According to the museum: Quilts evoke the protection of family even as they answer the practical need for warmth. Their compositions, both material and aesthetic, are in keeping with African-American rural styles that improvise with both pattern and materials to create great beauty from small means.

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Home to the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery and American Art Museum, the Old Patent Office was constructed in 1838-1867 and encompasses two city blocks. The museums reopened after a major renovation from 2000 to 2006.

Best to view in "Original" because other versions resized by Pbase are decidedly unsharp.

Closeup of ‘The Throne of the Third Heaven,’ posted earlier