Tuesday, October 12, 2021

12th October 2021

Something completely different:  My ex sister-in-law was a marvellous quilter.  Yesterday coming down the stairs was one of her quilts hanging up after being washed.  I stopped to look at the stitching.  The quilting was all hand stitched, it is an enormous quilt and one day I will lay it on the bed for the full pattern to emerge.  She did have a quilting frame, but this quilt was done in Hong Kong in 1996, so much tidy workmanship and so, so neat.





She has sewn a little panel at the back with date, name and what the pattern is called.  It reminded me of the seals delicately hidden in Japanese scrolls, telling of the studio where the scroll was first made.


I remember this painting coming from Australia to be sold on in Europe and a specialist  computer man taking pictures of this to scan into the computer to find the hidden seals.

Reminds us that craft is important and though quilting comes from many sources, Intangible Cultural Heritage is something we should take note of.

Link to Intangible Culture explanation



10 comments:

  1. Never heard of ICH before, but I have now! That quilt is a stunner - I should love to see it laid out on the bed to get the total overlay of the pattern. Points are never easy and she had a lot of them. Clever lady and I am so pleased that she put her details on the back. Such craftswomen should be remembered. I have had a love affair with quilting (American especially) since visiting the American Museum in my 20s. I just love the history which goes into every stitch and scrap of material. My Quilting group went to the NEC a couple of years ago and the standard of work there was mind-blowing. Hundreds of hours on a quilt and not a single mistake and the designs and colours - oh my.

    I think I have one more big quilt in me - the girls gave me the fabric for a William Morris Heritage Quilt and I will start on it this winter.

    Fascinated by the hidden seals in the scrolls, which only show up with very special photography.

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    1. I will try and lay the quilt out soon Jennie. I also visited the American Museum in Bath when I lived there. The quilts were fantastic and so was taking tea on the terrace of this lovely Georgian House.

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  2. Here in Bath we have The American Museum and it houses many of the finest quilts ever to be made.

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  3. The place I liked best was that little pavilion in the garden with paintings of American naïve art Tom. The garden had old apple trees as well, I often wonder if it has changed that much, the house had a lovely view over St. Catherine's valley.

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  4. The quilts at the American Museum are wonderful, I spent many hours there. I was also fortunate to get to see the Kaffe Fasset exhibition - his postage stamp quilt was exquisite, I loved it. I labelled all my quilts (although I no longer have them and am starting again) - to me it's like writing the names in pencil on the back of photographs. I've just come across Scandinavian quilting, so am looking into that too. I love the stars quilt in the photos - it's nice to have it out where it can be seen. Maybe I can put one of mine over my stairs - thanks for the inspiring post :)

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    1. Funnily enough my daughter has just bought home today another Kaffe Fassett quilting book, this one for cushions and small things.

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  5. That quilt is a real beauty. She is really talented! Glad you are taking good care of it!

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    1. My daughter has collected a few quilts Ellen, but the above done by her aunt is excellent.

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  6. Beautiful quilt Thelma. I used to do a lot of quilting before my shaking became too much to allow me to do so. I think hand quilting requires so much more patience and so much more 'real' contact with one's work. I used to drag the poor farmer round quilting exhibitions on our visits to the US - there is such a history of the cfaft there.

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    1. I suppose the patching of old clothes for quilts must have been in many countries, especially when material was rare Pat. But America is definitely the place to see it done.

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