This early example of a Welsh quilt is a wonderfully graphic and balanced pieced composition that skillfully uses value to great effect. The plain backing allows us to appreciate the many motifs and the layout of the quilting design that remained so common in Welsh quilts. There are a number of quilts from this period that have flowering pots as the central motif, likely an indication of the house and level of society the quilts came from. Pre-1850 Welsh quilts were mostly cotton patchwork or silk quilts and mostly in the larger homes and not in farm or village houses, where homespun blankets would have been used.
By the early 19th century, distinctive welsh quilting motifs had evolved. The museum listing notes the following motifs used in this quilt: “central motif of large flowering pot plant, decorated with leaves, spirals, tulips, flowers and hearts, on a rectangular trellis ground with a flowering plant in each corner. Wide inner border of triangles filled with alternating hearts and spiral and flower motifs, with trellis in corner squares. Outer border of large veined leaves, filled with tulips, petalled flowers and spirals, and corner squares filled with petalled flowers and spirals.”
It’s the tiny pots in each of the corners of the central medallion that are just so adorable. And the addition of delightful little dots as fill. And what about those border tulips with spiral adornments!
I love the proportions of this strippy quilt that is made from blue and gold wool and stitched with red thread! The quilting pattern, unlike strippy quilts we might see here in North America, or the ones in the North Country in England, defies the strips and addresses the whole quilt instead as one would expect with a Welsh quilt.
This classic quilting layout uses wheels, fans, spiral and a motif called “church windows” which you can find in the outer border. Echo quilting skillfully fills the outer portion of the design and the inner fill of spirals in groups of three adds a delightful bit of energy. I love the use of interlocking circles in the middle border that forms a leaf design where the two circles intersect. It gives the look of leaves on point.
From the exhibition notes: “Jen has always call this her “zany” quilt. The patchwork is irregular and lopsided which manages somehow to add to its charm. In today’s terminology it would be called “Folk Art”. Twenty-five years ago, when her younger daughter Kate was born Jen paid her gynaecologist in quilts! He especially wanted this yellow and blue star which she was loath to part with. Luckily in the end a substitute was agreed upon. Happily, it remained in the collection eventually to be selected as the standard bearer for the 2011 exhbition.”
Oh, this one is most certainly freewheeling! Check out how each of the quilting designs are resolved in the corners of the outside border. Do you notice how the leaves look without the defining double row of stitching around the outside of them? And that outside border with the break of triangles … divine! What else do you see?
In the 1920’s and 1930’s programs were promoted through the Rural industry Bureau, to revive the craft of quiltmaking in Wales and north-east England. This program helped create markets for small quilted items, articles of quilted clothing and bed quilts, to help increase income in these economically depressed areas. The works were sold through galleries in London. Through the program, quilts were made for such important London hotels as The Dorchester, Grosvenor House and Claridges, and even quilted garments such as dressing robes were produced for the royal household.
The program required exacting standards, the patterns were more precisely drafted and the layouts more rigid and standardized. The goal was to increase the standard of work and it succeeded. Some of the most exquisite examples of quilting can be seen in quilts from this program. While there were fresh ideas introduced into old motifs and patterns, these newer designs lacked the originality and individuality of the quilts from previous era.
A combination of change in tastes and desires in the late 30’s and the second world war saw the end of the program and this quilting revival.
Be sure to click through to the museum website for more details.
Golden Yellow Quilt, Penybont, Cwmfelin Mynach, Whitland, Carmarthensire, c. first quarter 20th century, Made by Anna Davies. From the Collection of Jen Jones, Object no. cq279.
Exhibition Notes: “This double sided golden yellow whole cloth/patchwork was made by Anna Davies of Penybont, Cwmfelin Mynach, Whitland, Carmarthenshire. Born in 1895, she never married and remained at home after the death of her mother to look after her father who was the village blacksmith. I feel certain that although she was somewhat younger, her quilting was definitely influenced by that of Bariah Adams Lewis, Fanny Lewis and several other exceptional quilters all living in the immediate environs of Whitland. A keen photographer who developed her own films, she was shy by nature and refused to be photographer herself.”
The complexity of the design of this quilt is creating by the subtle use of colour in the piecing with the juxtaposition of the “overlay” of the quilting design. The quilting design is not symmetrically placed, but to no ill effect in my opinion. The restrained use of quilting motifs and the repetition add to the strength of the design. The overall impression of the quilt is simply delightful and engaging
A quiltmaker, fabric designer, teacher, and speaker, Mary Elizabeth is also co-author of two best-selling books, “Small Blocks, Stunning Quilts” and “Small Pieces, Spectacular Quilts“. She has been a featured guest on The Quilt Show with Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims. And her work has been shown at international quilt shows and featured in many international quilting publications.
Mary Elizabeth believes in “Quilting With Abandon”, stretching traditional boundaries and creating quilts with a subtle salute to the past. She is enthusiastic about our quilting heritage and the lessons to be learned from the antique quilts she studies and collects. Her recent work examines the interpretation of traditional quilt designs through “gestured appliquéd lines” and the quilting stitch.
