I saw an exhibit a couple years ago of quilts that a local women's group had done for cancer survivors: each quilt personalized to the survivor. Amazing stuff: I particularly liked the quilt that looked like a curling rink.

As for quilts as modern art: wasn't that settled decades ago? For example: Joyce Wieland, whose quilts are in art galleries:
http://www.cbc.ca/arts/photoessay/that60s-show/index.html