Quilts on show in York
Full fathom five, Anne Tuck, hand-dyed cotton, hand appliquéd, machine quilted, 2009
Quilts ancient and modern are on show at two concurrent exhibitions at the York’s Quilt Museum this summer
The Quilt Museum is home to the Quilters’ Guild of British Isles’ quilt collection and the first exhibition celebrates the Guild’s 30th anniversary with a special juried showing of members’ work on the theme of ‘pearls, pearls, pearls’. The quilts – all made specially for the exhibition – vary considerably, and the range of techniques used show just how far traditional quilting making has evolved, even though the basic formula has remained the same since the 18th century. Look out for Anne Tuck’s seaweedy interpretation of the ‘sea change’ that takes place to the shipwrecked bodies in The Tempest as well as Pam Stanier’s stylized depiction of a giant pearl necklace casually thrown on a bed.
The second exhibition looks at traditional wholecloth quilts, focusing on some of the less showy, historic quilts in the collection. Wholecloth quilts are usually made of just one or two materials – as opposed to patchwork which is made up of lots of small pieces of material – and the focus is on the quilting or stitching patterns. The star exhibit here is a piece designed (but not necessarily made) by professional ‘marker’ Elizabeth Sanderson, who worked in Northumberland in the early 20th century.
www.quiltmuseum.org.uk
