Shambellie House in Dumfries, Scotland is currently hosting a quilt show, the Dumfries and Galloway Quilt Festival. It runs until 1 May 2019 and I went to see it last week.
Shambellie House used to be a costume museum but the historic garments have been re-housed into other collections and the building was empty. A local group is now campaigning to save the building for the community as a arts resource centre. (You can read more about this and watch a short video which gives a glimpse of the interior of the house by clicking the link at the end of this post.)
The Quilt Festival made very good use of its location. A quilted sign welcomed visitors at the entrance.
Hanging from the upper banister of the stairway was this stunning piece by Pippa Stark:
There were even quilts in the bathroom!
On a window bay, with architectural features in view, as well as the garden beyond, was this charming rag-rug.
In this quirky alcove in one of the upstairs rooms, there was a collection of small quilts.
On the right-hand wall, you can just see this collection of UKQU quilted ‘postcards’, which included this pretty pastel one.
In many cases the quilts filling the wall space had obviously been carefully chosen to complement the colours of the room. There were a number of quilts made by the Quilters’ Guild of the British Isles Scottish Organiser Ann Hill (who was also teaching classes during the festival). The colour combination in her log-cabin quilt was eye-catching and it looked just right against the pink wall.
In one room, a flood of poppies and a moving commemorative quilt (made for a UKQU competition with the theme ‘Autumn’) remembered those who lost their lives in the First World War. The display reminded me of the hand-made poppies I’d seen in Hexham last year – to see the post, click here).
Included in the Festival was a room devoted to an international ‘Chinese Whispers’ project called ‘World Wide Whispers’, with contributions from Scotland, Ireland, the Netherlands, the USA and Canada. In each nation there were 12 members in a team of quilters. The first A3-sized quilt was made by the team leader, using an original photo. The second member of the team only saw a photo of the quilt made by the leader (plus an artist’s statement) and made their own piece in response. The third person only saw the second quilt and so on. You can see how the connections have worked with three quilts from the Canadian group:
This was an excellent show in a beautiful building. I look forward to the next one…
This is my ‘Quilt Labels’ fabric design. You can find it here.
This is the address for Shambellie House: Shambellie House Trust New Abbey, Dumfries. DG2 8HQ
For more information about Shambellie House Trust, go to: https://www.shambelliehouse.org/
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Amanda Jane Textiles 