Patchwork & Quilting UK – August 2019

REGULAR // fi rst & last

78 British Patchwork & Quilting AUGUST 2019

I had been teaching patchwork and quilting for twelve years

by 2006 and was due to teach the Northern Lights block in the

Quick and Easy workshops at the Festival of Quilts that August.

We were on holiday in Wales and went to an exhibition at the

Quilt Association in Llanidloes. When I saw this quilt on the

sales table there, I just had to buy it to illustrate one of the

possible design layouts.

The fi rst antique quilt I ever owned, it was rather dirty, slightly

smelly (both better after a careful wash in the bathtub) and

is quite worn in places. It is a humble, everyday quilt rather

than a masterpiece and has a number of quirky features

that illustrate the sort of life the quilter might have led. For

example, there are a number of the red blocks on the top and

bottom rows which are smaller than the blue ones – can you

see where ‘fi ller’ pieces have been used to bring the blocks up

to size? Also, the quilting thread changes colour half way down

the quilt from yellow to red – she must have run out and been

unable to source (or aff ord) a match to the original colour.

This month Carolyn Gibbs tells us about her first and last antique quilts, and a few in between,

from her collection and how it has inspired her.

FIRST AND LAST

Carolyn Gibbs

I helped organise a quilt show in June 2007 and decided

to try to include some antique wholecloth quilts, as I had

realised through my teaching that many people had never

seen one. I remembered that a fellow Embroiderers' Guild

member had displayed a beautiful family one several years

earlier at an exhibition, so asked if we could include it. When

I was reluctantly returning it after our show, she mentioned

that as she had no children to pass it on to, she would be

happy to sell it to me if I was ever interested... So I persuaded

my husband to buy it for my Christmas present. The hand

quilting on it is exquisite.

The collecting really started turning into a regular habit a few

years after that when two things happened. Firstly, I started

what my husband referred to as a ‘proper job’ (teaching

Chemistry to International students) which meant that I had

far less time for sewing myself, but more money to spend.

Secondly, I discovered eBay and then online auctions. Oh, the

temptations......

‘Northern Lights’ Antique Quilt