Daphne's Show and Tell

Maker:

New Horizons Textile Group

Date:

2005

Beryl Cook style pictoral quilt, showing seven quilters sitting/standing around a central blue patchwork quilt. Each female figure has a character profile which makes up a story for the quilt. Some features are embellished with jewellery and three dimensional applique.

Story:

During the process of making this quilt, the ladies seemed to develop characters of their own so we thought you might be interested to hear about them. They are all people you are sure to have come across in the quilting world.

First Daphne - whose ‘Show & Tell’ the work portrays. She is the one you love to hate, a real Mrs Bouquet with an immaculate house and a dutiful husband. She is big and blousy and always dressed to kill. She always has a piece of work ready for every challenge, exhibition or group meeting.

Betty is the voluptuous barmaid type who comes along for the fun but never finishes anything. She is the sort of person who is always offering to do things but never actually delivers. She is, however, extremely good at being catty and criticising other people.

Marjory is a bit superior. She tends to think of herself as an intellectual and looks down her nose at other people. Her work is always ‘full of meaning’ that nobody but she can understand. She tends to be very pernickety and insists that everything is done ‘just so’.

Then there is the triumvirate of Gloria, Bunty and Cynthia who have formed their own clique and enjoy nothing better than going together to a quilt show where they make derogatory comments about most of the entries. They have a tendency of excluding everyone else from their conversations.

Cynthia is rather snooty and a bit of a social climber. She is always name dropping or talking about the hat she wore to Ladies day at Ascot. She is very fond of Baltimore quilts.

Gloria is rather prim and proper and does not approve of a lot of modern ‘arty’ ideas. She is a member of the ‘quilt police’ who likes to look at the back of peoples work and make comments like ‘I would never have done it this way’. She is very much a fan of traditional piecing and loves doing Sampler quilts.

Bunty is the quietest and most relaxed of the three. She is prepared to try different things and tends to look to Gloria and Cynthia for guidance. Her work is usually interesting and well made.

The final member of the group is Gwen. She is a new member who is trying to find her feet. She is new to patchwork and quilting and rather overawed by the whole thing and feels she will never have the expertise of everybody else. She is a sweet friendly person and is always willing to help when required.