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Manx Patchwork & Quilting – Exhibition & Competition 10 September 2007  The summer may be slowly drawing to a close but plans are already well underway for this year’s winter exhibition at the Manx Museum. Manx National Heritage will be staging an exhibition entitled Manx Quilts and Patchwork: Stitching Through the Years from Saturday 8th December through to Saturday 29th March 2008.
The exhibition will contain a wide variety of quilts, including several examples of traditional Manx 19th and early 20th century quilts from the collections of Manx National Heritage. The exhibition will also contain contemporary examples of modern Manx patchwork and quilting produced by local quilters together with work by the South Africa quilter, Helen Granville. In conjunction with the exhibition, Manx National Heritage is staging a patchwork and quilting competition and is inviting people on the Island to submit examples of their own work, the best of which will be selected for display in the exhibition. The theme of the competition is Stitching Through the Years – The Heritage and Art of Mann with entrants able to use the Island’s natural and man-made heritage as well as its artistic heritage as inspiration for their work. Manx National Heritage Curator for Social History Yvonne Cresswell said:  “The theme for the patchwork and quilting competition is very broad so that people can find inspiration in a variety of places. For example the colours of the Manx landscape may inspire someone to produce a quilt in purple, yellow and grey to reflect the Manx heather, the gorse flowers and the Norse crosses. Or a might be inspired by anything from the patterns in a drystone wall to the distinctive lettering of Archibald Knox. Inspiration may also be found in the traditional heritage of patchwork on the Isle of Man and the techniques and patterns used by Manx quilters in the past.
The exhibition has categories for both adults and primary and secondary age school children so all age groups will be represented in the display. Patchwork is a craft which does not recognise any age boundaries and can be enjoyed by everyone regardless of their age, as has been shown by the number of local schools who took part in workshops at the Manx Museum in the summer term.” An unusual aspect of the quilt competition is that work entered for the competition can not be larger than 46cm (18”) on one side. The size limitation is so that that a wide variety of contemporary work from the Island’s patchwork and quilting community can be displayed, rather than only a limited number if most of the entrants were double bed sized quilts. So, if you feel inspired to be creative this autumn and would like to produce an entry for the competition, further details and an entry form can be obtained by contacting the Manx Museum. The closing date for the competition is Saturday 10th November and the exhibition Manx Quilts and Patchwork: Stitching Through the Years will open on Saturday 8th December. More stories >>>
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