Twelve Quilts of Christmas 2020 – #7

 

Well doesn’t this one just make your eyes want to pop.  Trust a Welsh quilt made in 1910 to be quilting like it’s 2020! Or wait, is it the other way around? Are some of us quilting now like it is 1910?

 

At first glance it seems like a bit of chaos in the middle of this quilt, but there is indeed a centre area of interest, a square on point, surround by a striped first border.  Do you see the patterning in these stripes that makes it work so well?

 

I love, love, love the half-square triangles in the next border, some rotated and some made to fit with coping strips.  The “co-ordinated” corner stones try to work to calm the whole thing down.  Two borders top and bottom are used for vertical asymmetry here.  And finally that bold pieced border.  What fun!

 

Jen notes, that this is an “unusual abstract design in psychedelic colours made in 1910 by Mrs. Annie Davies in her flat above a drapers shop in Chaleabite Street, Aberystwyth, Cardiganshire.  She supplied quilts to various shops in the local area.”   (My note:  Chaleabite is also known as Chalybeate)

 

A little bit about Jen Jones if you don’t know about her. She has the world’s expert on Welsh quilts, and has the largest and by far hands down best collection of Welsh quilts in the world. An American transplanted to the UK many, many years ago, she came upon some Welsh quilts shortly after moving there and began collecting and preserving what were at the time neglected, discarded and not very highly prized treasures of Welsh quilting heritage. Thank goodness she took up that torch. You can find out more about Jen’s book on Welsh quilts here. Her museum, in Lampeter, Wales, where she exhibits her quilts, is a must stop for anyone who loves quilts and is travelling in the UK. And stop by the café beside the museum, at the very least for some Welsh cakes and tea. You won’t be sorry.

https://www.welshquilts.com