The Town Hall building renovation was meant to be a joint venture between the town council and Jen and her husband. But the council funding did not materialise and Jen and Roger had to make the brave decision to go ahead on their own. The numbers of visitors have been building up over three years - the lighting is now where they want it to be - and this third exhibition is just right in my opinion. "Less is More" but there seemed to be plenty of quilts hanging in the main room!
I include some photos but I am not including too much information. I would strongly encourage you to buy the catalog (available in English or Welsh) from www.jen-jones.com. There will also be a DVD available soon, which will have photos of all three exhibitions, together with more detailed commentary on a few of the quilts.
Jen Jones in front of an amazing blue and white quilt from Oakford - this quilt was sent off to the conservators for cleaning and looks amazing now.
I enjoyed meeting Jen and really enjoyed her talk to the BQSG group at Gregynog on Saturday evening.
A zany yellow and blue quilt from Rhuddlan near Llanybbder, which features on the cover of the catalog.
Another photo of the blue and white quilt.
A log cabin quilt from North Wales, where the quilting tradition seems to have been similar to the Cumbrian quilts, rather than the South Wales quilts we are accustomed to.
A Welsh strippy in blue and white, laid out on a bed form.
This was my favourite - a quilt from Pembrokeshire with spots!!
A lovely quilt from Merthyr Tydfil. A very early quilt.
Lovely quilting on a blue and white print quilt, probably from near Brecon.
I have more photos to share. Next year's exhibition at Lampeter will showcase the Amish-Welsh connection and will be in conjunction with the publication of Dorothy Osler's new book. This book is due to be available in December, and has been ten years in the making. Not only will there be quilts from Jen's collection in next year's show, but it will also feature a selection of Amish quilts from the American Museum's collection at Staverton Manor near Bath - should be a "must see" exhibition!!
