Have you ever come across an old quilt and wondered – where did it come from? Who made it? How? Why? How old are these fabrics?
You could enjoy yourself finding out some of the answers by joining the British Quilt Study Group. The BQSG is one of the Guild’s specialist groups. We’ve been around for twenty years and are particularly concerned with the history and development of quiltmaking. This covers a wide spectrum – as you might guess – patchwork, appliqué and quilting styles from as far back as we can go to the present day, but also we’re interested in the people who made the quilts, the techniques they used, where and when the fabric was produced (yarn? patterns? dyes?). You’d be amazed at the side roads you can travel when you start looking.
Members of BQSG receive two copies of our newsletter Culcita each year. We organise an annual seminar that includes a visit to a place with quilting and textile treats (this year at St Fagans, near Cardiff). The papers presented at the seminar are then published in our journal “Quilt Studies” and all our members receive a copy.
BQSG quilted banner
Some of our members are inspired to start their own research, so to help them we run Study Days showing you how to get started– and if you don’t have a handy quilt with an unknown history you want to explore, I’m sure we could find one for you. There are two study days planned for 2018. An advanced one in July (14th), for those who’ve already taken the plunge and a beginners one in September (1st).
BQSG study day with The Quilters’ Guild Collection, York UK.
Find out more by chatting to us at The Quilters’ Guild Conference & AGM, at The Festival of Quilts, or by looking online at http://www.bqsg.quiltersguild.org.uk.
By Janice Lawson, BQSG Coordinator.
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