A Quilt for Saint David`s Day

On the first of March we celebrate the feast day of our patron saint, Saint David.  

I had hoped to find a red, white and green quilt to match the colours of the Welsh flag; this is as close as I can manage.

This side was a lovely tomato red colour, unfortunately it has had a very hard life and the red fabric is brittle and stiff and the red colour is wearing off in places.

It`s difficult to make out the quilting pattern, I hope you can see it.

It has the traditional central circle with a four leafed design which looks similar to a Horse Chestnut leaf.

Spirals are a very common feature in Welsh quilts and this one has them in abundance.

Here they are filling out part of the design on the edge. You can also see them in the central circle and in the border surrounding it.

The single leaf forms part of the design in other areas.

This is the back of the quilt. The quilting design is almost lost in this busy little sprigged print, which does look slightly green in this shot.

Quilted with some snazzy red thread too....

But in places the quilter has run out and used plain white thread instead.

Welsh quilts were frequently wadded with carded wool, sometimes gleaned from discarded scraps caught on fences or hedgerows. This wool can been seen in the worn patches of this quilt

Hopefully we will soon have a public holiday for Saint David`s day. In the meantime we will wear our daffodil or leek in remembrance.

Oh and if you happen to be in New York this evening, you will see that they have lit the Empire State red, white and green in honour of Saint David. 

Thank You New York!