British Quilt Study Group - Gallery

70? x 82? (178cm x 208cm)

Private Collection

This striking coverlet (there is no wadding) is made from tiny ¾? sided hexagons, all handsewn over papers with a whip-stitch and must have taken hours to sew. It is possible that it was stitched by more than one person as, although most of the stitches are small and neat, there are some rather haphazard ones in places!

There is a large range of colour in the hexagons and this is all pulled together by the clever placement of the Turkey Red twill hexagons which are used throughout the design to form ever larger hexagons and also in the borders to add a frame round the quilt.

Unfortunately, quite a few of the fabrics have deteriorated due to the dyes used in their manufacture leaving large gaps in the top ? a ?perk? of this is that it is possible to see that at least some of the hexagons have been made using squares of fabric making for quite a heavy top. The wide variety of different prints used are mainly white or pastel coloured cottons and include stripes, checks, tiny flowers and mauves as well as the odd novelty print.

The backing of a plain white cotton has been turned over to the front to make the binding which has been machine stitched down.

As is often the case there was no history with the quilt other than it was bought at a London Textiles Fair many years ago.

Liz Nally

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