FORTY: Celebrating Four Decades of The Quilters's Guild Collection
1st - 4th August 2019
Venue: The Festival of Quilts, NEC, Birmingham.
Explore the evolution of The Quilters' Guild Collection over the last four decades, from the first acquisition of a traditional House Blocks Quilt in 1979 to recent additions of contemporary quilt art.
This gallery celebrates the 40th anniversary of The Quilters’ Guild Collection, and explores the evolution of the Collection from the very first donation in 1979 to our most recent acquisitions. The exhibition will showcase a range of interesting and significant quilts that have been added to the collection over the past four decades; exploring their makers, construction techniques and what makes them an important addition to represent the rich and varied history of the crafts of patchwork and quilting.
Organised into four decades, the exhibition will take the visitor from the first House blocks quilt donated in 1979, and progress through the years to show the emergence of the art quilt, the recognition of quilt research and the use of quilts as a medium to express political and world events. Mixing both heritage and contemporary pieces, it will show how each style, age, and level of competency all have an important role to play in the ultimate goal of The Quilters’ Guild Collection - to represent patchwork and quilting from all walks of life to show the creativity, vibrancy and individuality of pieces made over the past 300 years.