UK Quilters
I collect antique quilts, mostly from EBay, and some of them arrive showing plenty of evidence of a hard life. If they are in good condition structurally, but very dirty, I usually wash them. People often ask me how I do this, so I though that I would share the process with you. Basically, I…
Wholecloth quilts have no patchwork – they just rely on the beauty of their elaborate quilting patterns. There are several included in the current exhibition of North Country Quilts at the Bowes Museum in County Durham, which I would thoroughly recommend if you can arrange to go in the remaining months of 2021. The quilt…
The North Country Quilts exhibition at the Bowes Museum on until January 2022 contains some wonderful examples of typical British styles. In the last post, I wrote about the Strippy Quilts. Today the topic is the Patchwork Quilts. I’m going to start with a coverlet made by a 14 year old girl, Isabella Peacock in…
A couple of weeks ago I read on the UKQU Social Group Facebook page a message regarding an auction which was happening in which there were some old sewing machines. It was said they rarely reach more than £10 or so each. Well, it would have been rude not to have a look. I went…
Historically, much of what we think of as “traditional patchwork” has its origins in the USA. Their “block” style is not really found in British patchwork quilts apart from a few designs such as the basket, which became popular in late Victorian times. This example comes from Cumbria. It was only with the American inspired…
Have you ever seen a wholecloth quilt? A surprising number of “quilters” today don’t know what this is, and even fewer have made one. The UK has a wonderful tradition of quilts which contain no patchwork at all, but just rely on the texture created on a single fabric by hand quilting the entire design.…
