Going to Burnley, Lancashire...

...for the BQSG Seminar tomorrow. It promises to be a good two days, and I know a lot of effort has gone into organising this event.

On Friday, we will be going to Gawthorpe Hall, a National Trust property, for tours of the house, and a look at the Rachel Shuttleworth Textile Collection.

Our seminar will take place at Townley Hall, owned by the local government in Burnley.

The whole of Lancashire was filled with textile mills, which supplied the world with cottons, wools, ribbons and many other woven goods. We'll be staying at the Rosehill Hotel in Burnley. Unfortunately, no bell ringing at the church at Burnley!!

One of the themes in this year's seminar will be signature quilts, so I will be taking my 1893 signature quilt from Green Gates Wesleyan Sunday School. As far as I can see, this was  in Bradford.

The quilt was much used and is very worn at the edges, but has a lot of signatures, embroidered in a variety of stitches by several hands. I'm not sure if these are childrens' names (all first name, last name, no Mr or Mrs here) or whether these paid a subscription - probably the former given the names? It would be interesting to compare the names with the local war memorials, which have been recorded.

Anne Jeater is presenting a paper on a Tyneside Wesleyan signature quilt, so will be interested to hear that.