Just a quick post this morning. When my friend Nia visited this week, she bought along two family Welsh quilts for me to be the new custodian of. One was a wholecloth quilt, made in Borth (just above Aberystwyth) by a family member, on the occasion of the marriage of Nia's grandparents in 1903. One side is pale pink, and the other pale blue. The 2nd quilt, probably a little later, is like a Durham strippy quilt, in pink and blue again and hand quilted within the panels, like a Durham quilt. Quite often the Welsh strippy quilts would have the design stitched right across the width of the quilt. They are much used and loved, and sadly faded in places where they were folded and the light got to them. I will treasure them anyway, and am so grateful for this gift. Nia's mum has had to go into a home and I gave Nia some advice on the contents of her bungalow, so the good stuff went to auction and not to the charity shop.
I shall research the designs over the weekend.
Then I folded them differently to the way they had been folded (e.g. not in half and half again), and put them away in Keith's chest of drawers. Someone noticed and took advantage of this!!
Gerroff!!
Right, I really MUST wash my hair and then go out for my Saturday paper. Only 2 deg. out there so probably not gardening weather . . .
Such beautiful stitching and such a lot of work.
ReplyDeleteAh yes, and every stitch sewn with love.
DeleteWhat wonderful quilts. i am amazed by the amount of work that went into them.
ReplyDeleteWhen you have long dark winter nights, there is time to sew . . .
DeleteSuch beautiful quilts, what an amazing gift. The stitching is fabulous. The fading---tho sad--doesn't bother me at all. Thanks for posting!
ReplyDeleteIt was very neat stitching. Some I've seen have very coarse stitches - only 4 or so to the inch. The fading doesn't bother me either.
DeleteIntricate and meticulous stitchery and I suppose good that they were used and enjoyed rather than put in a drawer to keep 'for best.' I wonder if the quilting was done by one woman over many months or if there was a 'quilting bee' and several good needlewomen around a quilting frame.
ReplyDeleteOf course the cats are investigating and offering their catly opinions--anything new must be sniffed and checked over.
Yes, they are SO soft to touch, from over 100 years of use. That's what quilts are for, not just for "best". I get the feeling it is one woman's work (family member), but will try and find out more.
ReplyDeleteOh yes, had to have the Cat Stamp of Approval!