Monday 25 August 2014

American Museum vintage fair.... Part one

Good friends are like quilts, they never loose their warmth.



What can I say but WOW!  The American Museum in Bath is stunning.  Set on the hillside about a mile from the centre of this beautiful city.

The weather was wonderful and the grounds in which this vintage textile event was held is so pretty.  The textile fair was held in two buildings in the grounds, the stables and coach house.



The view from the main house looks over fields, hills and dales and is breathtaking!


They had been busy yarn bombing trees, lamp posts and bikes in the grounds and even men who were there were exclaiming WOW!




There was a Kaffe Fassett exibition on in the grounds as well.





The vintage textile fair had people selling fabrics and quilts and buttons Plus there were some great stalls selling embroidery threads and hand made felt.  I bought some stunning embroidery thread which reminded me of shells.......

The lovely Donna Flower was there selling stunning fabrics and vintage goodies as well as a selection of vintage clothes and quilts and eiderdowns! ( yes I succumbed ... could not help it!)

Donna Flower.

Some of Donna,s quilts and eiderdowns, minus the one I purchased!! ... Will show you in week.

This is one of Donna's dresses that is for sale.... It is so beautiful!


There was also a folk art exhibition as well and there were some beautiful pieces in there including this quilt with a carved wood giraffe in front.



There was also a statue of an Indian with a bundle of cigars in his hand which were tied with ribbon.  The Indian carving had come from outside of a tobacco shop and is C1880.


You can see in his right hand, the tied cigars......

Well the ribbons were always silk and had the name of the cigar on them.  Somebody stitched lots together with herringbone stitch and made a quilt wall hanging.... It is so lovely.




It is behind glass so forgive the photography.

The grounds in which this museum is set are outstanding.  Well kept grounds with wonderful flowers and borders and box bush maize....  There are lots of levels and stone steps with little pathways and almost secret garden setting.


The flowers were still in full bloom and the sweet peas smelt divine! in the sun.



There are beautiful and tranquil nooks and crannies all over the grounds to sit and look at the views and the flowers.

The little box hedge maize....

 Every little place there was unexpected yarn bombing going on and it looked lovely!

We did not go into the big quilt exhibition as we ran out of time.  On Saturday it was only open at 12 until 5pm so with the vintage fair and the grounds we did not have the time but will be going back to have a look around.  We have some friends coming next year who live in New York and we are going to be taking them to Bath for a few days and this is on the list....

The story of the origins of this extraordinary museum, which is housed in Somerset in England
in a old manor house is as diverse as its grounds and maize's.  Four men  Dr Dallas Pratt, John Judkyn. Nick Bell-Knight and Ian McCallum who happened to meet each other, got on well, and pooled their diverse abilities into this joint enterprise, and was only possible because Dr Dallas Pratt had inherited the necessary fortune to fund such a wonderful and extraordinary project.

The American Museum is a great place to visit.  There is also a fabulous little cafe where you can get great lunches and drinks.

I had an amazing afternoon there and the bonus was a vintage textile fair.

Happy Stitching!

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