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I am a quilter living in Woodbridge, Suffolk who has made quilts since I was a teenager. I also ring bells! Both are great British traditions....I will try to feature some of my antique Welsh and Durham quilts, the quilts I make myself, my quilting activities and also some of my bellringing achievements. Plus as many photos as I can manage. NB: Double click on the photos to see greater detail, then use back button to return to the main page.













Wednesday 16 March 2011

Blue and Pink Durham Quilt

Here is a pink and blue Durham quilt that I bought recently from Louise Loves in Builth Wells. It measures 1.8 m x 2.3 m (that's 71 by 91 inches).
No provenance on this quilt.

Generally, my buying days are over, but as you know, I really am interested in these stamped quilts....a reasonable price considering the age and the amount of work in it. These designs were marked - the earlier ones were quite elaborate - the later ones quite simplified - this is somewhere in between. Perhaps 1920's??

That's Monkey on the right.....little helper....




Here is the centre - a rose with some fleur de lys and a flower design. The stitching and the infill squares are nicely done.



Here is the corner treatment- rather cheerful - swags plus roses, a fleur de lys, with an inner running feather.




I was puzzled by this design - it looked like a long stemmed rose - with coins - but what was around it?




I traced it, and you can see that it is a rose with a long stem - then coins (they used pennies to trace around, but the lowest one is another, smaller coin?) and also a wreath of leaves which is not very visible with the infill grid.




Here are the two sides - the thread is white, but from the stitching, you can tell that the blue side is the top side - unfortunately, the blue side is faded from being folded and placed where the sun could reach it.



You can see that one half is relatively unfaded while the other is very faded in parts .



Just for fun, I tried to fold the quilt to match the fades, to discover whether it had been folded in a particular way - I folded it in half - then it was not so easy - this seemed to be the most likely but perhaps it was refolded?

A nice quilt with some nice patterns - there is cotton wadding inside and it is double sewn on the edge, by machine.

3 comments:

  1. Hi, have you completed your Hawaiian Quilt? A friend of mine is in the process of making a Hawaiian Quilt. Should a Hawaiian Quilt have Inner Borders? If so, should the inner border be a neutral colour or a colour from one of the Blocks?

    Thanks

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  2. Hi Carolyn, the purple and white Hawaiian top is in the frame and I have started to quilt. But I think I'll put it away for the time being as I am marking the Northumberland sawtooth diamond top. I want to start quilting that and hopefully have it done for Festival of Quilts in August.

    As to the Hawaiian quilts and borders, the quilts I do are really wholecloths and do not have a border as such, just a binding. They are usually in two colours, sometimes they have an outer band of applique. If your friend is doing one with blocks, the colour of borders really is a matter of personal preference - I usually "audition" my fabrics and choose the one I like bsst - ie I fold the yardage and position it to to look like a border under the top , on the dining table, and walk back and forth. Maybe do this to several fabrics over a day or so. Generally your brain comes up with the right choice. Maybe it won't be the one that others would have chosen - but it will be right for you. Our quilts are a reflection of us - so go ahead and do what you feel looks/feels best.

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  3. These quilts are really beautiful exactly like the ones my grandmother used to make .I remember when I was a child waking up in grandma's house and studying all the intricate flowers and leaves she had hand sewn into that quilt- brought back some memories! you are very clever !!

    ReplyDelete