The Cottage Orné Quilt

The Cottage Orné Quilt
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Sunday 18 September 2011

Lecture by Bridget Long

Bridget Long is an expert on old British quilts and she has recently curated an exhibition at the International Quilt Study Centre in Lincoln, Nebraska entitled "Elegant Geometry: American and English Mosaic Patchwork".

If you follow this link you will be able to read all about it and see the online exhibition of the quilts -
http://www.quiltstudy.org/exhibitions/online_exhibitions/mosaic/mosaic0.html  This link will also take you to the lecture Bridget gave at the Centre and I spent an enjoyable time watching it the other afternoon.

This is one of the quilts in the exhibition -


which I recognised as one sold at a Kerry Taylor auction here in the UK in 2006 for £1,700 plus premium.  We now know it's crossed the pond!

It has an embroidered centre made by Mary Staveley in East Yorkshire in 1833 when she was 12 years old.  Did she make the quilt or was her embroidery used later by someone else?  This was often done and  it would be interesting to know, because the patchwork is quite unsophisticated for 1833, which was only just outside the period 1780 - 1830 which experts believe to be the high point of British patchwork.

I must follow this up as I will probably have a chance to speak to Bridget at the next British Quilt Study Group Meeting next month, which is being held here in Wales. I am really looking forward to that and will report in due course.

Early British patchwork is very much on my mind at the moment as I deeply into to my "Cottage Orne Quilt" using patterns from 1797 and I have just updated my other blog of that name.  May I ask those of you who like and follow it to add it to your blog list as it may help it a bit.  It sadly hasn't taken off yet and being on blog lists would perhaps help? 



2 comments:

alibobbles said...

now following the new blog, look forward to seeing your progress.

Janet said...

I was lucky enough to attend this lecture in Lincoln Nebraska!