Forbidden Words Quilt

2026,  Repurposed shirting, Machine appliquéd, pieced and quilted. 108″ x 104″

The Forbidden Words Quilt, led by Lorraine Woodruff-Long and Patricia Hickey, 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 D.C. and 5 countries. 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.

As artists we are alarmed by the chilling effect that prohibitions on language, ideas and research are having on our country. Despite lip service to “freedom of speech and ending federal censorship” we have seen government overreach in threats, intimidation and stifling the First Amendment. In response, we created a community quilt to serve as an artistic outlet to express our collective anger and frustration around the silencing of speech, language and ideas and create greater awareness to encourage action and resistance for both makers and viewers.