A Landmark Contemporary Quilt Acquisition Strengthens Representation and Storytelling in Textile Heritage 

The Quilters’ Guild of the British Isles is proud to announce the acquisition of A Domestic Scene in Chorlton (2023), a striking contemporary quilt by artist and academic Dr. Sarah-Joy Ford. This significant addition to the Quilt Collection has been made possible with vital support from the Arts Council England/V&A Purchase Grant Fund.

Created for the 2023 exhibition A Tall Order! at Touchstones, Rochdale, Dr. Ford’s quilt offers an intimate and quietly radical portrayal of domestic life. Drawing inspiration from Rachel Field’s 1991 painting Domestic Scene at Whalley Range, the work reimagines and contemporises themes of queer domesticity. Ford’s quilt depicts a tender, everyday moment between the artist and her wife, accompanied by their pet guinea pig, an understated yet powerful meditation on presence, care, and visibility within the home.

Made with exceptional technical precision, the quilt showcases Dr. Ford’s mastery of stitchwork and her characteristic bold, expressive use of colour. Both deeply personal and historically resonant, A Domestic Scene in Chorlton continues a long tradition of storytelling in textile while challenging traditional narratives by bringing forward voices and experiences that have too often been absent from museum collections.

This acquisition marks a genuinely exciting step forward for the Quilt Collection, which holds over 1,000 objects spanning more than 300 years of textile and domestic history. While the collection has long championed the stories of everyday life, particularly the lives and work of women frequently been overlooked in mainstream historical accounts, it is also evolving to better reflect the full diversity of the community it represents. Like many heritage collections, LGBTQIA+ stories have historically been under-recorded, making work like Dr. Ford’s especially important.

By acquiring A Domestic Scene in Chorlton, the Guild is not only adding a beautiful contemporary work to the collection, but it actively addresses these omissions, emphasising its commitment to building a more inclusive and representative collection.

The acquisition was supported by a grant of £4,875 from the Arts Council England/V&A Purchase Grant Fund towards the total purchase price of £9,750. The work will be housed at the Quilt Collection in St. Anthony’s Hall, York, and will make its first public appearance at the Festival of Quilts at the Birmingham NEC (30 July – 2 August 2026).

Heather Audin, curator of the Quilt Collection, notes that this acquisition aligns closely with the organisation’s mission to both preserve textile heritage and support contemporary makers whose work expands the narrative scope of quilting today. As quilting continues to evolve as a medium for artistic, political, and social expression, works such as Ford’s demonstrate the enduring relevance of textiles in articulating identity and lived experience.

“This work does more than simply enrich our contemporary holdings, it opens up new ways of connecting past and present through shared themes of home, identity, and lived experience and invites further interpretive possibilities across the wider collection. What makes this piece so special is the honesty that is captured in a quiet, everyday moment, and captured with real warmth, skill and intention. Quilts have always been a way of telling stories, and Sarah-Joy Ford’s work allows us to share perspectives that haven’t always been visible in collections like ours. It’s a really exciting addition.”

The artist, who is represented by Casinelli Mills, is also thrilled that her work has been acquired for The Collection. “As a long-time member of The Quilters’ Guild of the British Isles, I am so thrilled that 'Domestic Scene in Chorlton' has been acquired for The Quilt collection, with the support of the ACE/V&A Purchase Grant Fund. Quilting is at the heart of everything that I make and it runs through all that I do. The Quilters’ Guild has been pivotal in my development as an artist, and quiltmaker - from visits to the gallery in York (when I was a student in Leeds) and research trips delving into the collection, to visiting to the annual exhibition at The Festival of Quilts and sharing my work in the Quilter magazine.?

I am so happy that my work is now part of the collection that has so inspired me. Particularly this quilt, which has a special place in my heart - as the first quilted portrait I made depicting myself, and my wife Talin. It was also the first work created in my long-term creative partnership with Rachael Field. It fills my heart with joy to know that lesbian love, of many kinds (romantic/platonic/creative) is represented in such an important collection of British textiles”.?

The Arts Council England/V&A Purchase Grant Fund plays a crucial role in enabling such acquisitions. Its support helps museums and collections across England and Wales to develop more balanced and inclusive holdings, ensuring that cultural narratives better reflect the diversity of society.

Notes to Editors

Credit Line:

Purchased with support from the Arts Council England/V&A Purchase Grant Fund.

The Arts Council England/V&A Purchase Grant Fund is a government fund that helps regional museums, record offices and specialist libraries in England and Wales to acquire objects relating to the arts, literature and history. It was established at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in 1881 and continues to be part of its nationwide work.

The annual grants budget, currently £725,000, is provided by Arts Council England National Lottery Funding. Each year, the Purchase Grant Fund considers some 150 applications and awards grants to around 100 organisations, enabling acquisitions of over £3 million to go ahead.

Find out more on the website: www.vam.ac.uk/purchasegrantfund

About Cassinelli Mills

Cassinelli Mills go beyond traditional artist representation, committed to supporting artist-women and non-binary artists past, present and future. We support artists with a patchwork approach, from grant applications to academic recognition, from disability access to sales. With distinguished art historian and Holberg Prize awardee Prof. Griselda Pollock as our patron we are committed to countering the canonical structural disparities artist-women face.?

?Cassinelli Mills is a collaboration between Vashti Cassinelli, an independent curator who runs @southcombebarn arts space in Dartmoor, and Dr Ella S. Mills, art historian, curator and artist mentor of @talking_on_corners. We support the living legacies of early-career to established artists whose practices are grounded in research and social engagement.cassinellimills.com?

Press Contact:

Katy Jones, Editor – The Quilter, [email protected]