The Nelson Quilt at 1,750 squares, 15 January 2015
The Nelson Quilt has grown again. It is now at 1,750 one inch squares. All hand stitched, the piece, as it now stands, represents six months’ work. There is still more to do, with further background to be added, but the portrait is now more than half way sewn.
I continue to draw a lot of inspiration from older Nelsonalia, and frequently visit the excellent Nelson, Navy, Nation galleries at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich. On my last visit, I came across what I thought might be an earlier Nelson quilt made to commemorate the Battle of the Nile, which took place in August 1798.
19th Century Nelson Banner
On closer inspection, it turned out to be a banner. The excellent searchable database of the Museum’s collection explains that this is a double sided banner made from silk, linen, cotton and wool. The portrait bust of Nelson is painted on linen and faces different directions on either side. The red border is made of silk. A banner like this would have been waved by the celebrating crowds who hoped to catch a glimpse of the victorious Nelson when he returned to Britain in 1800.
There is so much Nelson memorabilia to seek out, so much to read and so much to learn about Nelson’s life. My quilt project began with Maurice Elvey’s silent film about Nelson made in 1918. To put that film into context, I started to research Nelson’s place in British popular culture – and that led me to embark on a piece of stitchery that I am finding enormously rewarding. I can’t wait to see the portrait finished!
Taking the Nelson Quilt for a walk, New Year 2015
From One More Stitch: Your quilt is phenomenal!!!!! What an undertaking! I enjoyed reading your blog, too, and will be adding it to my side list. I also enjoy old films and listen to a lot of audio books as I stitch. I liked your piece about A Traveller in Time. I had a similar experience around the same age with The Green Bronze Mirror by Lynne Ellilson.
Sorry about responding so late. The past few months have been a blur. I do hope you get to see this.
How lovely to hear from you and thank you for your kind words. There is nothing like Nelson to inspire one to sew – and I love what you did with the Trafalgar flag signal.