CORNWALL has a myriad of its own special saints; so, when Mary
Miller, an avid quilter, came up with the idea of an exhibition of
quilts inspired by the stories of local saints, there was no
shortage to choose from.
With the help of her quilting friends, the idea quickly spread
across the county, and, from the Isles of Scilly to Saltash,
quilters have been visiting local churches for saintly inspiration.
"The design has probably been one of the biggest headaches for the
makers," Ms Miller says. "Research into their chosen saint
sometimes uncovered a myriad of information, imagery, and ideas.
For others, there was a dearth of information; so it was difficult
to know where to begin."
The Townshend Quilters took St Erth (or, more correctly, St Erc)
as their inspiration, and discovered more about his love of
learning and libraries and his journey to Cornwall than they had
ever known. At Dreckly, they had a bigger problem with
St Cohan; nothing is known about him other than he was murdered
by Saxons. One of the largest groups is the Caradon Quilters
(above),who meet weekly in St Marton's, Liskeard, and they
naturally took St Martin of Tours as their inspiration.
In all, no less than 35 quilts have been produced, and are on
display in Truro Cathedral. Sadly, the exhibition
comes to an end on 14 July; so you must hurry if you want to see
it.