After releasing a collection of jazz ballads in Cole considered a second album of musical standards, but felt that the political climate in the United States warranted new material.

[1] She wanted this album to display more diversity in style and genre than her jazz release and spent time during the COVID-19 pandemic finalizing the album, including doing research on songs and American folk art, such as quilts.

[2] Cole expressed that she still desires writing new music, but also wanted to continue exploring Americana after recording American Quilt, including the musical heritage from her father, a polka musician.

[1][3] The editors of AllMusic Guide scored American Quilt 3.5 out of five stars, with reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine noting the challenges of balancing all of the musical influences into one coherent musical statement, summing up that "it's just enough to be fresh yet familiar, the slight left turns indeed drawing attention to commonalities instead of differences".

[4] Several editions of American Quilt have been released with slightly varying track listing among the following tracks: "You Don’t Know What Love Is" "God’s Gonna Cut You Down" "Wayfaring Stranger" "Shenandoah" "Black Mountain Blues" "Good Morning Heartache" "Nobody Knows You (When You’re Down and Out)" "Bye Bye Blackbird" "Steal Away" / "Hidden In Plain Sight" "What a Wonderful World" Technical personnel