Welsh quilts

the main quilt exhibition at the Welsh Quilt Centre in Lampeter

I was really drawn to these Welsh quilts. They are dramatic in their simplicity. Their are a couple of exceptions with the simplicity that is usually found in Welsh quilts. Log Cabin....This Victorian sofa throw, a variation of a log cabin quilt, Court House Steps, was made in Horeb, Cardiganshire in 1888 by a Miss Lloyd whose family bred champion Welsh cobs. The fabrics are mainly from furnishings and are neatly tied with small red tufts at almost every corner. Woolen Hexagons. See Dazzling…

I don't do replicas but prefer to say that I am "inspired by" or make "in the spirit of". Anyway it is impossible to replicate a Welsh wool quilt because the fabrics used then are no longer made. There was a period in our history when our quilts were entirely homegrown; the woollen cloth was manufactured in our mills and made from the fleeces of the thousands of sheep grazing our hilly countryside. Clumps of this wool were often gathered from the hedgerows by the quilters and cleaned and…

the main quilt exhibition at the Welsh Quilt Centre in Lampeter

A few years ago when Clare and I were working on MAKING WELSH QUILTS I spotted a picture of an old Welsh quilt in Pepper Cory's book MASTER...

This coverlet created in 1842 by James Williams, a Wrexham tailor was featured in our book MAKING WELSH QUILTS. It is such a famous piece that I wasn't certain about featuring it yet again and of course it is not a quilt but a coverlet. It is also a complete one-off and unlike any other Welsh quilt that I know of. However, my friend Philip said that no book on Welsh quilts would be complete without it - it must go in he said and he was of course right. We were very fortunate that we were…

One of the challenges for me when it comes to teaching this process is that it's very easy for me to assume that others understand some of the foundational basics that I take for granted so I thought I'd cover a bit more before going to fabric. Marking a quilt for quilting can be really intimidating. When it comes to marking a Welsh type quilt top, it doesn't have to be a scary thing because it's basically just a series of choices which are made one after the other. The quilt can be planned…

More photos from the Exhibition "A Quilted Bridge - The Amish Welsh Connection", at the Welsh Quilt Centre in Lampeter, Wales. This exhibition runs through to 3 November 2012 and is well worth seeing if you are planning a visit to Wales. The Butterfly Quilt, so named for the unusual shape in the centre of the quilt. Wool, cotton, paisley shawl and silk, cotton wadding. C 1880. This photo is very dark, the quilt is more vividly purple and green in real life. Amish floating Bars Quilt, Ohio…

This is another of my favourite quilts from the Jen Jones Collection. It was made in Pembrokeshire in the late 19th century . If you click the picture and zoom in you will see that the quilter has very carefully placed the urn of flowers over the central patchwork pieces - Jen has kindly allowed me to use the images to illustrate a piece I am writing for the Winter edition of "The Quilter", the magazine of the Quilters' Guild of the British Isles and I thought you might like to see them too?…