samsy: 2012

torsdag, november 15, 2012

In the hoop

onsdag, november 07, 2012

Antique Textiles Company - Hampstead London

Last month I was in London once more. One of my goals for the trip was Antiques Textiles Company in Hampstead, Christopher Wilson-Tate's wonderful shop.

A few times I almost welled up a bit - in two small rooms were shelves from floor to ceiling filled with fantastic quilts.

Many were two hundred years old - from the Georgian (THE George III) era.
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Anyone interested in beautiful textiles could spend many moments in awe here.

After an hour or so of interesting and enlightening chat with the nice owner, I headed off into the streets of London filled with impressions that will last a long time.

Please visit their website, if you cannot visit in person. You're in for a treat!

More pictures of this treasure trove can be seen at their Fb-site here.
Kathy visited some time ago, see her pics here.

Take care and have a good week.

fredag, oktober 12, 2012

Humble treasures from the past

Two quilts made by the Bulmer family in Ontario, Canada

In Barbara Brackman's Encyclopedia Of Pieced Quilts, this is pattern no. 3031 - Linoleum or Violet's Dream. I prefer the latter name to the first...

Some parts are very fragile. To me this is part of the quilts' history.

Pattern no. 272, Endless Wheel, according to Barbara Brackmans Encyclopedia.

This quilt makes me think of a flower meadow.

I love the variety of patterns in the fabrics.

When visiting with my husband's ucle and aunt in Sweden, his aunt showed me these two quilts.

They were stored on top of her guest room cupboard. She told me they were made by a member of the Bulmer family in the Fenelon Falls area in Canada. My DH's aunt and uncle were the Bulmer family's neighbours for about 20 years before moving back to Sweden. When she gave the quilts to my husbands aunt (ca. 2004), Marie Bulmer was in her eighties. She told my DH's aunt that the family had been poor, and that her mother-in-law had made the quilts.

I very rarely see old quilts hands on, so to speak. When I told our relative that these quilts represent something I love, she promptly said that she wanted me to have them. I was lost for words and wanted to jump up and down for joy.

They are incredibly soft from wear. Some places in both quilts are more than worn out. And I love them still. Now they reside in our living room, on top of my grandmother's cupboard that I inherited from her.

When it comes to how old they are, I am not sure. My unprofessional guess is that the Violet's Dream quilt is the oldest. The sashing of said quilt is the same as the backing of the Endless Wheel quilt. Probably there was fabrics left over from the first quilt. I have a theory that they are made by different members of the Bulmer family. To my eye the quilting in the one I presume is the oldest, is finer than in the more colourful one. Maybe the first was made by a mother, and the latter by a daughter. I am guessing that the Endless Wheel quilt is from the 1930's to 1950's and the oldest from 1910-1920. I would love to hear opinions on this.

Thanks for stopping by and listening to my ramblings. Take care.