VALPARAISO | Kevin Pazour never considered himself a "quilt guy" until a burgundy quilt composed of hundreds of intricate silk pieces arrived at his doorstep.

"It is the most incredible quilt I have ever seen in my life," Pazour said. "It's old and it's still in great condition."

Pazour, executive director of the Porter County Museum, received the quilt as a temporary loan from Valparaiso resident Marjorie Herron -- whose grandmother stitched the piece in the 1880s. The quilt, along with 17 others found throughout the museum, will be on display to the public at 1 p.m. on Saturday at the museum, 153 Franklin St.

The String A Long Quilt Guild also will give an interactive presentation about the history of each piece in the collection.

"All the quilts will be on display and (the guild) is going to talk about them," Pazour said. "These women are energetic, crazy, and they love what they do. They make a presentation that is absolutely enjoyable."

The String A Long Quilt Guild, an organization based out of Chesterton that specializes in historic quilts and textiles, will arrive at the museum early Saturday morning to begin cleaning and documenting each piece so the quilts can be stored and archived properly.

"We're going to vacuum them and document them as best we can," said Mary Persyn, a member of the String A Long Quilt Guild. "That includes measuring the quilt, writing down the design of the quilt and how it was made and anything else unusual about it."

Anyone may bring in their own quilts as well to have them assessed by the guild.

"We decided this was a good time to open up to the public so that they can see the work we're doing to save the artifacts and to make them more accessible so that we can teach people about them," said Lucie Whitlow, executive chair of the Porter County Museum advisory board. "(The guild) will be talking about the textiles to inform people about what we've got and maybe about what they've got. It's great when we can connect with experts in the area."

Saturday's display will also include a quilt that contains a campaign ribbon from when William Jennings Bryan ran for president.

"There are a lot of really interesting quilts," Persyn said. "Some of them aren't in the best shape, but there are great historical aspects to them."