As some of you know, I'm on vacation. We were in Scotland, but now we're in York (in England), which is home to the first quilt museum in the UK. Naturally that was one place I had to visit! We went there this morning, and had a pleasant time looking around. One room had mostly antique quilts, dating as early as the early 1800's. Another room had miniature quilts from Scotland, and another had current-day textiles from internationally known artists. I wish I could have taken pictures, but they were not allowed (copyright issues for the newer quilts, deterioration caused by light for the older ones). The quilt museum has many more quilts that are not on display, due to space limitations and the need to protect the collection. It would be nice to be able to visit frequently and see the quilts as they rotate them into the display room, but York is a long ways from Oregon.
Yesterday we visited the Treasurers House in York, and I was pleased to spot a really old quilt there. That one I could take pictures - and some are attached. Not too much was known about this quilt. The guide thought it might be 300 years old, but that sounds doubtful to me. It was in excellent condition with really nice colors. The funny thing is, I would not even have noticed this quilt 5 years ago, before I became a quilter.