Hand quilting a wool eighteenth century quilt in a flat frame.
Category: Quilts
Quilt Stories
Too Long a Winter Quilt
North country strippy quilt from before 1850. Antique British quilts made modern. Hand quilting.
The ‘Remember Me’ Quilt.
In the summer of 2017, I recorded a contribution to a radio programme called Moving Pictures which appeared on BBC Radio Four. That programme was exploring a quilt called The Ann West Coverlet which is in the V&A Museum. At two places on this huge and complex coverlet were the small words, embroidered over a… Continue reading The ‘Remember Me’ Quilt.
The Midsummer Harvest Quilt
I've always been in love with the artisan nature of quilt making. You see, when I call myself a quilter, I'm thinking about an old creaky frame, months of stitched toil by hand, sewing as a devotion. It's a mile away from the glossy marketing image of fast expensive sewing machines, jelly rolls and quilts… Continue reading The Midsummer Harvest Quilt
A Quilt Coat of Many Colours for My Girl
I'm missing my girl. She went off to university for the first time last week but before she went we spent the last few weekends working on this coat, or as I'm calling it, a talismanic maternal shield! This was a last minute commission so we shopped the stash at home, making up a simple… Continue reading A Quilt Coat of Many Colours for My Girl
Deconstructed Welsh Quilt
Quilt historians have postulated that the graphic modern shapes and rich woollen colours of antique Welsh quilts are the origin for the much vaunted modernist quilts that went on to be made by the American Amish. Certainly, non-conformist religious migrant communities are documented as having stopped off in South Wales to restock ships as they… Continue reading Deconstructed Welsh Quilt
My Lilliesleaf *Hawick* Quilt
When I first read the story of the Hawick quilter Janet Pow (1884-1962) the fact that jumped out at me was that she lived in a mill town, and she came from an extended family of textile workers. Of course, she was also a quilter. I was already fascinated by the quilts she helped to… Continue reading My Lilliesleaf *Hawick* Quilt
A Scant History of Patchwork & Quilting in The British Isles
A Scant History of Patchwork and Quilting in The British Isles.
The Hudson Quilt Coat
I made a quilt coat. I've always wanted one, for years and years, but finally the circles of fashion, need and time to make overlapped. Here in the UK we have been in a 4 week lockdown to suppress the second wave of Covid. In the first lockdown, I distracted myself from the fresh panic… Continue reading The Hudson Quilt Coat
Waste Not Want Not Quilt
At its heart, making a quilt feels like the ultimate textile tribute, taking fabric and remaking it into a new, beautiful, durable and superbly practical item. Quilts last a really long time, they are not a fast fashion item, they are passed through generations and cherished and mended. But, in a world where overconsumption is… Continue reading Waste Not Want Not Quilt
PlainStitch Deb 