If you've visited the online treasure trove known as the Quilt Index (www.quiltindex.org) recently, you may have noticed a new tab on the homepage. It says "Support Us."

A free resource since its launch in 2003, the Index was created for scholars, educators, quiltmakers, and quilt-lovers worldwide. Now, users and fans of the resource will be key to its future development through their direct support.

The Quilt Index zoom tool in action. "Portraits of South African Black Women of the Anti-Apartheid Movement" by Phina Nkosi, c2000. Collection of Michigan State University

The Index has grown rapidly and

currently displays more than 50,000

documented quilts from four centuries. The bulk of these quilts are owned by museums with major quilt collections or were discovered during state documentation projects. Whether these quilts went back into an attic or basement, or sit in a storage facility somewhere, the Index allows worldwide access for anyone and everyone to all the quilts' images and historical records at all times.

This high-tech triumph is run by several organizations in close partnership: Michigan State University Museum;  MATRIX: Center for Humane Arts, Letters and Social Sciences Online at Michigan State University; and the Alliance for American Quilts, based in Asheville, North Carolina.

In the early years, the money required to build, maintain, and expand this exemplary database came mostly from grants, particularly from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Institute of Museum and Library Services. These generous funders recognized the importance of such an effort and the vision and discipline with which it was managed. Grants were used over the years not just to add more and more quilts to the archive, but also to create new tech tools for zooming in for up-close examination, comparing many quilts side by side, and expanding search capabilities.

Michigan State University has pledged to continue to provide the server space for the Index so we can all celebrate that what has been built to date is protected. But beyond the start-up and development resources, the Quilt Index must now raise funds to keep advancing the site. An enterprising team at the Quilt Index will continue to apply for grants, however, at the same time, funding is harder than ever to secure. 

There are many ways that individuals can help the Index grow and flourish, and all funds will be tax-deductible. Any donation, however modest, will help sustain the Quilt Index, and demonstrate the breadth of its support to potential grantmakers.

Quilt made in the Badaling District, outside Beijing China. c1996. Collection of Michigan State University Museum.

What's next? The team has an ambitious vision for the Index that is built on the ongoing evaluation they conduct as well as on their research into new opportunities. This vision pushes the bounds into pioneering, new areas: building a quilts and health research project in tandem with health educators and practitioners; developing math and quilts resources for enhancing teaching and learning; and adding quilts from more than a dozen countries outside the United States to the database. As well as international expansion, the Quilt Index team is committed to inclusion of quilts from all 50 states.