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Patricia Belyea of Okan Arts got a chance to see some pretty remarkable quilts collected by Bill Volckening. Currently his collection numbers 450, with quilts from the 18th century to the 21st century. Click on See the Quilts to learn more about the collection and to see more quilts.

Want to see more of Bill's quilts in person? His exhibit, "Off the Grid" is currently at the International Quilt Study Center & Museum at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln. The exhibit will be there through August 27, 2017. Bill writes about the exhibit:

The first 1970s quilt I bought reminded me of my childhood, especially summers spent at the community pool. As I accumulated more quilts—many made from polyester double-knit fabrics—the critics had plenty to say. People would actually make faces when I talked about polyester quilts. I didn’t care. I was enthralled. When I started bringing the quilts to show-and-tell with the local quilt guild, they were better appreciated. Part of that was generational—the group had a sense of Modern art, and the quilts’ aesthetic prompted a certain nostalgia in people who had come of age in the 1970s.

The quilts were inexpensive and the collection grew quickly. Today, it includes more than 150 quilts that represent a pivotal period in the history of American quiltmaking. My role as a collector is to get people looking, which, of course, is an easy job with such eye-popping, jaw-dropping quilts.

Bill’s blog, Wonkyworld, details the thrill of the collecting hunt.