This is the fifth in a series of quilts using one of Annabelle’s mother’s woollen welsh steel worker’s vests as the starting point. Quilts 24, 25, 26 and 54 are the first four in the series. Using a dark charcoal grey vest, and a black Indian cotton version of this, also owned by Elizabeth, made by Denny Wickham, that uses the same pattern, we decided to make a quilt that highlights how close one can get to returning the unpicked shapes to the material’s original bolt of fabric once unpicked. This is highlighted when compared to Quilt 44, which explores the same idea with a very different outcome.

As with Quilt 54, we wanted to further explored the idea of the absence of the figure/person – in this case Annabelle’s mother. Using only tones of black and dark grey, on the cotton side of the quilt the eye is drawn to the wear of the cloth, describing the way in which the garment was warn by it’s owner. On the woollen side, where less wear is visible, the simplicity of the pattern’s forms are highlighted by the contrast of the wool against a black cotton.