Irish Strippy quilts

I have four quilts that are Irish - three are shown here. I have previously shown another Irish quilt which was made of shirting materials.

This quilt is a lavender and white strippy - it is made of offcuts of fabric, probably linen, and is unlined.

It measures 70 x 80 inches.

The quilting is a simple grid done on the machine.

Two other quilts are similar. The green and white quilt is 80 inches square, while the yellow and white quilt measures 60 x 72 ". Again, I think these two quilts are made of linen offcuts, or a mixture of linen and cotton fabrics.

All three quilts came from the same seller in Suffolk. His mother in law had lived in Ireland and had a stunning collection of quilts . These quilts were bought from a well known dealer (  but he could not remember the name).

The folowing information on Irish quilts  comes from Rosalind Shaw:

Traditionally, Irish quilts consist of two layers - the top and the backing stitched together. They could not afford to line the quilts with wool, which would have been needed for other purposes.

Some linen merchants had a day in the week when they sold pieces of linen to their workers, for the purpose of making patchwork quilts. These linen pieces were often made into frame quilts that were very fashionable in Northern Ireland.

Belfast and Londonderry had many shirt making factories; many shirt scraps were available. The workers made the patchworks in their spare time and sold them.

The quilts were referred to as Derry quilts, Shirt quilts, and  Belfast patchwork. Quilts seem to have been labelled according to their source and materials, rather than the patterns.

Festoon Feathers/ Page Bank pattern?

I had long been a bit puzzled by one description in Mavis FitzRandolph's book Traditional Quilting - her mention of a North Country quilting pattern that was apparently a common one. It was so prevalent amongst the quilters of one  particular Durham village that it became known to the RIB staff as the"Page Bank" pattern. The only problem was, that this pattern did not seem to be illustrated in her book!

All was revealed in Dorothy Osler's talk at the Worthing seminar in 2014, when the Page Bank pattern was illustrated. It is paired feathers, a pattern also known as Festoon Feathers, and illustrated as such in FitzRandolph's book. This pattern can also be seen on one of the Durham quilts illustrated in the RIB  catalogue of the 1930's.

This feather pattern is not only striking, but it covers the fabric well without being overly intricate.

So... I was pleased to find this quilt with paired feathers. The fabric is a satiny artificial silk material, in dull green to one side and pink to the other (creatively described as pistachio and raspberry by the dealer!)

The pink side must be the right side, as the quilting is done in pink thread.

Paired feathers....a striking pattern....plus a twist in the border.

Another photo of the green side..

..and the bright pink side.

The wadding is of mid weight. The size is 92" x 96". 

Stitching is good, but not great...but the quilting motifs still stand out well. This quilt came from an auction where the other textiles came from Cramlington.

It is interesting to compare the feather motifs on this quilt with those on my pink WI group quilt from the Sunderland/Washington area.

The quilt edge has a single line of machine stitching.

Stamped Sanderson Star Top

As you may know, I have a special interest in the north country quilt pattern known as the Sanderson Star. This pattern was an Allendale speciality, and was made famous by Elizabeth Sanderson. The top was available made up and already marked (stamped) .......to be quilted at home or given to a local quilter to completed. According to FitzRandolph, it was especially popular with the star in dark colours. Red and white or blue and white were also popular colourways.

So I was very pleased to be able to buy this marked top! The blue pencil is a bit faded in places..and there are one or two faint water stains, but generally in good condition...the fabrics are a white cotton with a pink chambray, very similar to the marked sawtooth diamond top I already own...the outer border is an attractive scroll and swag border.

This quilt top was bought at an auction in Allendale some thirty years ago.

The plan is...to trace the markings onto polythene...this has already been done, for the entire quilt. The quilt is roughly square at 98".....so a lot of work there. I have already purchased the fabric(red and white) and made templates by tracing the quilt pieces......I will make the replica quilt and transfer the markings onto the replica. I will not quilt the original, as I prefer to keep it as an artifact....this top has been expertly sewn....no bodges like some of the quilts seen by me during my study....corners a rhombus not a square.....corners nicely set in by machine....and sturdy (unlike the other top where the tension was wrong and it looked rather poorly put together)!

The blue markings resemble the marked star top at the York Quilt Museum.....that top pieced by Mrs Coulthard and then marked by Mrs Hetherington of Wearhead, a pupil of Mrs Sanderson. It was traditional for a Sanderson Star quilt to be the final piece made during the apprenticeship of a quilter, so she would have been very familiar with this popular pattern.

This top is dated 1911-1914.

Platt Hall - BQSG seminar visit

Just across from our seminar venue, the Martin Luther Centre, was the Platt Gallery. This large house was in danger of being knocked down and redeveloped in the early 1900's; fortunately after a local protest it was bought by the local council. It now houses a collection of costume and there is a chronological display of clothing, starting with the present day. It was amusing to see the iconic items from the 90s, 80s, 70s and 60s.....

The front of Platt Hall...

Dresses and their undergarments....very important for achieving the right shape!

A mans doublet from 1625-35. The doublet or short jacket was worn with hose or breeches, with a sword belt and a linen shirt with collar or ruff. Made of natural linen embroidered with french knots and couched thread. The sleeves are slashed to show the shirt below.

Close up of the fine work of the doublet.

A lovely turkey red dress, sorry about the reflection off the glass case!

Clear signage accompanied the displays.

Another dress made using roller printed cottons.

I was interested to read that most clothes were recycled in some way, either resewn, refashioned or cut down for children's clothes. Some was passed on to servants and there was a large market for old clothes. Eventually, the fabric was made into paper. So ordinary clothes do not survive, only "special occasion clothes" are kept....wedding dresses, court clothes etc....apparently men's trousers were easily recycled and thus very few examples have survived.

I was pleased to find this book...based around the Platt collection, it is a revision of an earlier book  by Tozer and Levitt. Very readable, good illustrations, and with a British, not American slant. And, only £14.99! A great find. Good as an academic reference.....

BQSG Seminar at Manchester

This year's BQSG seminar was held at the Martin Luther Conference Centre at Brighton Grove, Manchester.....a long drive for me at 5 1/2 hours! Needless to say, this photo of the courtyard was not taken by me, the weather was overcast and the trees were not blooming!

The first evening, most stayed in for a meal at the conference centre, whilst a few went to a nearby vegetarian restaurant. As far as I know, no trips to the nearby "Curry Mile".

Then on Friday, we went to the nearby Whitworth Art Gallery for a study session with Francis Pritchard, curator of textiles. Such was the demand that we were divided into three groups. Manchester was a textile centre and the collection here is superb. A small selection was brought out for us to see.

The building has just had a £15 million pound extension....beautiful, and narrowly missed winning the top prize as best new building of the year in the RIBA contest.

The Cafe in the Trees...excellent selection of food, luckily our group was able to have a light lunch here before our 12.00 study session and also before a lengthy queue formed at the cafe....

Frances had brought out a selection of interesting items...

Corded items...

Closeup of a Persian mans corded cap...full snap below...

I was especially interested in this cot Welsh cover from the 1950's in white cotton poplin. There is a new study centre and new storage areas in the new extension. A lovely visit. I am always pleased to visit towns and collections that I would otherwise not have seen.

Autumn Bell Ringing Outings

Autumn saw three bellringing outings....enjoyable to see the various parts of Suffolk and Norfolk. They take in some of the most scenic towns and villages and of course the churches, mediaeval in age, are usually in the most attractive locations.

Our Pettistree outing went to Clare, Cavendish, Long Melford and Lavenham. This is Long Melford....so named because it has the longest main street, and village green...

We ended up at Lavenham, one if the most famous of the wool churches, and with a lovely ring of eight bells. The lead on the roof has recently been stolen here...part of a spate of thefts carried out at night time. Police feel that the lead is shipped abroad for sale, as it would be difficult to sell in this country.

The lead has to be replaced if the roof is not to leak...fortunately the money seems to have been raised here...

Iconic view of Cavendish, where we had lunch at the nearby pub, The Six Bells...

New landlords and an excellent spread...this was the ploughmans lunch...

Later, another outing with the St Mary-le-Tower ringers to Norfolk...this is Yarmouth Minster...we also went to Happisburgh, Aylsham, Felmingham and Marsham.

Truly scary access to the tower at Yarmouth,  along a narrow passage way high above the church floor..

Then, this past weekend, a Hollesley outing to Higham, Nayland, Bures, Polstead and Kersey. This is the farmers market at Nayland, held in the church hall...

Bures, with its anticlockwise eight..some good ringing here and everyone seemed to cope...

The pretty church at Polstead, with its beautiful views across the valley..

Produce for sale in the church porch....

And the last stop, the beauty spot of Kersey, with its water splash in the middle of the village.

Trip to Genoa

In September, Mike and I went to Genoa in Italy, where we stayed with our friend Cristina. I've known her for some time, from my Suffolk College Days.....

The best way for us to get there is Ryan Air, from Stanstead. Of course the runway extends out into the ocean at Genoa, so an exciting landing!

Genoa is a port, and the old city and docks are very popular with tourists. The round dome is a biosphere, with fauna and flora from Madagascar.

 There are many lovely churches - this one is the Merchants Bank..

There are many large yachts in the post area..

The symbol of Genoa is the"Lantern" a large beacon. We walked up to it one day, but it is closed as it is run by volunteers and usually only open at weekends.

Here is the Cathedral of Genoa, in the typical black and white style. Beautiful interior...

O f course Genoa is famous for its food and especially the pesto sauce....this restaurant at 21 Cavour had won a prize for its pesto...lovely....the deserts were just right too....not overly sweet but very delicious...

We also went to the beach for two days - easily accessible by train - this village is called Camogli..

The boat basin at Camogli.....Very nice foccaccia for lunch here, a local speciality.

We also spent a day at Sestri Levante, which has two beaches, an ocean one and one in the calmer enclosed bay...

Another photo of Sestri Levante, showing the sheltered bay with the church on the left

And below, an evening spent at Castellato, accessible by a Victorian elevator, where you could get a good view of the port. The larger ships are cruise ships and ferry boats that go to Corsica and Sardinia. The weather was sunny and warm for our entire stay....we'll be visiting again, I'm sure. Thanks, Cristina!