Who we are

The Quilt Association (QA) was established in 1996 to care for a growing collection of antique and heritage quilts. Many of these quilts originate from the local area, forming a unique and nationally important record of textile heritage.

Today, our collection includes nearly 300 quilts. These are carefully preserved under controlled conditions, fully documented, and made accessible for research, ensuring their cultural and historical significance is protected for future generations.

 

We aim to:

To promote knowledge, appreciation, and skills in patchwork, quilting, and textile arts
To maintain, conserve, and develop a significant collection of heritage quilts
 

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What we do

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Our aim is to promote and educate people in patchwork and quilting in particular and textile art and craft in general. We run a series of workshops and exhibitions throughout the year, with the highlight being our annual summer exhibition, taking place from July to September. This exhibition has gained a reputation for showcasing excellent contemporary works alongside a selection of antique quilts – drawn from collections around the country. Each summer there is a programme of related workshops.

 

Within our building we host and care for a nationally important, growing collection of antique quilts, many of which are from the local area. The collection is made available, by appointment, for study – for personal or research purposes and features in our exhibitions. Volunteers catalogue the items in the collection, arrange conservation work, and research individual items – looking at construction techniques, fabrics, quilting and patchwork styles and the social history of the maker. Our quilts, whilst carefully looked after, are here to be seen and are featured in exhibitions, publications, books and magazines.  

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If you are interested in joining us to learn about our new quilts, become a member and delve deeper into each quilt.