Bed Turning
 

What is it? I saw it posted in an ad for a local quilt show and have no clue what it could be. Anyone out there with the answer?

I've seen two ...

One was a collection of quilts of all the members of the guild, the other was a collection of quilts of a single member of the guild.

In each case they have a bed in the show and they lay quilt upon quilt over the bed. One at a time two people hold the top quilt up while someone talks about (in the case of a collection of a single quilter - it was the quilter doing the talking). It could be technical things about the quilt, funny stories, who it was for - anything really. After they are done showing that quilt they fold it over the headboard and reveal the next quilt - and so on.

I am attaching a picture of a bed turning I attended about 5 years ago. This event was held in conjunction with the Bible camp quilt auction where I contribute quilts. The organizers set up an antique bedroom in the chapel and layered the bed with about 20 quilts. All were made prior to 1950 and were submitted by people in the community. The narrator gave information about each quilt and its history. The quilt was lifted from the bed and held up for better viewing and finally carried away, revealing the next quilt. The crazy quilt pictured was submitted by my mother.

I apologize for the picture (I think that is my mother's head on the left!), but I hope you can get an idea of what it was like. I enjoyed seeing all of the lovely old quilts and hearing their stories.

I read once that bed turning originated in homes - at the end of the quilting season, a family would invite friends in and show the quilts made during the winter. The quilts were all layered on the bed and shown one by one. What a beautiful tradition!

Dayle

P.S. I forgot to mention that the bed in the turning I attended had the back end (head of the bed) up on blocks, so that it was tipped forward slightly for a better viewing angle.

Neat never heard of this before.

OH.... I thought it was Turning your Mattress LOL No Just kidding!! silly you.

Our guild just had their show 2 weekends ago....and we had a bed-turning...about 25 antique quilts from different guild members were piled on the bed, and a guild member talked about them...I was the other person helping to hold up the quilts one of the days...it was very well attended and a favorite part of the show.

That sounds so beautiful - interactive, vibrant, personal. I love looking at quilts hanging in shows, but this sounds even better!

Alison

......... and a surprise with every quilt that is turned over!

I love it! Can't wait to go to my first show and see a bed turning. I hope there are lots of vendors there....LOL!