The Cottage Orné Quilt

The Cottage Orné Quilt
Click the picture to visit my other blog

Thursday 1 August 2013

Visiting the Quilt Museum in York

So long between posts, I have been under the weather and haven't been feeling up to posting, now trying to catch up with news.

Two weeks ago I  visited the Guild Quilt Museum in York, which has been open for a few years but this was my first long overdue visit!   I enjoyed it very much indeed and loved the hall and current exhibition, but for several reasons, I am not sure when I will be visiting again. We, who live on the west side of the UK and can't face an arduous drive across country on unfamiliar motorways, have to budget for a long, expensive train ride and an overnight stay. 

York is very crowded with tourists, they throng the streets, shops and cafes.  This makes for a lovely, lively atmosphere but for those of us who remember the York of old, it's a bit of a culture shock and takes getting used to.  I am told that it's only the central narrow streets that get crowded but nevertheless I didn't enjoy the experience of mass tourism.  Perhaps I should have avoided the summer, but I particularly wanted to see the current exhibition which is called "The Blossoming of Patchwork" and here is the link that will tell you all about it!

It's a period of quilt history that I am extremely interested in, so I made the effort to travel to York and fortunately Bridget Long who co-curated, happened to be there on the day we visited and took us around the exhibits.  It also was an opportunity to deliver my Charles and Diana Wedding Quilt which is to be in the next exhibition beginning in September.

The quilts were early and worth studying here are some -

This is a rare early crib quilt and I was interested to see that it was a block quilt, well actually a two block quilt, one fairly simple block, four with stars and the other made up of tiny 1 cm squares, made around 1800.
Panels of crewel embroidery are incorporated into this quilt dated 1800-1820, surrounded by frames of high quality furnishing fabrics. Sorry about the quality of the picture, it's the best I can do!
The now famous and much copied Mrs. Billings Coverlet. It's dated 1785 - 1805 and it was a thrill to see the original!
This coverlet has the date 1811 and S. Challans embroidered between the petals of the central flower.  It is made of printed dress cotton and furnishing fabrics and is mainly applique rather than piecing.
This is called the Sidmouth Quilt, not sure why but probably it was discovered in that Devon town.  It is dated 1800-1830. 

9 comments:

Jan said...

All of these are so wonderful; how lucky to see them in person! Thanks; loved seeing them.

Rose said...

I Love the quilt museum in York. I was there earlier in the year for the last exhibition and am hoping to get to this one too. BTW am a newish quilter, based in Manchester, UK and have enjoyed discovering your blog.

regan said...

Thank you for sharing these lovely quilts with us! They're all so beautiful! I'm in love with that crib quilt!

Every Stitch said...

The quilts are just beautiful ! I think I would have found the journey and the crowds worth seeing these - hope you did too! I especially love the one with panels of embroidery - such a soft and pretty quilt but with interesting fabrics in the border strips. Thanks for posting
Hilda

Phyllis said...

Thanks for showing, love to see these, great quilts!

Kel said...

Beautiful quilts,thank you for showing them to us :)

Sue said...

I still haven't ever managed a trip to the Museum in York. Like you it's just not a quick day trip for me either but the quilts look like it was well worth the effort.
Hope you feeling a bit more on top form soon.

Cathy at Potterjotter said...

It is quite ridiculous that I have not got around to visiting this museum as I come from Yorkshire and my brother actually lives in York! You have made me want to go even more than ever now! Lovely photos. Thanks for sharing. xCathy

Deborah said...

I just found your blog and I LOVE it. Your photos are beautiful!!