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I am a quilter living in Woodbridge, Suffolk who has made quilts since I was a teenager. I also ring bells! Both are great British traditions....I will try to feature some of my antique Welsh and Durham quilts, the quilts I make myself, my quilting activities and also some of my bellringing achievements. Plus as many photos as I can manage. NB: Double click on the photos to see greater detail, then use back button to return to the main page.













Friday, 10 August 2012

Welsh Quilt Centre - 5


Here are the final photos that I took at "A Quilted Bridge - The Amish -Welsh Connection" which is being held at the Welsh Quilt Centre in Lampeter, Ceredigion, Wales through 3 November.

Lampeter Valfrey Tailors Sample Quilt - made from flannel and shirting - machine pieced, hand quilted. About 1895. A beautiful and striking quilt.


Welsh strippy quilt


Double sided Welsh Patchwork, Cardigan,  made from flannel. Hand pieced and quilted. 1st half 19th C.
Log cabin quilt


Two strippies - The hanging one is Amish, and the one on the bed is Welsh.
 Amish Bars quilt on loan from the American Museum in Britain, Lancaster County, PA, c 1880. Thin wool with a thin cotton batting. Pieced by machine and hand quilted.

The similarities are obvious...


...but I thought that you would like to see the difference in the quilting. The Welsh quilt has a thick wadding/batting so the quilting stitches are larger.


Whereas the Amish quilt has thin batting and much smaller quilting stitches, in brown cotton.

The thought is, that the Amish (like the Welsh) needed warm bedding, but in the Scandinavian/German tradition, used duvets on the bed, so thinner quilts on top were satisfactory. The Welsh did not use duvets, so used the local wool flannel and wool wadding to make really thick and warm quilts. But the abstract design, the intense colour and plain cloth surfaces embellished with quilting are common to the quilts of both groups. 

Jen Jones can be contacted at quilts@jen-jones.com or 01570-422088. A catalogue for the exhibition is available at £5 plus postage and packing.
Her website at www.welshquilts.com contains all information on the Quilt Centre and its environs.

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2 comments:

  1. Sharon11 August 2012 at 07:12

    I just love the first picture in this post and the blue/cream in your last post. The quilting is absolutely breath taking. I'm so glad you were able to take photos and share with us. What a lovely exhibit.

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  2. Jenny M12 August 2012 at 11:42

    Thank you for sharing these stunning quilts with us. I went to the Lancaster Quilt Museum, in Pennsylvania, last year with girlfriends on a patchwork trip from Australia. The amazing & beautiful Amish quilts we were lucky to view whilst there do look so much like the Welsh quilts you have shared with us.

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