More Quilts

Quiltbag by Marianne Öqvist.

This week, full of new year´s resolution energy, I pulled myself together and went to the regional museum, Norrbottens Museum. They close at 16 every day, which is making it very hard to find a comfortable hour to go, but I made it happen. In the nick of time, too, as the exhibition I wanted to see closed Sunday. Again, it´s about quilts. I have never made quilts myself, but I am fascinated by the effort and the result.

This is an exhibition celebrating the 25th anniversary of the national quilt association Rikstäcket (= the State Quilt, or perhaps the Quilt of the Kingdom; and it is quilt as in bed covering or duvet, not the technique), with local quiltgroup Lapprutorna (= the square patches, also a pun on Laplander, I imagine) showing off their work. I can´t say exactly who did each one of these quilts (my notes turned out very sloppy and nearly unreadable), but they are all wonderful and I think the group should think of starting a blog of their own! 

The work is plentiful and the exhibition starts at the entrance hall, you follow it all the way up the stairs two floors up, and three very large and heavy quilts hang at the centre of the stairwell. This probably was the only place they had room for these impressive pieces.

It is a diverse collection of things: bags, vest, hat, necklaces, purses, pot holders, bed coverings, wall-hangings, and even baskets. There is something infinitely cheerful and - am looking for the proper word here, but I think a mix of solicitous and safeguarding is what I´m after - about it. The mummy-factor is very high, and - no surprise - there are only women contributing to this exhibition. I find it hard to object, really. Quilting is something that is done for the joy and the creativity of it these days, we don´t have to out of scarcity and survival (as we had to not very long ago). It was a woman´s work, and keeping the traditionally female arts and crafts alive naturally concerns women more than men. With a few exceptions, no doubt.

In spite of the awkward opening hours, I found the museum bustling with people. The café was filled with 15 (I counted) women of the kulturtant species (= culturally inclined elderly lady, which I am becoming, fast), and working teams from the companies nearby popped in to have coffee and conduct their meetings in this culturally charged atmosphere. Nice!

By Inger Johansson.

By Gudrun Larsson.

Vest by Inger Johansson; hat flower by Birgith Bergqvist.

The necklace is by Karin M Döri.

One of the bags made in the children´s group.

Christmas pot holders (or is it wall hangings?), promising that you can "Relax, it will still be Christmas".