Pink Welsh Wholecloth Quilt

I am still working my way through the star quilt measurements and hope to finish this soon and let you know the results. Here is another Welsh quilt for you to look at, some nice stitching here. This quilt has no provenance but the dealer thought it was from South or West Wales, circa 1900. It was not bought from an individual but from an auction.

Both sides are of plain pink cotton sateen; the wadding is a thin layer of wool against which the quilting stitches really stand out well. One side is has some fades where it was folded.

This quilt is slightly unusual in that it is not square, it is very long - measurements are 233 cm x 167 cm that is 92 x 66 inches. There are some nice patterns on this quilt - the central motif is four paisleys in a circle, surrounded by circles, spirals and orange peel.The accompanying fans echo this and have a nice leaf pattern in the corner. The outer border is attractive - leaf shapes surrounded by circles and spirals, with spirals between. Notice how there are extra borders top and bottom to achieve the extra length, also that the borders are separated by a double line of stitching which really stands out. The outer edge is neatly machine stitched with a single line of machine stitching and the panels are joined by machine. As usual, the quilter tried to make the most of her cloth and the selvages do show at the panel joins in some places. Quilting thread is a matching pink colour.

This quilt has seen only light use and apart from the fades is in good condtiion; it was made by an experienced quilter. Most likely, she marked out the major fields in chalk on her frame and then used favorite patterns to fill these areas.

Ps. Most of you will know that if you double click on the thumbnail photo a full screen image will appear. Just use the back button to return to the post when you have finished viewing the image.