2002-12 red and white strippy quilt
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This is a strippy quilt in striking red and white stripes which run the entire length of the quilt. As is usual for strippy quilts, there are an odd number of strips, five red and four white. The quilt was brought into the Minerva Arts Centre by a visitor and bought for £40 in 2002.
Strippy quilts were very popular in Wales and the North of England. Averil Colby writes about “strip quilts” in her 1958 book “Patchwork”, commenting: “The Welsh tradition in striped quilts is much the same as that in the North but the materials are more sombre in colour – purple, magenta and black are sometimes included in one quilt.” Unfortunately there was no history with this quilt so its provenance is a mystery. However, strippy quilts were popular between 1860 and 1930, and it is likely to have been made during this period. They were relatively easy to construct, and so often used as utilitarian quilts rather than for best.
The fabric is a cotton twill on the strippy side, with a plain weave white cotton on the reverse.
Traditionally strippy quilts were quilted in patterns running down the strips. However, here the hand quilting in a zig zag pattern is taken right across the quilt in a white thread. The border has been finished with 9 rows of machine stitching in white.