The American Folk Art Museum mourns the passing of editor, author, collector, and quiltmaker, Maggi Gordon.

Mrs. Gordon’s interest in the needle arts started during her childhood in the American south. She began collecting quilts while living in Britain in the 1980s. Fascinated by the innumerable design possibilities in quilts, her particular passion for red and white quilts came to beautiful fruition with Infinite Variety: Three Centuries of Red and White Quilts. Along with esteemed collector Joanna Rose, AFAM’s President, Elizabeth V. Warren, and AFAM Curator, Stacy C. Hollander, Mrs. Gordon worked on the exhibition and co-authored the immensely popular book that accompanied it. The exhibition, organized by AFAM in 2011, dramatically transformed the Park Avenue Armory’s historic 55,000-square-foot Wade Thompson Drill Hall with the installation of 650 red and white American quilts, all of which were on loan from the collection of Joanna S. Rose. It was the largest exhibition of quilts ever held in New York City.

In addition to Infinite Variety, Mrs. Gordon authored some 11 books on the subject of quilt history and quilting techniques and gave numerous lectures and talks on both subjects. 

The Museum’s staff and board extend its sympathies to Mrs. Gordon’s husband, David, a Museum Trustee from 2011 to 2020, and their family.