At first glance it seems more North Country - it has a large central daisy and some braids. But there are some very Welsh looking leaves and the quilt has a very Welsh feeling about it - it has a heavy woollen blanket as a filling and the style is mid way between strippy and frame. There are no separating lines as in a Welsh quilt.
Another look at the gold side. The borders are the same colour but the maker has carefully mitered the corners. The colour looks lighter, but this is because the grain of the sateen is reflecting light in a different direction.
The reverse is a dark blue colour.The edges are neatly hand stitched in the Welsh manner.
The interesting point is that there is a running feather to be seen - it is along a fold - but runs in the centre from the border to the daisy. So you have typical Welsh pattern - leaves - with a typical North Country pattern - running feather. Very transitional....
Another look at the leaves...
And the running feather....This quilt supposedly dates from 1900's - the seller didn't know anything else apart from the fact that it may have come from Herefordshire. The quilt measures 70 x 87 inches.
The neatly made edge - it is quilted in gold thread and the gold side is the top side of the quilt.
The central daisy.
I am a bit puzzled by this quilt, it seems to have some elements of both quilt formats!
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This is really an interesting quilt! And I agree, it seems to have design elements of North Country AND Welsh quilts. I'm really not an expert but there are some questions that come to my head. First, the design of the quilts looks like made for a framed quilt. It has mitered corners (like the quilt on page 36 in Dorothy Osler’s book “Traditional British Quilts”?) and it comes from Durham. The daisy in the middle and the running feather is North Country style – but I found a hint in Mavis Fitzrandolph’s book “Traditional Quilting” about a Welsh pattern that is similar to the feather and it’s called “fern” (page 112). Maybe you know how it looks like? As far as I know the interlocking circles or “wineglass” patterns are used in both regions, especially before 1850, the rope or twist in the borders as well. And finally there is one thing I miss with the leaves (thinking about Welsh leaf patterns): they is no double outline, it’s more like echo quilting. I would really like to know what experts like Lilian would say.
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