V&A Quilts - Amazing Applique

Bedcover for the Golden Jubilee of George III,  1810

Happy Easter everyone! I've been so busy with work and life in general that I've been neglecting my blogs. Hopefully the Easter break will give me chance to recharge my batteries and get back on track with quilting and blogging!

Here are another batch of photos from my V&A preview. The quilt above contains printed panels to commemorate the golden jubilee of George III. The centre panel is appliqued onto the wonderful pieced quilt and x-rays have revealed the whole quilt top has actually been applied onto an earlier quilt!

The pieced circles which make up the quilt top are all very complex and are made of many beautiful printed fabrics.

It wasn't only women who quilted and appliqued in the 19th century. This next quilt was made by a tailor, John Munroe, in Glasgow and took 18 years to finish!

My next choice is another applique which contains many sillouettes of animals. It reminds me of sets of wooden stencils I drew round as a child - I wonder if the maker used similar stencils.

Finally another quilt showing animals from Wales again made by a master tailor:

These quilts show great skill in design and wonderful workmanship. Thank goodness they have been preserved for us to admire. Don't miss seeing them for yourself - they are much more fascinating in real life than my photos show.