By Aine Patton

 

Antique quilts made from the materials of Derry’s world-renowned shirt factory industry will be celebrated at a key textile event in Northern Ireland this month.

 

The Derry Factory Girl Quilts exhibition will be showcased at the Knit + Stitch Northern Ireland show in Lisburn.

 

The event will take place at the Eikon Exhibition Centre from November 12 to 15. It will showcase 15 historic quilts from the trademark Derry industry, seven of which from the council’s museum and archive collection.

 

The exhibition curated by Margaret Lee of Shirt Tales NI- in partnership with Derry City and Strabane District Council- will show Derry’s contribution to fashion worldwide. The Derry Factory Girl Quilts show a rich heritage of the textile industry in Derry for over 200 years in the city’s Shirt Factories. Many of the quilts on display were created from fabric offcuts that were sold or given to local factory workers.

 

The exhibition is part of the Stitched conversation project, supported by a NI Museums council grant.

Volunteers and museum staff documented the valuable quilts while researching the fabrics and the stories behind them.

For visitors, it will offer a glimpse into a local tradition and the lives of the women who helped shape the region’s textile industry.

 

Assistant archivist Lucy MacIver said ahead of the event that the quilts represented an important part of Derry lore.

Ms MacIver said, “These quilts are a distinctive part of Derry’s social and industrial history. They were made to be used, often from materials that might otherwise have been discarded, but they also demonstrate tremendous skill and ingenuity.

 

“Bringing museum and privately owned quilts together gives visitors a rare opportunity to appreciate both their visual impact and the lives and communities behind them.”

She said, “We are delighted to bring part of this important collection to Knit and Stitch, this is a valuable opportunity to place Derry’s shirt-factory quilts alongside contemporary textile art and making, and to show how objects created for everyday use can become remarkable records of working lives and local communities.”