Another Wave Quilt

Earlier, I showed a Cumbrian strippy quilt that I had bought; I had wanted an example of a wave quilted bed quilt. The wave pattern, an allover quilting pattern, is typical of Cumbria, the Isle of Man and Ireland. Surprisingly, there was another wave quilt available at a reasonable price - here it is. It is a utility quilt, made of scraps and offcuts in a frame pattern. The quilt measures 72" by 87".

One side is made of cotton sateen prints and blue fabrics. I had thought that there were two blue fabrics - but looking closely, you can see that it is only one re-used fabric, where a seam has been unpicked. Part of the fabric, which was exposed to sunlight, was faded,  while the portion protected in a seam is unfaded. The quilt cannot have been much used as the threads still remain from the unpicking.

The quilting is a very even looking stitch. I am wondering how this pattern was marked? I suppose a series of triangles...but how did they keep them in line across the width?

The back is a cotton sateen in the same floral pattern. The quilt probably dates from the 1920's. The quilt measures 72" x 87". The wadding seems to be a thin wool filling. The edge is finished with three lines of machine stitching. The seller had no information of the origin of the quilt. It was just one of those things that had always been around! The seller was from Poole, Dorset.

Single Durham Quilt 1920's - Middridge nr Shildon

Here is a single quilt that I bought recently. It has come with a good history....you can see that it has a frill on three sides, with the head kept plain...the colours are a tan colour with a plain white cotton reverse. The fabric is a crisp taffeta or artificial silk.

The quilt comes from the village of Middridge, near Shildon and Newton Aycliffe. A nearby quarry employed many miners and is now protected as it is the site of rich fossil-bearing limestone.

This quilt dates from the 1920's. The seller stated "This was made either by my mother Elizabeth, or my Aunt Bessie. Aunt Bessie probably intended it for her bottom drawer, but didn't marry my uncle until her fifties.

She was a teacher and also, earlier, a tutor to two boys of the Shaftoe family near Spennymoor.

I hope you're pleased with the quilt. In my family it was much loved, but not often used - only for guests.

You must realize as I'm in my seventies, that we're talking about the early twenties or so, when she would have been about twenty herself, not too long after art, Art Silk, as it was known, had come onto the market".

You can see that the quilt has a nice floral centre. Twisted feather borders are seen, with a rose in each corner. It is interesting to see how the designs of single quilts differ from those of the larger quilts...the smaller size presented a challenge, and the designs have to be simplified to suit this.

Canadian Red Cross Quilts at Melton Old Church

We had a lovely walk last weekend - the weather has been lovely and sunny - we decided to walk around Ufford - and end up at Melton Old Church. I knew that Jackie's exhibit of Canadian Red Cross quilts would be there - and that there would be a cup of tea and some cake!

Melton Old Church is not near the present village - and there is a newer, Victorian Church, St Andrews, which now serves the village. Like many villages, the focus of commerce had shifted, away from the old village, towards the main road and the river.
 But a group of local people have banded together to preserve the old, Mediaeval Church. The quilt exhibit was one such fund raiser.

You can double click on the photos, to read the information on the information panels....

The church is a relatively small country church - but the quilts were hung in a semi circle, each with an informative sign.

The exhibition tied in well with the DDay landing anniversary - but this was rather fortuitous - the weekend just happened to be one that Jackie and her husband, both keen sailors, were not on their boat!

The soldiers quilt that I found on Ebay - perhaps first world war - or just an older quilt that was donated to the Red Cross cause? It has a War Services label on the back, from Hamilton Ont.

The  Afghan with a red cross, which came from a hospital boat.

A fan quilt...

The local primary school is presently studying WWII - and were meant to walk down to the church and have a look at the quilts - but it was decided that the country lane was not safe enough for the children to walk along - what a sad reflection on today's drivers.

Just a bit more quilting needed....

Do you remember, that a few weeks ago, I machine quilted a hexie flower top for Karin Hellaby? The good news is, this quilt is the "cover quilt " for her new book. The other news was, the corners really needed to be quilted! I had run out of steam and ideas, and had left them unquilted. So, the quilt was mailed back from the photographers, so that I could do a bit more quilting. 

I decided to do a simple grid. The rest of the border was 3/4" lines, so I decided that a 3/4" grid would look simple....traditional yet modern. It did not take long to mark and sew, with a walking foot and orange rayon thread. Then, the ends were tied off and darned in....

A photo of the entire quilt. It went back to Karin, and then to the photographers....looking forward to seeing the book, hopefully in time for the Festival of Quilts.

Durham Quilt Fenham Sunderland

Here is a beautiful quilt that was made by a church sewing bee in Fenham, Sunderland. Sunderland seems to have been a "hotbed" of quilting with lots of quilters and quilting groups.

The quilt came from the collection of another collector, who lived in the area and was also a member of the Quilters Guild. The quilt has never been used and remained folded up so has some creases...but you can see the nicely done designs.

The centre is a design that I have never seen before, it looks like a closely quilted lovers' knot....very attractive!

And here is another design that I have not seen before, I'm not sure what to call this one.... goose wing?

The border has a nice twist with fans in the corners. The quilt has a deep frill on all four sides. This quilt measures and the colours are pink and a dark gold. the blue pencil marknings are to be seen on one side, it looks as if it has never been washed....

Here you can see the corner and the two colours - pink and gold. The quilt measures 69" x 90" and the frill another 6". Interesting how the frill is made in two colours to match the tops. Said to be a marriage quilt,  but this is a common claim. However, later quilts do seem to be a traditional wedding gift, often received and then not used, but kept in a drawer.

Cumbrian Strippy Quilt

Here is a quilt that I was interested in on Ebay....but the bidding went too high for me! I was interested in it because I do not have a good example of a wave quilted quilt....this all over quilting pattern was commonly found in Cumbria, Ireland and the Isle of Man. So, I was surprised to get a "second chance" offer later. This is when the top bidder has failed to complete or pay.... I looked at my bank balance and said "yes".

You can see that this is an older style strippy quilt. The panels are hand stitched and the quilting is nicely and neatly done, with small stitches. The edges are neatly hand stitched as well, in fact there is no machine stitching to be seen on this quilt except for the later addition which I am unpicking, see below..............this makes me think that it is an older quilt.

The quilt is well used,the edges are a bit worn and the outer blue fabrics are different to the central blue fabrics, which seem a bit faded.......

The other fabric is a dark floral print.... 

This quilt is very large,it measures 86" x 90" before the unpicking, which would add a few inches to the length. The filling is wool.

This quilt was bought at auction at Broughton in Furness about 35 years ago by the seller, so appears to be a true Cumbrian quilt. I am pleased, as a young couple and then young family, we spent much time in the southern Lakes, as my then parents-in-law owned a second house in Crossthwaite. 

The previous owner used the quilt as a wall hanging, and put in a hem at one end and a curtain fitting at the other - both will have to be unpicked in my spare time.

Quilting in a Traditional Frame - Cot Quilt

I had been wanting to try quilting in a traditional British frame for some time....and to that end I bought this small frame from Pauline Adams at Gregynog, two years ago. It is ex Angela Brocklebank, a noted Quilters  Guild member.

I decided to quilt a cot quilt...but first, had to renovate the webbing, as the old webbing was rotted. The nails were difficult to remove, but with a pair of pliers and a twisting motion, I was able to remove most of them.

Then I was able to tack some new upholstery webbing onto the bearers, using new tacks.

I marked the centre of the webbing and also the centre of the backing fabric, then secured the fabric onto the webbing....

Once the backing fabric was secure on both bearers, I could tighten the backing fabric by rolling and inserting dowels to hold the stretchers in place...

I had already marked my top...using a light table and Karismacolour chalk pencil. The design was taken from the Embroidress magazine, a redrafted pattern for a nightdress case. The original was much smaller, and was meant to be completed in backstitch. I thought the Welsh design would be suitable, but had to modify it somewhat...here you can see the top fastened over the backing and wool wadding...the tapes at the side help keep the tension correct...

The frame worked well, however I discovered that I had set the fabric to be too wide at 22", and had to roll in the fabrics so that the width measured 15"....this was more managable.

The cot quilt has worked up quickly, and is now 2/3 completed....I may enter this into the Festival of Quilts, a change from my usual large quilts!