The Central Virginia Modern Quilt Guild (CVAMQG) presents a timely exhibition of modern quilts at Richmond Main Library’s Atruim Gallery and Gellman Gallery from September 4 through November 3, 2026. The exhibition, titled “Censorship: Stitched Narratives of Modern Quilters,” explores censorship as interpreted by our members.

This exhibition explores censorship— what is hidden, erased, softened, or forbidden— and the many ways people respond to it. Quilts, a medium historically tied to storytelling and quiet protest, become a place to examine who gets to speak, what is allowed to be seen, and what disappears when voices are controlled. Some works confront banned books, redacted histories, and silenced communities. Others look at self-censorship: the things we swallow, soften, or edit before they ever reach the world. Through cloth , pattern, and layered imagery, the artists insist on being read. Together, they ask a simple but complicated question: What happens when the thread is cut—and who ties it back together.

The exhibition also includes the Forbidden Words Quilt Project led by Lorraine Woodruff-Long and Patrisha Hickey. It is a community quilt project launched in August 2025 and completed in 2026 with contributions from 195 quilters from all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, as well as 5 countries. Two members from the Central Virginia Modern Quilt Guild made words and phrases for this quilt. The quilt features 384 words and phrases identified by PENAmerica.org that are among the growing list of words being scrubbed from government websites and documents and flagged for review by federal agencies.

One of our members, who asks to remain anonymous, created the work, “Banned but never erased,” with members of our guild who quilted the piece with her during sewing circles. The quilt explores government censorship of words in a global health organization’s websites and communications such as “reproductive health” and “family planning.” Our member said, “The evidence and impact of these public health approaches are written on the hearts of every health professional who has helped implement them and every community around the world that benefited from them.” She concluded, “They might be banned but never erased.”

Follow these links to learn more about the Central Virginia Modern Quilt Guild and the Modern Quilt Guild.