Feasts of colour and creation

TAKE a bunch of talented ladies, a few scraps of fabric and a lot of patience and the result is something which is not only beautifully unique but a future heirloom as well.

Jean Redford, Eileen Kitchen and Susan Wright are my kind of women – women who become excited at the talk of fabric and stitching. It’s not so much the fabric itself – although that does come into it – but it’s what they do with it.

Give them a few squares of 100 per cent American cotton and this trio of skilled ladies can come up with some stunning results. They must surely be the queens of quilting.

“Quilts just seem to be taking over the house,” laughs Jean.

She is not exaggerating. Her lovely home in Holywell Green is a feast of colour and creation. Beautiful pieces adorn tables and chairs – and even hang from the walls. Jean is not alone with her passion. “It’s not so much a hobby as an obsession,” quips Susan who is sitting beneath a stunning quilt of rich plum, ruby and burgundy shades – an anniversary present for her son and daughter-in-law. “Actually it’s more like an infection. Once you’ve started you can’t stop.”

These lovely ladies are part of the thriving Calder Quilters group which now has more than 30 members who have recently been sharing their skills with the public. The group has just staged an eye-catching exhibition at Bankfield Museum, Boothtown, Halifax, home of the area’s rich textile heritage.

More than 50 quilts and quilted items featured – testimony to the patience, creativity and talent of this passionate group. There was tremendous feedback from visitors who certainly appreciated the hours and hours of work that had gone into them. Very few of the items were actually for sale, however – which is not really surprising. “Often you find that quilters are loath to sell their work because of the hours they’ve put into it. You do get attached to pieces, and anyway you could not put a price on them,” says Jean.

But she does reveal over the years there has been the odd exception.

“A friend who I had known from a little boy asked me if I would make a quilt for his wife. There were 3,000 hexagons in all and it took me a year. I incorporated various designs to represent him and his wife and their four boys. I was just so touched that he had asked me to make it.”

Eileen is perhaps the most experienced of the three, having joined the Calder Quilters 17 years ago. “I’d never sewn before although I had knitted and I had done some embroidery. It was a friend who mentioned that I might like quilting – and I did.”

She is currently working on a beautiful quilt in old English chintzy rose pinks and soft greens, which she pieces together “block by block”. “I do it through mail order and they send me a block a month. For me the love is in the hand stitching. Some prefer to quilt by machine but I love to sit and hand sew,” she says.

“One thing I love about quilting though is you are never quite sure how it will look when it’s finished. Each quilt takes on an identity of its own and that for me is really exciting.”

Eileen was responsible for getting Jean involved in the group and in turn, Jean encouraged Susan: “I’d recently retired and was at a loose end,” says Susan. “My first project was a quilt for my grand-daughter’s bed but there have been lots of projects since then.”

All three admit they relish days out hunting for fabric shops – they even took a coach trip to Wales on one occasion. “You need good natural fabrics for a quilt to be successful. Pure cotton is definitely the best to work with,” says Jean. “For me quilting is all about the mathematics. I love the precision of it.”

They all talk knowledgeably about the age-old skill and how it all began in the log cabins of America. They use their own vocabulary which includes phrases such as American beauty, sashing, jelly rolls and fussy cutting. And they talk of the importance of proper tacking.

“If I could get away without tacking, I would. I like to pin and stitch but Eileen is a devil for having us tack,” laughs Jean. But despite the apparent complication of it all, they insist that, given encouragement, anyone can become a quilter.

“The group is wonderful, a real friendly bunch of people and anyone coming along would see that. We get terrific support from one another. New members are always welcome,” says Susan.

Calder Quilters meet on the first Friday of each month at the Maurice Jagger Centre, Winding Road, Halifax from 1.45pm to 3.45pm. For more information ring 01422 375150.