Today's Quilter - UK (2020-01)

81

OLD TRADITIONS l memory quilts

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Whatinspiredyou to make your first

memoryquilt?

A fewyearsago,I wasinvolvedin a BBC

Radio 4 MovingPicturesprogramme.Each

half-hourepisodewasdevotedto a single

artwork,andI wasoneof theinterviewees

fora storyabouttheV&A’sAnnWest

Coverlet– anearly19th-centurywool

patchworkandappliquépiecethatfeatures

tinyscenesof themaker’severydaylife*.

Twocenturieson,Instagramcangivea

similarwindowintousers’worlds,justas

carefullycuratedandcontrivedas Ann

West’stextilemasterpiece.Butwilldigital

recordssurvivebetterthantextiles?These

ideasinspiredPicturesof MyWorld(see

above)– somethingtangiblein cloththat

is fullof Instagram-esque clues about my

life.

Whatinfluences the things you record

ina quilt?

I stitchwhateverI amfeelingat thetime.

I havea youngfamilyandlivein the

Britishcountryside,andthisis reflectedin

thedomesticpictorialscenesin Pictures

of MyWorld(seeabove).InTheTextof

Childhood(seepage82),I havecaptured

familymemoriesthroughlanguage.It

wasmadein responseto TheQuilters’

Guild Museum Collection’s Edwin and

A

memoryquiltis simplya quilt

thatholdsspecialrecollections

foritsmakerand/orrecipient.

Thematerials,methodsanddesign

areallpersonalchoices, so whatever is

meaningfulgoes.

Oldclothingcanbea wonderfulway

to incorporatecherishedmemoriesinto

eventhemostbasicquilt.It’salsoa

lovelywayto createa tactilekeepsake

forsomeoneyouhavelost.Newfabric

canalsoportrayanessenceof important

timesandplaces,whileimagesprinted

directlyontofabricallowphotographs

to beaddedto a quiltas well,though

thesemayhavea limitedlifespan.

Applyinguniqueappliquédshapes

depictingyourhome,familyandpetsis

a straightforwardwayto adda further

layerof meaning.Symbols,suchas a

distinctiveemblemorsign,canalsobe

usedto representthearea in which you

liveorthejobyoudo.

Te x tc a na l s ob ee m p l o y e dt o

communicatemessagesthemaker

wishesto express.Thiscanbedone

throughoriginalprose,butanything

of personalsignificancecanbeused,

perhapsquotesfrombooksandpoems,

ora linefroma song.Themid-19th-

centuryEdwinandMaryBloomfield

CoverletfromTheQuilters’Guild

MuseumCollectionfeaturesreligious

text relating to the death of a child

(seeleft).Whilewetendto focuson

capturinghappytimes,thispoignant

coverletimmortalisesa tragiceventin

EdwinandMaryBloomfield’slives.But

as wellas commemoratingtheirloss,

it alsohopefullyprovidedthem with

solaceat sucha sadtime.

Whiletheyarenotmemoryquilts

perse,somedesignsareassociated

withparticularoccasions.The

AmericanMuseumandGardens’

mid-19th-centuryWoolAppliqué

Quiltfeaturesa variationof theRose

of Sharondesign(a stylisedappliquéd

rosepattern),whichis commonlyfound

onweddingquilts(seebelow).But,on

closerinspection,a crossona moundof

earthandananchorcanbeseenin the

bottomleft-handcornerof thequilt

(seeabove).Inclusionof t hese

unexpectedelementsintroducesa twist

to thestorythisquilttells,suggesting

thatratherthanmarkinga joyful

celebration,it couldindeed be a quilt

of remembrance.

So,whynotthinkabouthowyou

canpersonaliseyourquiltin yournext

project,leavingcluesaboutyourlifefor

future generations to ponder about.

Left,DetailfromWool

AppliquéQuilt(see

below)depictinga

crossandananchorto

representdeathand

hopeforeternal life

respectively

Right,WoolAppliquéQuilt,maker

unknown,1830–1840,USA.Thiswell-

usedandcharmingpiececontains

motifscommonlyfoundin bridal

quilts,suchastheRoseofSharon

centre,heartsandliliesofthevalley.

However,oncloserinspectiona cross

ona moundofearthandananchor

canbeseenin thebottomleft-hand

corner(seedetailabove),theformer

associatedwitha graveandthelatter

a symbolrepresentingthehopeof

eternallife.Soit couldbea quiltof

remembrance rather than joy

DEBMCGUIRE TELLS

USALL ABOUT

CAPTURINGHER

PRECIOUS MEMORIES

INFABRIC AND

STITCH

Above,PicturesofMyWorldbyDebMcGuire:

83insquare.InspiredbytheV&A’sAnnWest

Coverlet(seeFurtherinformation)andif

Instagrampostsweremadeoftextiles.Deb

hasdepictedscenesfromherfamilylifein

tiledsquares,eachwitha redheart‘like’;it’s

a waytopreserveprecious‘pictures’ofour

worlds in fabric rather than technology

PHOTOGRAPHY: ARTIST’S OWN IMAGES

PHOTOGRAPHY: COURTESY AND © AMERICAN MUSEUM AND GARDENS

PHOTOGRAPHY: COURTESY AND © AMERICAN MUSEUM AND GARDENS

*SEE

FURTHER

INFORMATION

FOR

MORE

DETAILS

ABOUT

THE

ANN

WEST

COVERLET AND THE BBC RADIO

4

MOVING PICTURES

PROGRAMME.