With the donation of the James Collection and establishment of the International Quilt Museum (then Study Center) in 1997, other quilt collectors began to consider the museum as a home for their treasures. Some of the earliest collections to arrive at the museum were the Robert and Helen Cargo Collection of African American Quilts (2000), the Sara Miller Collection of Amish Crib Quilts (2000), the Jonathan Holstein and Gail van der Hoof Collection (2003), and the Byron and Sara Rhodes Dillow Collection (2008). After moving into its brand new facility in 2008, the IQM became home to a diverse set of quilt collections, including: the Kathryn Berenson Collection of French Quilts (2008), Jean Ray Laury Collection (2010), Patricia Stoddard Collection of Ralli Quilts (2010 and 2016), Geeta Khandelwal Collection of Indian Quilts (2015), the Mountain Mist Collection (2015), the Joanna Rose Collection of Red and White Quilts (2021), and the Quilt National Collection (2019-present).

With these new collections, the IQM curatorial team has been able to create increasingly diverse exhibitions. Exhibitions that feature distinct groups of quilts have included: South Asian Seams: Quilts from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh (2009), Marseille: White Corded Quilting (2010), Favorites from the Dillow Collection (2015), Inside the Wrapper: The True Tales of the Mountain Mist Patterns (2016), Collecting and Recollecting: Contemporary Quilts in Western India (2019), Abstract Design in American Quilts at 50 (2021), The Joanna S. Rose Red and White Collection (2022), and Common Threads: Album Quilts of Ohio's Miami Valley (2023).