V & A Quilt Exhibition

Oh lucky husband blest of heaven

To thee the privilege is given

A much loved wife at home to keep

Caress touch talk to - even sleep

Thrice happy mortal's envied lot

What a rare treasure thou has got

Who to a woman can lay claim

Whose temper's every day the same*

Could have been written about me, wink wink!

On Thursday, Anne and I slipped into our comfiest shoes, packed a picnic with lashings of ginger beer and home-made flapjack and jumped on a London-bound train to visit the quilt exhibition at the V & A.  

Lots of you will have read about this on other blogs and in the media, so forgive me if you've been down this road before, but there's a few links you might not have seen.   And if you are planning to go, but haven't done so yet, I'm hoping this might just tip you over into making the trip if you possibly can.  

This article by Waldemar Januszczak in The Sunday Times is a really good place to start.   And there are loads of photos of the quilts on sneaky magpie's blog and cotton patch's blog (they had a preview - the rest of us weren't allowed to take photos).

Sometimes it was a bit hard to jostle close enough to the description signs to see the quilt's story.   Occasionally the detail on some quilts was difficult to pick out and I did really wonder whether I should have brought binoculars - I wasn't the only one to set the alarms off by leaning in too close to peer at a wall-hung quilt!   Though I completely understand the reason for it, some of the lighting levels were very low and the quilts displayed on bed-shaped plinths were so flat and far away that the detail was lost.   Still, we were so lucky to see them at all.

Every quilt, ancient and modern, was fascinating, so I'm not going to blether on here about each one of them.   But there were one or two whose stories were for me particularly poignant or appealing.  

There is a coverlet put together by the 20 Girl Guides held prisoner in 1943 in Changi Jail.   I used to pass this hideous glowering, towering edifice on the way to one of our favourite beaches in Singapore when I was the same age as the girls who secretly made this little quilt for their Guide leader.   Sadly, their quilt was never finished, as it was confiscated by the prison guards.   Please click here to see a filmed interview with one of the Guides (now an old lady) who worked on the quilt - but have a hankie ready.  

Prison life is the connection with another moving piece of work.   This time by the inmates of Wandsworth Jail.   Fine Cell Work is a fascinating website with some truly wonderful and skilful embroideries and quilted work for sale and, again, touching stories from the prisoners themselves about the way their lives have been changed for the better through needlework.

I loved the 'make-do-and-mend' theme illustrated by two Irish quilts - old pyjamas and wartime demob suits turned into crazy quilts, a quilt made with blackout curtains  and one backed with the cotton used for Red Cross famine relief parcels.    Caren Garfen's modern screenprinted patches comment on a woman's lot - I smiled at the 'bit of fluff' allusion reflected in the use of tumble-dryer lint as wadding.    The Women's Institute, the Rural Industries Bureau, and quilting clubs in  mining villages all contributed in the early 20th Century to the proliferation of the skill and the potential to earn an income in deprived areas.   Memories of the women who worked in this area were broadcast as we walked around.

And this aspect deserves a paragraph of its own - the stunning, vibrant, good-as-new colours of quilts that are 300 years old. Unbelievable. Got to be seen to be believed.

* The quotation at the top is taken from a coverlet made by Elisabeth Chapman in 1829 - I like her sense of humour!

Here's some more things to click on: Pauline Burbidge; Caren Garfen;  Natasha Kerr's website; filmed interview with Natasha Kerr describing her story quilts and other film clips about the exhibition; V&A online Shop.

So, after three-and-a-half hours we had done the exhibition, eaten our picnic and it was time to hit the V & A Shop, where there were loads of quilt-themed goodies for sale.   Did we buy anything?   What do you think!

a postcard of Natasha Kerr's quilt

some wrapping paper

a fat quarter

lots of ceramic buttons

And we quite liked these bags made from suit sleeves, but resisted. 


And click here to go to Alice Palace's delightful website to see her greetings cards - I bought one with the Indian Runner Ducks on it.

You've got until 4th July to get to the V & A to see the exhibition for yourself - if you are remotely interested in textiles I can thoroughly recommend it.