” — Julia Glass

30. “In 1956, when I began doing theoretical physics, the study of elementary particles was like a patchwork quilt. Electrodynamics, weak interactions, and strong interactions were clearly separate disciplines, separately taught and separately studied. There was no coherent theory that described them all.” — Sheldon Lee Glashow

Quilt Quotes about Quilters & Quilting

Throughout the world, people of all ages enjoy the creative craft of quilting. The following quotes focus on the art of quilting and the quilters who create it.

31. “Nobody starts out a perfect quilter.” — Sandra Dallas

32. “If men can quilt and take over the kitchen, then women can pick up a wrench and fix a leaky pipe.” — Hanna Rosin

33. “When your quilting up a life, you sometimes got to start with any piece you can get your hands on.” — Jonathan Odell

34. “I like to do interior design, I love to quilt, I love to see different colors together, and I love to match things up.” — Mary J. Blige

35. “One thing I know for sure; there are no rules in quilting. And if you think there are, then it’s time you try breaking a few.” — Dana Bolyard

36. “My mom, the fabulous Bertie Kinsey, is an amazing seamstress. She quilts and sews and is so crafty. We call her the Southern Martha Stewart!” — Angela Kinsey

37. “Really, I don’t dislike cooking, but what you cook is eaten so quickly. When you quilt, you have something that will last to show for your efforts.” — Elizabeth Travis Johnson

38. “People who assume my books are only about quilts obviously haven’t read them! I’ve always known that my books are about quilters – in other words, people – rather than quilts or quilting.” — Jennifer Chiaverini

39. “To me, the beauty of a quilt or a dress lies within the stitches and the thought of the person who made them. When you spend time making something with your two hands, you impart love in a way that buying never can.” — Natalie

40. “Any fool can make a quilt; and after we had made a couple of dozen over twenty years ago, we quit the business with a conviction that nobody but a fool would spend so much time in cutting bits of dry goods into yet small bits and sewing them together again, just for the sake of making believe that they were busy at practical work.” — Abigail Scott Duniway

Quilt Quotes on Love, Home, and Life’s Tapestry

This collection of quilt quotes is a gateway to a particular way of thinking, creative process, and artistic vision.

41. “Sewing small pieces together gives me a peaceful heart and a quilt to wrap you with, my love.” — Benita Skinner

42. “In winter, when I put a quilt over myself, its shadows on the wall seem to sway like an elephant.” — Ismat Chugtai

43. “Hometown is like my quilts. Sometimes when you are in sweet dreams, you don’t feel it’s comfortable.” — Yao Ming

44. “I can remember when pants were pants. You wore them for twenty years; then you cut them down for pan scrubs. Or quilts.” — Victoria Wood

45. “I wondered vaguely if this was when it would end, whether I would pull up tonight’s darkness like a quilt and be dead and at peace evermore.” — William Manchester

46. “Paintings, people really don’t understand. They don’t really get paintings. Quilts they do understand because everybody has a quilt in their house.” — Faith Ringgold

47. “If each person in this world will simply take a small piece of this huge thing, this amazing quilt, and work it regardless of the color of the yarn, we will have harmony on this planet.” — Cicely Tyson

48. “After all, a woman didn’t leave much behind in the world to show she’d been there. Even the children she bore and raised got their father’s name. But her quilts, now that was something she could pass on.” — Sandra Dallas

49. “She went to the not-quite-antique stores…and found an old bed quilt, blue and white, with stitches made by a hand she didn’t know but trusted all the same, and laid it against the black metal bedstead.” — Erica Bauermeister

50. “The eldest ones said that the laughter and tears are sewn right into the quilt, part and parcel, stitch by stitch. Emotions, experiences, heartbreak, mourning, pain and regret are stitched into the cloth, along with happiness, satisfaction, cheer, comfort, and love. The finished quilts were a living thing, a reflection of the spirits of its creators.” — Arlene Stafford-Wilson