Throughout the years, Kansas settlers marked their weddings or the birth of a child with one of the most functional works of art known — the quilt. Some are fabric masterpieces; others were made with scraps, flour sacks or whatever fabric was available, for the sole purpose of providing warmth.

Now a new quilt by members of the Central Kansas Thread-Benders Quilt Guild in Great Bend graces the Barton County Historical Society Museum. This commemorative piece celebrates the Kansas Sesquicentennial — 150 years of statehood — as the historical society kicks off its own year-long celebration.

Beverly Komarek, executive director of the museum, said quilts are an important part of Kansas history. "They needed quilts to survive."

The Dodge House, one of the buildings that make up the Barton County Historical Village on the museum grounds, has among its exhibits a wool quilt made out of men’s trousers. Other quilts are stored in the museum headquarters, where there is better climate control. What appears to be a mattress on an antique bed is actually a stack of quilts, each separated by a white cotton sheet.

"We’re trying to do the best preservation we know how," Komarek said, noting some of the quilts and quilt tops in the museum’s possession are as old as the state itself, and quite fragile. Storing the quilts in this way doesn’t allow for easy viewing, but is preferred to folding or hanging for preservation.

The easiest way for guests to view the collection is on a slide show. Information on when each quilt was made, by whom, and with what materials is provided, if known.

The Thread-Benders provided all of that information and more for the Sesquicentennial Quilt, making it the best-documented piece in the collection. The gift is important today, Komarek said. "Fifty years from now it will be a prize possession. It’s part of the history of Barton County," she told the quilt guild members, "and you’re in it."