Closed Season Quilt Photography

January 26, 2015 - Kate Hebert

Tagged: behind-the-scenes, curatorial, quilts

It seems a strange thing to be back at my desk this week. For the past two weeks I have been in object heaven as we have been photographing another selection of quilts, rugs, and woven coverlets. Last year we photographed over 100 pieces and the plan was to do the same again this year.

Many of the quilts and coverlets are so large that it is difficult to find a space to fit them alongside the necessary lights and camera. Luckily we have a large floor space in our central hall. During the closed season, we are able to restrict access to this area which means we can safely lay the quilts out upon the floor and photograph them from above.

The joy of this time-consuming task is that I get to see many objects that I have never seen before. As we systematically work our way through storage, I am unrolling pieces that have had vague descriptions like ‘patchwork quilt’ . Who knew what designs would reveal themselves as we unfurled such items.

For a sneaky peek at what we got up to, check out our latest video: