LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A Louisville artist's quilt was accepted into the collection of the Obama Presidential Center.

Joe Mallard started to stitch "the Obama Tie Quilt" in 2008. The first quilt he ever stitched took five years to complete. It consists of thousands of tiny stitches and hand-tied knots.

According to a news release, Mallard started working on the quilt on June 18, 2008 and officially sent the quilt to the center on June 18, 2024. That was a day before his 81st birthday.

Mallard was a special guest at the Kentucky Quilts and Quiltmakers program at Frazier History Museum last January. He said his dream for the Obama Tie Quilt was to be accepted to the Obama Presidential Center. 

The Frazier History Museum helped Mallard navigate the process of having the quilt accepted. 

"The Obama Presidential Center Museum collects materials that help to tell the story of the nation’s forty-fourth President as that story is framed within the broader context of United States and global history," Dr. Crystal Moten, Curator of Collections and Exhibitions at the Obama Presidential Center Museum, said in a news release. "Sunshine Joe Mallard’s magnificent and intricately crafted Obama Tie Quilt allows the Museum to interpret this history in a creative and engaging way."

Mallard learned how to stitch from his great-great grandmother, Mandy Green, who was born into slavery. Mallard was a former civil rights activist. Mallard, who has lived in Louisville since 1973, also embroidered a shirt for President Jimmy Carter in the 1970s. 

Some of Mallard's work is on display at the National Quilt Museum in Paducah and the Frazier History Museum. 

Related Stories:

Copyright 2025 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.