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.