The International Quilt Museum's state of the art facility opened in 2008. The museum was built using private funding received through the University of Nebraska Foundation, including a lead gift from the James family. More than 130 quilt guilds and quilt organizations in three other countries provided gifts for the building's construction. Robert A.M. Stern Architects of New York, with Alley Poyner Macchietto Architecture of Omaha, were selected out of more than 120 firms to design the building.