Visit to the American Museum in Bath

Now and again I visit family in Bath and on my last trip I fulfilled a wish to visit the American Museum.  So on a glorious Sunday I made it to Claverton Manor close to the University of Bath.

If you are at all interested in American history it really is well worth the trip. I went to see the textiles but there are many other rooms devoted to early American history. The lower level has a large screen explaining the early exploration of the country, displays about the Declaration of Independence, the American West and Native Americans. The ground floor has a lovely Country Store, a Folk art gallery and rooms set out in different periods.   Many rooms include bed covers and clothing. 

I saw a very nice embroidery sampler made by Hannah Taylor dated 1771. 

The first floor has more period rooms but here you will find the textiles collection.  The quilts range from the eighteenth to the mid twentieth century. They hold over 200 quilts and the collection is considered to be one of the finest of its type in Europe.  The quilts are displayed in special hanging frames which you can turn like the pages of a giant book.   You can only take photographs without a flash so apologies for the quality of my pictures. 

This one is the Baltimore Album Quilt from 1850 and was made by a group of ladies and a close up next

This next one is called the Chalice Quilt for obvious reasons..

And this splendid black and white coverlet was made on a Jacquard loom

Finally I came across the Shaker Room with it's delightful slender furniture. The Shaker people wanted their communities to reflect their notion of heaven. since there is no dirt in heaven, there could be no dirt in Shaker villages. cleanliness was, therefore, an important part of everyday life.

"Clean your rooms well: for good spirits will not live where there is dirt. There is no dirt in heaven". 

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Amish Life & Quilts

Last Friday I enjoyed a most interesting lecture by Jan Jefferson who originates from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

On the right is a photo of Jan holding an example of a quilt made by an Amish woman to sell to tourists in modern times. It is an example of the 'Sunshine and Shadow' design.

The original settlers in Pennsylvania were very hardworking people seeking religious freedom in the New World.  The Amish dress very plainly with a limited range of colours. Jan told us that the women never cut their hair but always tied it back very tightly and covered it with a cap. The men are clean shaven until they marry. Then they grow a beard.  The quilts were always made for practical reasons out of scraps remaining from garment making. Fabric was such a precious commodity that everything will have been saved. Anyone who has handwoven fabric would understand this. 

This quilt on the left, is an example of the 'bars' style of design with four patch inserts. It was made in the late 19th century and has the typical print fabric in red and green colours used by Pennsylvania women. These pretty prints were very popular between 1880 and 1900. 

This one on the right caused quite a stir in the room!  The 3D blocks were amazing.

The pink quilt below with the flying geese is another example of 'bars' The colours were stunning and, on the whole, the same colour is used across the quilt on each row.  

The simplicity of this quilt particularly appealed to me. I hadn't been patchwork and quilting very long before I decided to concentrate on working with plain or solid fabrics. I think I must have been influenced by the Amish more than I thought.  The very early Amish quilts are stunningly simple in their design. diamonds in squares for example with an exceptionally limited colour pallette. 

Another quilt that made us all say 'wow'. It's an example of a design called 'Broken Star' made in the 1930's in Lancaster County, PA. The effect of the plain colours with silky cotton fabric is stunning.  It doesn't show up on the photograph but the 'plain' background has the most amazing hand quilting. 

Finally, my favourite of them all....this one below is a true scrap quilt. Made in the 1960s the maker used scraps with no plan or pattern. you really get the feeling that she was determined to use every last scrap in her possession come what may.