About
The Bowes Museum is thrilled to announce the installation of four contemporary quilts by local maker Leila Anderson in the Fashion & Textile Gallery. These quilts will be on public display until early March 2025, marking the completion of a series of quilts named Seasons: Autumn, Winter, Spring, Summer.
The quilts are displayed in wall cases among historic fashion and textiles, creating unexpected juxtapositions of colour and pattern. Quilting enthusiasts will be able to admire the intricate stitching and colours up close.
Anderson’s quilting draws inspiration from the artistry and historic lineage of the North Country quilt. After retiring, Anderson trained with local maker Elsie Walton, a former student of the celebrated Weardale quilter, Amy Emms M.B.E. The Museum’s collection includes one of Anderson’s earliest quilts, Lindisfarne Line (1996), inspired by the Lindisfarne Gospels displayed in Durham. This quilt features hand-quilted designs based on the decorative motifs of the Anglo-Saxon Gospels on a traditional wholecloth (single fabric) quilt.
The Seasons quilts were influenced by local landscapes and paintings by Mark Rothko. Anderson used the convention of the North Country strippy quilt (strips of fabric, usually arranged vertically), arranging the strips horizontally in shaded colour blocks, reminiscent of Rothko’s work. She hand-painted each silk top, added wadding and a cotton back. Using a quilt frame and silk thread dyed to match, Anderson stitched quilting patterns evoking the cyclic changes of the year.
The first quilt in the series, Autumn (2003), has a richly hued ground with quilted patterns depicting grasses and wheatfields, adapting traditional North Country designs such as feather and wave motifs. Spring’s (2004) bright colours and stitches symbolise the reawakening and blossoming of plant life. By contrast, Winter’s (2007) sombre colours are punctuated with stitches representing fallow fields and bare branches.
The last quilt in the series is the most recent acquisition to The Bowes Museum’s celebrated quilt collection. Summer (2020-2023) was begun during the first Covid lockdown and Anderson has worked on this design over subsequent years. It is Anderson’s last ever quilt and depicts the sea and sky in wave and reverse wave stitches, with a wildflower meadow in the centre and a wheatfield border.
Anderson’s quilts embody a living tradition, inspired by local history and landscapes, they make a fitting addition to the Museum’s historic collection, particularly because of its unique geographical position. The Bowes Museum is renowned for its quilt exhibitions that honour and celebrate local makers and their skills.
.png )
Have an Eventful start to 2025 across the Culture County.
