Publications | Down Survey | 1999 Issue Contents

A Killyleagh quilt
Madeleine McAllister

Martha Geddis of Killyleagh made a quilt in the later years of the nineteenth century. Martha was born in 1869 and died of consumption in 1910, aged 41. She was 25 years old when she finished the quilt in 1894. Martha was the daughter of Hamilton Geddis and his third wife Eliza Jane McKee. She and her mother spent the last years of their lives with her step-sister Mary Ann and her brother-in-law Charles Morrow at Dufferin Place in Killyleagh, which is where most of the work on the quilt would have been done.

The Killyleagh Quilt measures 180x140 cms and is of the type known as crazy patchwork. This type of patchwork became very popular in Europe and America in the late l9th century, and seems to have been part of the craze for Japanese design, which swept these countries after the 1860's. Unlike conventional patchwork, which depends on repeating patterns through the quilt and contrasting tones for effect, crazy patchwork relies on the variety and quality of the materials used. Irregular scraps of beautiful fabrics are used as a sumptuous background for a mixture of simple embroidery techniques. The apparently random pattern is made by joining together pieces of fabric on a square or rectangular foundation, usually of cotton. Several of these squares are then joined to make the quilt. Any embroidery on the fabric pieces is done before placing on the foundation fabric. This type of quilting is easier than conventional quilting, as it does not require accurate cutting, placing and stitching of pattern pieces, and enables comparatively small pieces of fabric to be used. As is usual, the Killyleagh Quilt is not padded or quilted using stitches but has a lining and pleated border of blue and tan tartan silk, which came from Martha's mother's wedding dress.

Killyleagh quilt, detail (DCMI986-301 ).

Crazy quilts were often made as records or mementoes and Martha has made her quilt in this way. She has recorded in embroidery the names and initials of her family and friends, and even includes her dog Mitch and her pony Dickie. Particularly touching is motif which reads 'Tho lost to sight to memory dear The Black Rabbit'. She includes appropriate greetings such as 'Good Night' and 'Good morning it is time to get up'. She records events like a trip to Pole Island and Killyleagh Regatta. A tiny embroidered 'Stars and Stripes' has been appliqued in one square, perhaps in memory of American visitors. Other embroidered motifs include hearts pierced by Cupid's arrow, the anchor of hope, a lucky horseshoe, and linked rings. There are also several dates, which may just indicate the date on which a section of the quilt was finished, or which may have had a particular significance for Martha. However, she plainly recorded the date she finished the quilt, '1894 Finished Dufferin Jan 24'

On one square Martha has embroidered 'Charles the Courteous' (See back cover illustration). This inappropriately titled individual jilted Martha, and is to her credit that she did not unpick the stitching after they parted, but left it as a record of the unpleasant, as well as the pleasant, things which happened in her life.
The fabric and threads used in the quilt are also a fascinating record of Victorian life. The variety and brightness of the fabrics used in the quilt is in marked contrast to the usually sombre coloured garments which remain from the period. The fabrics used are mostly silk, and include velvet, silk corduroy, grosgrain, brocade, satins, chenille and scraps of ribbon, both embroidered and plain. The colours are rich browns, black, purples blues and reds, enlivened with occasional pieces of yellow, green, light blue, pink and cream. It is interesting to see pieces of very bright blue, purple and red, which would have been coloured using the recently developed synthetic dyes. It is possible that some of the fabrics are of American origin.

Martha used herinngbone and double herringbone stitches to join the fabric pieces together; star stitch, feather stitch, double
feather stitch and blanket stitch to embroider floral motifs liberally over the quilt. She used stem stitch to embroider script and other motifs. She used silk and cotton (and in one place wool) threads for the embroidery, which was done in contrasting colours to the fabric.

Family tradition has it that the quilt was used on the bed of American relatives when they came to stay in Killyleagh, and though it shows some signs of wear, the richness of its colours and the sumptuousness of its fabrics are still remarkable. The personal and yet direct way that Martha Geddis recorded a few years of her life
for us to know, over a hundred years later, reminds us that the museum is not a mere building but holds the past in trust for the future.

Madeleine McAllister is Assistant Keeper of Collections at Down County Museum.

Acknowledgement
We are grateful to the Misses Nell and Joyce Stewart of Strangford, donors of the quilt and grand-neices of Martha Geddis, for information in this note.