Patchwork & Quilting UK – August 2019

REGULAR // patchwork & quilting news

6 British Patchwork & Quilting AUGUST 2019

NEWS & VIEWS

All the latest trends and ideas

Do you have Patchwork and Quilting news, maybe some views you would like to share or a charity quilt

that you or your group has made? Then, do get in touch - email [email protected].

Forty - The Evolution of a Collection

The Quilters’ Guild is celebrating its Ruby Anniversary with the launch of a commemorative book ‘Forty - The Evolution of a

Collection’ at this year’s Festival of Quilts. It features forty objects from The Quilters’ Guild Collection that show the breadth and

variety of quilting in Britain over the last four decades following the Early Years: 1979 - 1989; A Growing Collection: 1990 - 1999;

Finding a Permanent Home: 2000 - 2009 and A Museum and Beyond: 2010 - 2019. This retrospective view of the Collection

highlights an eclectic and exciting group of objects including textile treasures such as the '1718 Silk Patchwork Coverlet' and

the 'Billings Coverlet' (1805-1810), to lesser known items such as a mosaic patchwork ‘huswif’ made in 1856 for the storage of

sewing equipment and a 1920s tea cosy made from cigarette silks.

‘Deciding on which items should feature in the book was a diffi cult and daunting task. We could easily have chosen any item

in the Collection to represent our collecting activity over the last forty years. Everything is important for diff erent reasons,

each as equally valid as the next’, commented Curator Heather Audin. The book captures the changing emphasis on the quilt

as a domestic, utilitarian object to a medium for artistic expression featuring pieces from contemporary quilt makers Pauline

Burbidge, Michelle Walker, Jo Budd and Diana Harrison. Samples from the Guild’s fi rst honorary member, Averil Colby, one of

the early practitioners and historical researchers of patchwork and quilting, bear out her ‘make do and mend’ ethos, while The

Nineties Collection marks the birth of contemporary quilting which embraced new technology, innovative textile techniques

and an emphasis on original design. Through its exploration of the Collection the book highlights signifi cant events in the

Guild’s history, from its earliest inception and founder members to the organisation as it stands today, and it also examines

how our ideas of what needs to be collected to represent our craft to future generations has evolved over time. It begins with

the acquisition of 'The House Blocks Quilt' made by members of The Quilt Circle, many of whom became members of The Guild

when it was formed in 1979, and fi nishes with Sarah Hibbert’s modern quilt entitled ‘Refl ections’. Many of the featured quilts

will be on display at The Festival of Quilts at a dedicated gallery entitled ‘Forty – Celebrating Four Decades’.

Both the book (£12) and an exclusive Ruby Anniversary gift collection will be unveiled at The Festival of Quilts, available to

purchase at the Festival and through the Guild’s website http://www.quiltersquild.org.uk

Tea Cosy made from

cigarette silks, Quilters’

Guild of the British Isles