Modern Quilts with Historical Roots in the English Countryside by Deborah McGuire.

Post Graduate Quilt Researcher

Quilt Magazine Columnist

Longarm Quilter

Modern Traditionalist Quilter

The history of emotions. I love a wander around an old graveyard, and they don’t come more scenic than the one on historic Lindesfarne, overlooking the ruined abbey with the headland castle in the background. Despite the lockdown easing, everywhere is still quiet and so we had the place to ourselves, just waves crashing, seagulls and rooks cawing and the stones. Tragic stories of lost babies and children, shipwrecked husbands and sons, Victorian midwives, pillars of the community, the modest and the aggrandising, all human emotion is spelled out in a graveyard. Mapping a history of the emotions of the past is a fascinating journey, a quilt or embroidery can sometimes be seen as a soft memorial stone, memorialising loss in text, more accessible than hard stone, sometimes more durable in a weathered spot. Some textiles reproduce the words of a headstone to mourn a loss, some headstones use verses common to needlework, the intimacy of emotional communication is a privilege to study. Particularly poignant today. #lindesfarne #northumberland #northumberlandcoast #postgraduate #emotionshistory #gravestones #quilthistorian #memorial #remembermeforgetmenotquilt I can never resist a beautiful door. #northumberland #springsunshine #sunnyday #gingham #fairisle Gave my #hawickquilt #lilliesleafquilt a little trip out into the Scottish border country for its #homecomingquiltpicture yesterday. That blue sky lured us back to the sparkling seaside though so it didn’t get all the way home to Hawick, maybe next time. Holiday stitches. This year I’m on a voyage of discovery back into the emotional lives of quilt makers in the past and I’m completely immersed. To balance out the all-consuming book study of daily life as a post graduate student I’m making my own quilt to reflect what I’m studying. I’m calling it my #remembermeforgetmenotquilt . This quilt is borrowing styles, motifs and ideas from the quilts I am studying to create a modern take on an emotional legacy quilt. Making a quilt like this involves linking the past to the future. What defines you, what would you want your loved ones to remember of you? I’m making a quilt that tries to address that huge topic in stitch, that references our shared quilt history and helps to carry the link of English vernacular quilt history forward. What would a quilt historian learn about your identity from the quilts you make? It’s such a fascinating angle to look at your own work through. Lots to think about as I sew. Making Things is a Good Life. Isn’t that the truth? One of my favourite things is to rootle about in antique and old book shops looking for holiday treasure. Loved the @thetimes2 article today by @annagmurphy about this years fashion #quiltcoat passion. As quilt makers we’ve long understood the emotional power of cloth and the beguiling nature of things made by hand. Lots of appliqué planned this week. It’s the perfect holiday sewing (along with sewing hexis and other paper pieced shapes) as it’s small to pack and portable to work on wherever you find a sunny space to be. Slow stitching, my #remembermeforgetmenotquilt vintage linen washed to softness, silky Liberty tana lawn, chintz, old quilts made new, late afternoon light, tired legs after a long walk, lambs baa in the field beyond, some warmth in the sun, as close to perfect as a day can be. As soon as the shutters came up we ran away to the glorious seaside #endoflockdown #bamburghcastle #northumberland