The American Museum In Britain

... to give it its full title. We enjoyed our visit to the museum yesterday. There's a very good, well laid out exhibit charting the history of America which both adults and children seem to enjoy. Then there are a series of period rooms, showing what American houses might have looked like at intervals of 50 years. These rooms use original walls, floors, ceilings, panelling etc from houses that have been demolished or updated, together with contemporary furniture and furnishings.

There is also of course an exhibition of American quilts, which I very much enjoyed looking at, and rugs, which were less interesting. What particularly fascinated me about the quilts was both the large size of many of the pieces that were used in, for instance the Baltimore quilts and a spectacular Bethlehem Star quilt, and the uneven-ness of many of the pieces. Quite encouraging. Less encouraging was the minute stitches in much of the quilting, I don't think I could ever make stitches that small and still get through all the layers.

They also have a series of temporary exhibitions, and this time there was a display of American Folk Art.

From October 2009

This tea towel shows part of a wonderful redwork quilt which gives a glimpse into life at the time. I particularly love the block third from the bottom on the right hand side, which shows a man pushing a woman with a parasol in a wheelbarrow!

Next year is going to be wonderful for quilt lovers, as there is to be a special exhibition of classic American quilts in Bath, together with an exhibition of historical British quilts at the Victoria and Albert museum in London.