I have noticed that many of the quilting blogs feature collections of china or other pottery. I have only a small collection of Welsh Gaudy china. I don't know enough about this to collect - but I do like the bright colours and the fact that it is early enough to be hand painted and not mass made.
Sunday 28 November 2010
Welsh Gaudy
I have noticed that many of the quilting blogs feature collections of china or other pottery. I have only a small collection of Welsh Gaudy china. I don't know enough about this to collect - but I do like the bright colours and the fact that it is early enough to be hand painted and not mass made.
Thursday 25 November 2010
Durham Quilt quilted in Wales
The centre of the quilt has flatirons, ferns and roses with diamond infill.
The corner treatment is a flower plus simple feather motifs.Elegant but all fairly large scale.
Here is a photo of the reverse - this old gold and pink was a popular combination (the so-called custard and rhubarb!) The reverse is a brocade type cloth and you can see that the stitches are rather coarse.
You can still see the blue pencil markings - the quilt has been used and washed but the markings must have been robust as there are still many traces of these markings.
The clues that this quilt was made in Wales from a north country top:
Mavis Fitzrandolph in Traditional Quilting,states on page 43 of quilt stamper Mrs Peart of Allendale ...."in 1952 she was charging five shillings for marking a quilt top....and she had orders from many parts of England and even from parts of Wales... "
Saturday 20 November 2010
White Cot Quilt
The stitching is neat and the edge is a sewn knife edge. The filling seems to be natural, a thin cotton wadding. The quilt comes from the Whitley Bay area of Northumberland.
Friday 12 November 2010
Progress so far with Hawaiian Quilt
Cissy emailed me and told me that "Pilani was the greatest and most well known King of Maui and it is beleived that all great kings descended from him including King Kamehameha the Great. Google him and you'll learn more of this great king".
She also posted photos of my two quilts on her web site and you'll find them at www.poakalani.net/quiltsaroundtheworld.html
Several people congratulated me as they thought that my quilt was used as publicity for the Festival of Quilts - alas it was not my quilt but another vintage red and white Hawaiian quilt - one I think belongs to the American Museum in Bath.
I was able to download and print off an excellent booklet on storing and cleaning quilts from the York Quilt Museum and Gallery, under FAQs look for Cleaning and Storing Quilts and click on the highlighted link.
Subject to the necessary checks and references, I am looking forward to being the new treasurer of the BQSG - the British Quilt Study Group. This group does very valuable work and I am looking forward to getting more involved.
I am also starting to draw up a pattern for my Welsh quilt which I want to get started on. I also measured the Sawtooth Northumberland quilt top and will buy fabric to start to piece a replica of that. The quilting patterns will just be taken from the stamped top (I will trace the designs onto polythene and then just trace off with the light table) so that all seems fairly straightforward.
Its that time of year that everyone is thinking of the holiday season! I did not think that Tom and Sophie would be home this year but plans have changed and it seems that both will be home for at least part of the time, which will be great!! Time to think about my Xmas letter - last year's never got sent out as things were generally very hectic so I am going to start earlier this year...
Wednesday 10 November 2010
Mystery Solved - Blue "Durham" Quilt
Here is a quilt that I bought (very inexpensively) about a year ago. The quilt was sold as a "Blue Durham" in the Art Deco style. It is a small single size, about 45 x 85 inches. It is worn, and has been mended, but I bought it because it appeared to have unusual quilting patterns, which I find very interesting. I'm afraid that the quilt does not photograph very well, however perhaps you can see that it does follow the frame pattern, and the quilting is fine with very intricate designs.
Here is the circular pattern, that are like palm leaves and do look a bit Art Deco-like. Very elegant.
The quilting is very fine and small - but it is all backstitching!!!
The edge has come undone - not sure if there was some sort of frill or fringe, or if it has merely come unsewn.
(Sorry that the photo has not come out very well - go off to your copy and have a look - the old plates are quite gray but are detailed if you look closely). The caption reads: "Indian quilt made by Himalayan women circa 1922. White linen, Backstitched, interlined with semal cotton. Note the relationship to English quilting patterns".
Saturday 6 November 2010
Pink Quilting Sample
It is of pink fabric with a Welsh-looking pot of flowers motif. The samples came from a seller in Devon, and it was supposed that they might be Rural Industries Board samples - Devon was a hotbed of activity for the WI and several people who lived in Devon were involved in the RIB scheme.
Not long ago I had an email from Clare Claridge - "Wanted to let you know that the pink quilt in the April blog looks like the work of the Porth Quilters about 1933 under the RIB scheme, See Chris Stevens p 38 and Elizabeth Hake Fig 57"
This was very interesting and sent me off to find the two books. It was difficult to find the Stevens book - it is a very slender book and required several searches- did I actually own a copy?I finally found it.... also the Hake book. The two photos seem to be of the same quilt. Also in the Hake book in the acknowedgement, one can see that several of those thanked are in Devon - not surprising in a book concerning West Country quilts - but it does show that there was an interest in quilts in Devon before the war.
It also made me want to find out more about the Porth Quilters.
As one does, I looked with renewed interest at all the plates in the Hake and Stevens books - and made what I think is an extremely interesting find - more in the next post....
Thursday 4 November 2010
St Lawrence Chiming Company
The bells are the oldest ring in the UK as they date from 1440, and are called the"Wolsey bells". Cardinal Wolsey of Tudor fame lived nearby and would have heard the sound of these bells. His uncle was a wealthy butcher with a shop nearby and funded his education. The bells are thus preReformation - and still have their original clappers and bell canons - very unusual. Two years ago the bells were totally refurbished by the Whitechapel Bellfoundry and the tower strengthened. The Borough Of Ipswich, which donated a significant sum of money to the work, asked that the bells be rung every Wednesday, and I try to do this when I am able to.
The bells go very well, but as the bell wheels are large, they go slowly and require careful striking to sound their best. But they have a lovely mediaeval "hum" to them and are nice to ring, although with only five bells there is a limited repertoire of methods to ring! The tenor bell weighs about 14 hundredweight.
George W Pipe, who is in charge of the ringing. George is one of the best ringers in the country and has rung over 1,000 peals. George expects a high standard of ringing; the church receives a lot of visiting ringers who want to ring on this historic peal of bells.
A view into the church itself - you can see the restaurant beyond the glass partition or balcony. I find the glass a bit offputting! but am getting used to it...