Quilting seems to be a universal hobby. For those of you who have been reading my column, you might remember I made a table runner at Quilters Haven earlier this year.
Just after I had finished it, I was listening to Woman's Hour, a popular radio program on BBC Radio Four, and coincidentally they had a feature on quilting.
It was about an exhibition being held at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London on Quilts from 1700 to 2010.
It sounded very interesting so while we were in England, my husband and I decided to make a trip to the V&A.
He spent his time walking around the other exhibitions while I went to see the quilts.
It was very busy, full of lots of women trying to examine the quilts in detail. The early quilts were fascinating and really showed how material was used in the 1700s. It was literally all sewn from scraps and was so intricate.
Quilts became objects of immense family value and were handed down through generations.
One particularly impressive feature was a bed with four hanging quilted curtains which were made in about 1730.
The quilts on display also showed the changing social landscape of Britain.
At the start of the 19th century, the market was flooded with a new range of printed cottons and ready-cut patches were available for quilting.
Several of the quilts on display celebrated historic events. One quilt contained a specific patch which was created to mark the coronation of Queen Victoria.
Other quilts commemorated the lives of prominent figures including Admiral Lord Nelson, Charles II and the Duke of Wellington.
Women also included panels reflecting politics at the time.
This continues into present time as Grayson Perry's controversial 1993 "Right to Life" is on display. It shows a series of rotating fetuses and is quite unsettling as a quilt is usually thought of something warm and comforting.
One romantic quilt was said to have the woman's love letters stitched behind it as paper templates but on closer examination, they have been revealed to just be receipts and shopping lists.
I think it is the stories behind the quilts which make them fascinating.
On loan from the National Gallery of Australia was the Rajah quilt, which was made in 1841 by women convicts on the HMS Rajah. As the boat sailed across the seas, the women sewed the huge quilt and it was ready when they arrived.
Another quilt which fascinated me was made by inmates at Britain's largest prison Wandsworth. They spent two years working on detailed hexagons for the cover. Some of them have embroidered comments about their lives such as "I didn't do it, Guv!! Honest!" or more serious thoughts such as missing their children and wives. There is a video accompanying the quilt which shows how the men made it and what they thought of the project.
The exhibition ended with Tracey Emin's piece ‘To Meet My Past,' which on first examination looks like an old-fashioned childhood bed but the messages sewn into soon reveal far more.
It is a fascinating exhibition and it has certainly inspired me. Soon after we returned to Canada, my first niece was born and I am now in the process of making her a quilt.
Rebecca Lawrence can be reached at 691-1258.
