The original Brontë Quilt
Sarah
described the original quilt as about 6 ft square and made up of scraps many
different fabrics. She offered an interesting account of the history of
quilting in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and explained that the
original quilt combined different techniques, both pieced and appliquéd.
She
showed us that the Brontë Quilt is quite eccentric in its design and is not in
places expertly sewn. As a contrast, Sarah showed us a picture of a quilt made
by Jane Austen, which is both expertly designed and sewn. However, while Austen
was a keen seamstress, it is well-known that the Brontë sisters were less
enthusiastic about sewing, although Emily was likely to have been more
interested than her sister Charlotte, who often complained in her letters about
having to sew. Nevertheless, the Brontë Quilt is an interesting design and helps
to evoke the idea of the sisters collaborating on a sewing project while,
perhaps, discussing their various literary projects.
Sarah
was enthusiastic about the idea of reconstructing the Brontë Quilt for
Charlotte Brontë’s bicentenary in 2016, although she explained that she did
not at first understand the enormity of the task ahead of her! Fortunately, her
quilting friends Wendy Latham and Giselle Sutcliffe agreed to join her in reconstructing
the quilt. They collected scraps of fabric and set about the mammoth task of
cutting out the many fabric shapes needed to match the original and then sewing
them all together.
Sarah,
Wendy and Giselle visited the Brontë Parsonage Museum to study the original
quilt for themselves, which Sarah described as an ‘amazing experience’. Ann
Dinsdale, the Collections Manager of the Brontë Society and Brontë Parsonage
Museum, kindly took the quilt out of storage. Sarah said, ‘I had prepared a
list of things I wanted to measure or make notes of; even so there were lots of
details I forgot to check. We were able to take loads of measurements and
photographs, and I was relieved to find that my preliminary calculations were
pretty close’.
A detail of the centre of the reconstruction
After
considerable hard work, with a few set-backs over finding the right measurements
and the correct angles for the diamond shapes, the team produced a wonderful
replica of the original:
The Reconstructed Brontë Quilt
The
reconstruction was on display at the Bankfield Museum in Halifax in 2016. We
were fortunate to be able to study it during the day in the Elizabeth Gaskell
House, and there was admiration for the incredible skill which had gone into
the making of this beautiful quilt. It has certainly captured the essence of
the original, but unlike the fragile quilt in storage, the reconstruction has
the advantage of being sturdy and capable of being displayed. Indeed, it was
presented to the Brontë Parsonage Museum on 16th May 2018 and will
be on display on Patrick Brontë’s bed for the rest of the year.
I would like
to thank Sarah and her fellow quilters, Wendy and Giselle, for allowing me to
share their story here, along with the photographs of the original and the 2016
Brontë Quilt.
Professor Deborah Wynne
