British Quilt and Sashiko Garments

Textile Exhibits, The British Quilt, 1700 - 2010 and Japanese Sashiko Textiles

London's V&A is presenting its first quilt exhibit with earliest examples that include a "sumptuous silk and velvet bedcover, with an oral narrative that links it to King Charles II's visit to an Exeter manor house in the late 17th century... On loan from the National Gallery of Australia will be the Rajah quilt, made in 1841 by women convicts aboard the HMS Rajah as they were being transported to Van Diemen's Land (present day Tasmania).

Glimpses into the exhibit are to be read at the Quilts Hidden Histories blog by Sue Pritchard, such as this recent entry:

"Today we started lighting the first section ‘The Domestic Landscape’ — we killed the top lights and Jo Budd’s diptych was bathed in soft light, accentuating the stitches and ripples, the shadows and softly curvaceous contours of ‘Female/Summer’. In ‘Virtue and Virtuosity’, Dinah Prentice was installing ‘Billowing Maenads’, seductively draping and illuminated against the peachy tones of the walls. We have won over the lighting engineers who want to know more about the Mary Parker quilt made from silk ribbons from the 1720-40s. Caren Garfen’s ‘How many times do I have to repeat myself’ reclines enticingly upon its bed, eagerly awaiting the installation of the Brayley and tailors’ quilts next week. "

Another textile exhibit took place in the British city of York, Japanese Sashiko Textiles:

"Until the mid twentieth century it was the traditional method of making work wear in fishing and farming areas throughout Japan. The makers were the cornerstones of communities but their lives passed unrecorded. The historical work in this exhibition dating from the nineteenth to mid twentieth century documents these women’s achievements, perseverance and hardships."

"The second aspect will focus on the fact that the physical protection of sashiko garments was reinforced by the spiritual protection thought to be associated with the stitched patterns."

"Sometimes these ‘talisman’ took the form of small stitched symbols hidden on the inside of the garment, so as to protect vulnerable parts of the body, for example the neck and back. Or they may take on a more flamboyant character, as seen on the inside of fireman’s garments that picture heroic images applied using tsutsugaki (freehand resist-dyed technique)."

The V&A shop is highlighting products associated with the quilt exhibit, such as unique quilting fabrics and a commemorative panel printed from an original textile piece by Natasha Kerr. In addition, create a British textile, an activity at the V&A site.

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Textile Exhibits, The British Quilt, 1700 - 2010 and Japanese Sashiko Textiles

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