Quilters' Guild Blog

The British Quilt Study Group (BQSG) is a special interest group for Guild members interested in the history of British patchwork and quilting. They recently visited the Manchester Metropolitan University Special Collections Museum, where they examined pattern books and 'recipe' books for dyes dating back to the 1800s. These books are essential for dating historic quilts, which often lack signatures or dates. Understanding fabric printing history helps them establish the age of anonymous quilts.

We talk to Leah Higgins about her quilting journey, favourite techniques, inspirations and proudest moment. You can read a full interview with Leah in the winter edition of 'The Quilter', our membership magazine.

Share a typical day with Helen Riddle, a textile artist based in West Yorkshire. In the Winter issue of The Quilter magazine we will delve deeper into her work, and the quilt she created as part of a broader spectrum of work exploring memory and ageing.

UK fine art textile artist Sabine Kaner's work is redolent with themes of identity and belonging. Her exhibition Hand Stitched Stories will appear at the Knitting & Stitching Shows at Alexandra Palace 5-8 October, and Harrogate 16-19 November. 

The Terry Higgins Memorial Quilt was unveiled at The Festival of Quilts this summer. We spoke to Terry's lover Rupert Whitaker, and Terry's close friend Martyn Butler at FOQ about their feelings and experiences in making this quilt.

“Please don't touch the quilts” is an instruction visitors to quilt shows are all too familiar with. Sara Sullivan of Romsey Quilters talks to us about her experience of the process of creating an accessible quilt exhibition.

Deborah McGuire, historian and hand sewer, reflects on a recent project which partners The Quilters’ Guild with the Royal College of Surgeons; two organisations bought together in a project by the Universities of Oxford Brookes and Lancaster.

If you’ve been following along with us since 2022, you will be familiar with the collaborative project we are partnering on led by Terrence Higgins Trust. Our dedicated quilting community members have been tirelessly working to produce something truly amazing.

Historic technique, darling of the 80s fashion scene but now rarely found in daily clothing. In this fascinating article guest blogger Fran Woodgate poses the question, 'Whatever Happened to Smocking?'. 

Ranya Abdulateef describes how her journey as an asylum seeker has shaped her art and her work. This article first appeared in The Quilter - Journal no. 174, Spring 2023, the membership publication of The Quilters' Guild of the British Isles.

Get to know The Guild by meeting our talented members! We have interesting and inspiring members all over the country and further afield, and we want you to be able to share their work.

Tom Bathgate, aka @TheColourblindQuilter, talks to us about quilting, colour, patterns, mental health and finding time to sew in a busy life.

Clive Bruder talks to us about the inspiration and impetus behind the Boys Sew Too movement.

Sarah Humphreys talks to us about International Women's Day, feminism and the quilting community.

Angela Daymond reflects on how stitching has helped her adapt to life with a spinal cord injury. This feature first appeared in the Autumn 2020 (issue 164) of ‘The Quilter’, the quarterly member only publication of The Quilters’ Guild of the British Isles.

Get to know The Guild by meeting our talented members! We have interesting and inspiring members all over the country and further afield, and we want you to be able to share their work.

The Festival of Quilts and The Quilters’ Guild are opening up their annual competition to first-time quilters with a brand new Complete Beginners category.

Get to know The Guild by meeting our talented members! Meet Guild member, Pascale Michalski.

sketchbook. The word ‘sketchbook’ evokes strong reactions among many quilters, such as ‘I can’t draw’ or ‘Why waste time on paper when I could be playing with fabric?’.

We could all do with a bit of festive cheer right now, and how better to achieve this than to put our sewing skills to use?

From times gone by to the modern day, quilting remains a pastime that still prides itself on paying homage to the history of the hobby through the traditional patterns and techniques passed on from generation to generation.

Chitra Balasubramaniam explains how ancient skills are being applied to modern designs. India is renowned for its many crafts, particularly those in the realm of textiles.

British Quilt Study Group member Janet Rae takes you on a journey through the history of the Log Cabin design

We are delighted to share this article from Guild member Sarah Hibbert about her work, The Festival of Quilts, and her wonderful new Log Cabin design for The Guild’s Pattern Box collection.

Guild member Jenni Smith introduces a new quilting course for beginners that supports The Quilters’ Guild

Upper Street Events talk to Californian quilter Sheila Frampton-Cooper about her work, inspirations and teaching

How do we define appliqué? Basically it is applying a shaped piece of fabric to a base fabric.

Get to know The Guild better by meeting our talented members! Meet Guild member, Kerry Keeble...

Ahead of the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham this summer, Upper Street Events talk to Carolyn Ducey at the International Quilt Museum about their planned exhibition of historic Amish quilts.

The Modern Quilt Group is one of five special interest groups within The Quilters’ Guild. The group was born in 2014 through the endeavours of Helen Howes.

This year’s show is all set to be bigger than ever, at least in my humble opinion because we have 400 workshops this year as well as trunk shows daily by Jenny Doan of Missouri Quilts.

The most common question fielded on our Contemporary Textiles (was Contemporary Quilt) stand at Festival of Quilts is, ‘What is contemporary quilting?’.

I’ve been making quilts for around 11 or 12 years, so not quite as long as many Guild members. I will always class myself as a beginner, because there’s always something to learn and I’m constantly inspired by others and their amazing creativity and skill.

We all like to think that we’ll be with our family and friends at Christmas. Some of us, through no fault of our own are simply not that lucky. In 2013, poet Lemn Sissay MBE, founded The Christmas Dinner, specifically to be held for young people leaving the Care System.

My name is Hilary Jackson, and I am the coordinator for Region 10 (The East Midlands) covering Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Rutland.

We talk to author Kassia St Clair about the inspiration for her new book, The Golden Thread: How Fabric Changed History, and offer readers the chance to win one of five copies!

Meet Guild member Jenni Smith, a quilting and dressmaking designer.

Wadding, aka batting, comes in many types and fibres. There are at least fourteen different fibres/blends to choose from and it seems there are more added each year.

The introduction of the rotary cutter by the Olfa Company in 1979 was a milestone in the history of patchwork and quilting. Not since Singer’s development of the electric sewing machine in 1889 has the way we make our quilts been so dramatically influenced.

Sometimes I lie awake at night pondering the great conundrums of the universe such as: if the speed of light is 670 million miles per hour, what is the speed of darkness? Or is darkness really light travelling backwards? But in my worst moments I wonder: what if there were no new fabric designs?What if all the designers across the globe woke up one day and said, “Nope, that’s it. I’ve run dry. Can’t think of any new designs.” What then?