This is Jenny’s somewhat irreverent name for English Medallion or English Frame quilts that often started out with no overall plan in mind.  There is an excellent and well-researched chapter about them in Quilt Treasures 1995, a book documenting a search by The Quilters’ Guild for quilts and other domestic textile articles that demonstrated the historic character and artistic skills of ordinary British folk.  The book is an absolute treasure.  Please bring it, if you have it, to Jenny’s workshops (full reference given below).

She will be bringing, as many as she can carry, several examples of quilts of this nature.  The workshops are designed to be flexible as per the nature of the quilts she will bring.

Patterns will be available for, at least:

Charlotte Thornton of Mirfield, a scaled-down version of the cover girl quilt in Quilt Treasures and made by one of the Thornton sisters (Hannah, Elizabeth, Sussanah and Margaret).  Charlotte is fictitious but the name was coined to honour Jenny’s friend in the USA (Charli Thompson) who gave her the antique border fabric that she used in her interpretation of the quilt.

Mary Armitage in Cumbria, a quilt combining elements from the Mary Armitage Coverlet of 1787 (in the collection of The Quilter’s Guild) and the Grove Documentation Quilt (a name coined by Di Ford Hall for the double-sided coverlet in Quilt Treasures pp 34-35).

Sarah Holdcroft’s Quilt, a scaled down interpretation of a very brown and somewhat chaotic quilt by Sarah Holdcroft of Manchester circa 1870s, also in Quilt Treasures on page 51.

Possibly the famous Rooster Medallion Quilt by Amelia Brown as featured on the cover of Jenny’s book with Quiltmania, Fit for Purpose : Quilts for Warmth and Comfort.

Patterns for Lincolnshire Posy are now only available via The Quilters’ Guild in York.

Please join us for some fun and games with a hobby quilt-maker from Down Under.

Reference:

The Quilters’ Guild 1995 Quilt Treasures : The Quilters’ Guild Heritage Search Kangaroo Press Kenthurst NSW Australia

Jenny’s quilt making journey began in the late 1970s, about a decade before the quilting revival of the 1970s and 80s made its way to Australia.  Her first quilt was actually a comforter, made up of half square triangles sewn by the English Paper Piecing method (EPP) and tied using embroidery floss.  It took about 15 years to make.  She started making quilts in earnest in the early 1990s when she took  classes tutored by Di Ford Hall and Janine Franzke at her local quilt shop, Primarily Patchwork.  Later, she began exploring her own ideas, buying up old blocks, broken quilt tops and antique and vintage fabric scraps as well as building upon her quite extensive reproduction fabric stash.  These various bits and pieces have provided inspiration, creative challenges and a great deal of joy as Jenny continues her quilty adventures.  Several of her works have been published by QuiltMania Editions in Quiltmania, Simply Vintage and, more recently, in the book Fit for Purpose: Quilts for Warmth and Comfort.  She has had several exhibitions at Carrefour, the European Patchwork Meeting in Alsace, France.  She teaches in The Netherlands, Denmark and France.  Her trip to Cornwall in December is much anticipated and she will be sharing her current passion, English Frame Quilts, with workshop participants.