For three days only, visitors to Tullie can enjoy a rare opportunity to see 16 incredible quilts from the museum collection, showing personal, practical creativity crossing three centuries. These fascinating items give a glimpse into the lives of the very real people that made them.
Owing to their large size and delicate nature, displaying the quilts is far from easy. A small window of opportunity presented itself after the conclusion of the Tick Tock Marvels automata exhibition, in which the purpose-built Exhibition Gallery – the only space large enough to show them all at once – was unusually empty.
One of the star pieces is a wholecloth quilt stitched by Joseph Hedley, the Northumbrian man known as “Joe the Quilter”. Born in around 1750, he made a name for himself because of the high quality of his stitching. Unfortunately, history now remembers him most for being tragically murdered in 1826, possibly by burglars seeking his quilting fortune. Spotlight tours during the short exhibition’s run offer visitors a chance to learn more about the life of Joe and his remarkable quilt.
Some quilts were stitched for commercial sale, others were treasured family heirlooms. One such example is the quilt made by Martha Jackson, which is the oldest dated quilt in the collection. Martha finished stitching on the 20th September 1790 and proudly signed her name. Made from cotton in various appliquéd designs, some of the patchworked pieces still carry the original London manufacturers’ marks and excise stamps. Every piece of Martha’s quilt contains its own story, starting life as clothing or a home furnishing before eventually making its way down to the scrap pile and becoming part of the quilt that survives to this day.
Quilts from the collection have many stories to tell, from the complex history of the cotton trade to the different meanings of quilting patterns. The person who knows them best is our Fine and Decorative Arts Curator, Melanie Gardner: author of “Stitches in Time: The Tullie House Quilt Collection”. Every day during the exhibition, she will be sharing an illustrated talk in the Auditorium exploring the variety of quilts cared for by the museum. Every evening, she will be hosting study tours of the exhibition with the opportunity to get hands-on with some of the most important quilts- while safely wearing gloves, of course!
It has been over twenty years since the last major Tullie quilt exhibition so many of these special objects have not been seen in some time. They have been carefully rolled up in storage, wrapped in special coverings and watched over by the Curatorial Team. We do hope you enjoy the chance to see them displayed and might even be inspired to pick up a needle and thread yourself.
Accompanying the limited display is an exciting programme of events including:
- Hand Quilting Workshop – relaxed social class for all abilities with Suzanne Rome, with traditional hand piecing and quilting techniques.
- Joe the Quilter Spotlight Tours
- Handling Tours of the Quilt Collection – opportunity to get a very close look at the quilts on display, with gloves-on handling.
- Illustrated Talk of the Quilt Collection – an in-depth talk on the quilt collection with Fine & Decorative Art Curator Melanie Gardner
Entry to Northern Quilts is included with museum admission. Additional charges apply for some of the events.
