Three generations of quilters at the TRC display of quilts in Rijswijk, the Netherlands, October 2021.Last weekend, the TRC had the opportunity to display some of its collection of feedsack quilts at the Patchwork & Quiltdays, which is held every year at De Broodfabriek in Rijswijk, close to The Hague – normally in April, but this year, as with many other events, it had to be rescheduled to October.
On Thursday evening we arrived, along with other exhibitors and quilt shops to set up our wall of seven quilts and a table of original feedsacks, along with a dress to show examples of other things that were made in the 1930s from such sacks. The TRC has published an online exhibition about these feedsacks and their quilts, but it was great to show the real thing!
The exhibitions were at the back of the hall and on Friday, at opening time, we already had one or two visitors who had rushed past the shops in order not to miss our quilts – we knew then we would be in for a busy time…
The quilts generated a lot of interest – many people had not heard of the feedsack phenomenon in 1930s America and were amazed at the stories and ingenuity involved. One lady recounted how she lived in a baker’s shop in the Netherlands during the war and also had items of clothing made from floursacks, but wished they could have been printed with pretty designs like those on display.
Some young quilters, who were engaged in upcycling, were fascinated by the possibilities presented by the sacks, whilst other quilters were entranced by the hand stitching, colour combinations and patterns that have stood the test of time and are still being used today.
Double Wedding Ring quilt, USA, 1930s (TRC 2018.2408).Our Double Wedding Ring quilt caused some to comment on how modern it looked with its striking and unusual design, which is a little different to the usual Double Wedding Ring shapes that are widely known.
The Rail Fence quilt also caused much discussion with its 4,320 pieces and a ‘humility’ block that was mistakenly pieced the wrong way round – or was it deliberate?
We provided some free templates for one of the more complex quilt blocks – the Star Dahlia. This was very popular and created lots of discussion about modern day techniques compared to those used in our 1930s versions.
Rail Fence, or Roman Square quilt, USA, c. 1940 (TRC 2018.2609).Our last visitors to the quilts on Sunday afternoon were a lovely family of three generations of quilters, all equally enthusiastic about our quilts and all currently engaged in making a multi-generational quilt, which is another wonderful quilt tradition. By then it was time to take the quilts down, and we were footsore and almost hoarse from talking to so many people, a good number of whom live in Leiden and may soon be visiting the TRC (again) to see the quilts and other textiles.
Beverley Bennett, 21 October 2021
