A Lifetime In The Making
Tracey Dulson and Sally Robinson show the quilt at the Warner Textile Archive.
In 1957, when she was 20 years old, Barbara Springate discovered her passion for quilting. Within the collection of the Warner Textile Archive is her dazzling patchwork quilt which took her 65 years to complete. Donated to the Warner Textile Archive in 2023, the quilt is almost exclusively made of silks manufactured by Warner & Sons.
Barbara grew up in Hertfordshire, and joined a small team led by Mrs Mary Ozanne in Sawbridgeworth in 1952 working on special needlework for ecclesiastical furnishings and garments. Barbara hand-embroidered many church banners, altar cloths and liturgical vestments including copes for several bishops. Mrs Ozanne would go to London once a month to source her materials, and these included silks purchased from Warner & Sons. Shortly after starting work with Mrs Ozanne, Barbara became interested in quilting. Her idea was to use the small odd pieces of material that were left over from Mrs Ozanne’s workroom to make a quilt. Barbara was given permission to collect the very small pieces for her project.
Barbara chose a design of 37 small hexagons stitched together as the basis of her pattern. She used paper backings for her hexagons (the hexagon template created by her blacksmith husband) and carefully arranged the coloured silks to showcase subtle colour changes from a soft palette through to a deep vibrant blend.
Barbara Springate in 1957, the year she began her patchwork quilt project.
Sophie Jemma (Archivist at the Warner Textile Archive), Barbara Springate, Tracey Dulson and Sally Robinson at the Warner Textile Archive when the quilt was donated to the collection.
The quilt includes several important pieces of Warner & Sons’ silks such as ‘Queensway’, the pattern created for the Coronation of Elizabeth II in 1953, and a design called ‘Magdalen’ that was a popular choice for ecclesiastical vestments. Mrs Ozanne was a regular customer at Warner & Sons, which meant that the majority of the quilt is comprised of fabric produced by the firm.
Demand for detailed embroidered work declined towards the late 1960s, and Mrs Ozanne’s business closed in the 1970s, and Barbara began a new career as a nurse. Upon the closure, Barbara was gifted several sacks of silks that were no longer required and utilised these to finish her patchwork project.
After Barbara began her career as a nurse she continued to work slowly on the quilt over the years, often stitching pieces together at the bedside of her patients. With the help of two friends, Sally Robinson and Tracey Dulson, Barbara was able to increase the pace of work and finish the quilt. The quilt was erected on a large wooden frame in Barbara’s sitting room and finished by hand with her friends in May 2023.
Barbara has donated the quilt to the Warner Textile Archive along with a collection of ephemera and Warner & Sons samples, and is delighted at the thought that her quilt will be preserved and accessible to the public. The team at the Warner Textile Archive are pleased to be able to safeguard this incredible object and share the amazing story behind its creation.