Farfield Mill - Margaret Townsend quilt

Great minds think alike, I bought this material too.  The one with the hearts on it, except I thought it would make some great table mats, funny how different the two uses are and yet the hearts are very apt on the edge of this quilt.  I love the whimsical feel this work has and the way she has made the work come together with the use of narrow strips of fabric, a technique which I sometimes employ.  I began to think that sometimes when we go to a quilt show there is so much to see that we pass each quilt by far too quickly to move onto the next one instead of settling down for a really good look and think about the one infront of us.  So take your time and have a good look at this one just like Margaret did when she designed it.

I also like to make tabs on the top of smaller quilts for hanging them by and often use a stick or piece of bamboo as the pole. I chose to photograph a close up of the dog becaue I like dogs in quilts.  My own piece on show in the same room had several dogs on it too. But not like this one which appears to be a fox terrier or Jack Russell. I love the change in 'pace' which the night scene with the owl brings to the quilt and also the way the bars of fabric interact to give subtlety to the fowls and animals which might appear too crude if not sympathetically framed.  Yes I think this is a fun quilt.  Underneath I have reproduced the text from the card displayed with the quilt.

Margaret Townsend

Daisy’s Birthday Pieces

Margaret’s grand-daughter, Daisy, gave her a bag of small pieces of fabric for her birthday, which she brought from a local quilt sale. Shortly afterwards, Margaret came across the work of Janet Bolton, and then her book, My Grandmother’s Patchwork Quilt - so she felt she had to make the quilt! The wall-hanging is hand stitched using needle turned appliqué onto a background fabric, quilted onto a wool batting foundation, with surface embroidery, it falls into the category of Folk Art.