There has been no sewing this month as spare time has been spent in the garden or on days out. It was on a couple of these days out that I came across some unexpected patchwork.
The first was in Levens Hall in Cumbria and is described as the earliest English patchwork. It is believed to have been made in ~1708 by family members of Colonel Sir James Grahme of Levens Hall. Unfortunately, photography was not allowed in the hall, but the quilt and bed curtains are described in “Anonymous Needlework: Uncovering British Patchwork 1680-1820”, a PhD thesis by Bridget Long. The thesis (from which I’ve taken the screenshot below) is available online and shows the photos in a higher resolution (document page 259; PDF page 271).
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| Screenshot from "Anonymous Needlework: Uncovering British Patchwork 1680-1820”, a PhD thesis by Bridget Long, 2014. |
The other unexpected find was in Llangollen in North Wales where, after a walk along the canal, I found the town’s main bridge was covered in a giant patchwork. This was a temporary art work called “Bridges Not Walls” by Luke Jerram and was commissioned by the Eisteddfod. This included some quilts by the public which were positioned alongside the footpath and larger squares of fabric which hung over the arches of the bridge.
More unexpected patchwork is in the offing as I am off to Festival of Quilts at the weekend. I’d not planned on going this year with all the uncertainty about events going ahead, but the decision was made when I won a ticket in a giveaway and it will be interesting to see what’s different this year.
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