Sara started by showing us a quilt that had been especially made for a four poster bed with the corners cut out to accommodate the posts at the foot of the bed. She explained why some of the colours in the quilt had faded more than others as the quilt would have been originally made with very bright cottons and chintzs. The greens and purples are fugitive dyes and readily fade whereas blues remain strong. This quilt was made by the English Paper Piecing method and I hadn't realised that sometimes the "papers" were intended to be left inside the quilt. Only 5 minutes into Sara's talk and I've already learnt a lot!!
The next to be shown was a small folded log cabin - each strip was really narrow. Sara thought the design made by the positioning of each block to be very unusual and would love to know if it has a name.
There were a lot more quilts to follow including one which was made by a Cornish soldier in India. This wasn't done on papers, but the squares were barely 1" and it may have been used laying on the floor of a tent.
A silk and velvet tumbling blocks
A four patch scrap quilt in Springtime colours made by an 80 year old lady.
and many, many more.
The final quilt that Sara showed was a "Red Cross" quilt. These were sent from Canada to the UK during the war and given to those in the greatest need. You can read a little more about these on this Quilters Guild website page.
All in all a fascinating and friendly evening - thank you so much Sara.
Our next Flowerpatch meeting is on 13th December at Cowslip Workshops, when Jo will have us doing some exciting sewing in the cafe. Please bring along sewing kits.
Happy Stitching - Anita x
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