(picture by MillersImageBank)
This is the bed throw that the English novelist Jane Austen (1775 - 1817) made together with her mother and sister.
Over the last years I tried to make a quilt with a similar design.
I started in May 2012, added pieces and stitches every now and again, and it's finished!
The quilt is 153 cm x 240 cm, 60,23" x 94,48".
It is pieced, sewn and quilted entirely by hand, there is also some embroidery on the label at the back.
Fabrics and fleece are cotton. Some fabrics have rich stories to tell about where they come from and how they traveled from hand to hand over centuries until they found their places in this quilt.
My sisters added lots of stitches , too, and gifted me lovely fabrics.
Jane Austen and her sister and mother added an elaborate border to their top, with lots and lots of tiny colorful pieces, it's incredibly beautiful.
My border consists of simple strips showing little birdies...
"It is well to have as many holds upon happiness as possible."
Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey
http://www.notable-qotes.com/a/austen_jane_v.html
If anyone is interested:
I wrote more about how I began this work and about Jane Austen's bed throw in these earlier posts:
