Today's Quilter - UK (2020-05)

TEXTILE HISTORY l q u ilt s o n v i e w

TEXTILETREASURETRAILS

Inthisfeature,wehavebeenabletohighlightonlya fewoftheplaceswhereyoucanseeheritagequiltsintheUK,butwehave

suggestedsomeothervenuesyoumightliketoinvestigateinthelistbelow,thoughthisis notexhaustive.It’salsoworthcheckingout

nearbymuseumsandstatelyhomesastheymighthavesomewonderfultextileandquilttreasuresintheircollectionstoo,whichmay

haveinterestinglocalconnections.

Butbeawarethathistoricobjectsareregularlyheldinstoreratherthanbeingoutondisplay,andthatitemsareoftenrotated,so

it’swisetofindoutwhata venueis currentlyshowingbeforesettingoffonyourtravels.If thereis a particularquiltyouwouldliketo

seeandit is presentlyinstorage,youmightbeabletoarrangeanappointmentwiththerelevantcuratortoviewit,thoughthiswould

havetobedonewellinadvanceofyourvisit.Museumsareincreasinglykeentowidenpublicaccess to their collections and many

now have excellent online databases which you can peruse from the comfort of your own home.

NATIONALMUSEUMOF SCOTLAND

Edinburgh,Scotland

http://www.nms.ac.uk

03001236789

STFAGANSNATIONALMUSEUM OF HISTORY

Cardiff,SouthWales

http://www.museum.wales/stfagans

03001112333

THEBOWESMUSEUM

BarnardCastle,CountyDurham

http://www.thebowesmuseum.org.uk

01833 690 606

AMERICAN MUSEUM & GARDENS,

CLAVERTON MANOR, BATH

© American Museum & Gardens

T

heAmericanMuseum& Gardensis theonly

museumof Americandecorativeandfolk

artoutsidetheUnitedStates.It wasfoundedin

1961 w it ht heai mof showcasi ngA mer ica nh istor y

andculturetopeopleinBritainandEurope.Its

remarkablecollectionof furnitureandfurnishings

is presentedina seriesof PeriodRoomsinthe

nineteenth-centurymanorhouse,creatinga

senseof howAmericanfamilieslivedduringthe

last 300 years.Textilesareanimportantfeature

of thecollection,whichincludesquilts,woven

coverlets,Navajoweavingsandhookedrugs.The

quiltcollectioncomprisesover 250 piecesandis

consideredtobethefinestof itstypeinEurope

andtheequalof manycollectionsintheUnited

States.Examplesrangefromtheeighteenthto

mid-twentiethcenturiesand,ona rotatingbasis,

over 50 quiltsarealwaysonviewinthemuseum’s

TextileRoom– otherquiltsaredisplayed

throughoutthePeriodRoomsandintheFolkArt

gallery.Themuseumalsohostsexhibitions,which

sometimesfeaturequiltsfromitsownandother

collections.Themuseumis openfrommid-March

untiltheendof October,andyouwillfinddetails

of openinghoursandotherinformation about

visiting on the museum’s website.

http://www.americanmuseum.org

BethlehemQuilt,c.1835Bethlehem,Pennsylvania.This

outstandingAmericanstarquiltexhibits well-coordinated

colours and beautifully neat piecing

THEMANOR

HemingfordGrey,Cambridgeshire

http://www.greenknowe.co.uk

01480463134

THEQUILTASSOCIATION

Llanidloes,WestWales

http://www.quilt.org.uk

01686413467

VICTORIAANDALBERTMUSEUM (V&A)

CromwellRoad,London

http://www.vam.ac.uk

02079 422 000